March 25th, 2009

Greenshootsblog.com is pleased to welcome another guest blogger – Ilona Latta, who brings a unique perspective from her two jobs as a hypnotherapist and a marketing planner.

But, for the most part, this just hasn’t happened. Rather than needing hypnotherapy to provide the subconscious’ equivalent of tea and sympathy, most of my clients have, in their own way, wanted to make the most out of the situation. They are determined that their personal story of these tricky times will be a positive one.

For many, the enforced turmoil of losing jobs and / or homes has been painful; but they are resolute that, once their lives are back together again, they will be more rewarding than before. Even those who have been relatively unscathed by the axe-wielding HR personnel who seem to be stalking London at the moment have discovered that a bit of economising could mean they can take a pay cut and move to another career, or work four days a week rather than seven.

I know that my client base is a tiny microcosm in the grand scheme of things and that those wanting to work with a hypnotherapist might not be a nationally representative research sample. Nevertheless, the consistent optimism of the people with whom I’ve been lucky enough to work, and similar experiences shared by other clinical hypnotherapists led me to question some of the nuggets of received wisdom handed down in the marketing world. Traditionally, marketers seem to expect recession-stricken to consumers to “batten down the hatches,” be more conservative in their choice of products / brands, and to be significantly less open to communications that stray beyond cold, hard, financial facts (ideally price promotions).

Undoubtedly belts are being tightened and household budgets are under more pressure and scrutiny than they were a couple of years ago. However, this doesn’t mean that we have all turned into purely rational beings. The subconscious mind, when it is functioning properly, is an extraordinarily hopeful phenomenon; its power to visualise a positive outcome in any given situation and to seek out opportunities in achieving the best possible results is a constant source of amazement to psychologists. As such, the mind’s appetite for ingenuity and creativity does not disappear in times of stress – in fact it grows – and the subconscious will attribute significant value to any allies it finds along the way.

Obviously this doesn’t negate the importance of pricing in purchase decisions, but ensuring nervous marketing briefs do not restrict brands to one-dimensional, rational entities is going to be critical in resonating with consumers as we all find our way out of the recession. In a world where margins are being slashed and ads are full of discount flashes, the brands that stand out are going to be the ones that still have a twinkle in their eye whether they are selling holidays in the Maldives or half-price loo roll.