New Year, New Decade, New Life
Well, hello again. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted even a half-hearted sentence, but this is the year it all comes together for me. So here we go, first topic: emotions and decisions.
The big buzz in advertising, branding, neuroscience and marketing is emotions. The whole idea is that the target market we are trying to reach is not a bunch of formless spirits. They are people. We are people. By attempting to reach those people we are investing emotion and provoking emotion. As an artist this is even more important to me, since I trade in emotional experiences. If I have any hope of surviving in this economic climate I have to look at the shift in paradigms we are living, from an era of rationalism, post-modernism, post-constructivism, it is almost a relief to come full circle, thanks to the wonders of neuroscience.
Now we can fully justify the argument that we not only are emotional beings but that our brains have been wired to make instictive decisions using the emotional part of our brains.
So now, we come to the personal, not the business or factual side of life. I’ve often found I make assessments of people based on gut feeling and when I don’t follow that gut feeling I end up regretting it. After reading How The Brain Makes Up Its Mind I now understand that the gut feeling I have is a rapidly processed response of my emotional brain which revisits past experiences, including the emotions those experiences begat and all other knowledge stored in my memory.
Today I came across another book which taps into the emotions we are talking about:
Another way in which it has impacted me is in learning how I come to conclusions and having to guard against my preconceptions. It is really dificcult, because I keep harking back to negative experiences in relationships when confronted by a new attitude in the relationship I am in. IIt affects my partner greatly, because these attitudes are in total opposition to his qualities.
So not only must I learn to guard against my emotional responses but I have to learn to exploit those in my target market, by understanding what moves them, touches them, makes them feel alive.
In the light of this New Year and New Decade I am embarking on two journeys: learning how to distribute and market my doco online and skilling up as a performer while writing plays. I hope this all pays off. It heralds for me the start of a new life and new career path.
I do hope everyone who reads this post has new beginnings.