Think about your favorite bubbly beverage. Now, imagine it icily chilled in a glass in front of you, the beads of condensation gathering on the glass, on the hottest day of the year. You bring the glass to your parched, sweltering lips, and boom — pure manna from heaven. It seems like nothing quenches our thirst, like our favorite drink. But would you believe that that feeling of satisfaction isn’t just in your head? Would you believe it’s actually happening — your thirst IS being quenched better with THAT particular drink?

Well, believe it. 

After years of research, through controlled and repeated trials, I was able to demonstrate that when people have a deep enough and positive enough connection with a brand, it not only has positive mental effects on them, but can actually affect their physiology as well. In other words, if a consumer thought a certain running shoe made them faster, or that a certain soft drink quenched their thirst for longer — these effects would actually be taking place. I called this phenomenon BRANDcebo, or the placebo effect of brands. 

As interesting as this phenomenon is, I was even more surprised when I noticed an equal and opposite effect occurring in the performance of other brands, when compared with the consumer’s chosen brand. That is to say, when this positive connection is established with one brand, it can lead to a negative performance of other brands. I called this phenomenon the ‘Ricochet Effect’, and understanding it is key to building a more effective, successful brand strategy. So let’s talk about how this phenomenon works… 

Imagine you’ve owned a handbag for several years. One day, a luxury company releases their own handbag, that you perceive as far superior to your own, tried and true brand. You envy those who own this new and exciting handbag, and imagine all the benefits you would experience if you owned it. And in comparison, the handbag that you’ve had for years starts looking worse for wear. Even further, the zippers now seem to get stuck more, and you cannot find items you need in it. Nothing has actually changed in the actual bag — but your perception has led it to actually performing worse for you. This is the Ricochet Effect in action. 

Predictably, the Ricochet Effect explains why so many well-loved brands tend to not just lead their particular market, but dominate it. The fact that brand perception influences the actual performance of products serves to exponentially separate industry leaders. 

Now, if you owned a company it’s easy to imagine that if you could somehow produce the Ricochet Effect on your customers — producing negative perceptions and performance towards all other competing brands — that you’d corner your market. Well the truth is, that you can! But first, you’d need to establish that profoundly positive connection to your brand in the hearts and minds of your customers. In short, you need to create BRANDcebo. 

To learn more about how to turn your brand perception positive and put your marketing strategy on the path to shining success, purchase my book, ‘BRANDcebo: The Powerful Placebo Effect of Brands’ here.