Brand and Butter

The Memory Matrix: Why Customers Forget Your Brand

• Tara Ladd • Episode 72

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In this episode I'm cracking open the concept of the 'Memory Matrix,' touching on how customers process and remember branded information. I discuss the importance of visual identity, emotional connections, and cultural memory in branding. This taps into the need for brands to focus on recognition over recall and how neurodiversity can influence design thinking. The conversation (as always) touches on the evolving landscape of brand design in the age of AI, highlighting the significance of understanding memory formation in creating brands that people care about.

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Speaker 1:

you're listening to Brandon butter a straight-talking occasionally in your face. No BS branding podcast for modern marketers and business owners here for those who want to understand the influence and power of branding and how pairing associations, consumer behavior and design thinking can impact what people say, think and feel. I'm your host, tara Ladd, the sometimes funny, sometimes vulnerable and often unapologetically blunt founder and creative director of brand and design agency. Your one and only Hi, hi, welcome to this week's episode of Brand and Butter. I didn't do an episode last week because I was sick and so am recovering. So here I am. Hopefully can drop two this week, but look, we know how I go, so we'll see how it turns out.

Speaker 1:

But today the conversation is going to be on memory. I know that a lot of people are really interested in this conversation and it's something that I specialize in because I've studied the brain and so I know all about like recognition points, understand the way that we consume and process information, and so I thought you know what I would extend on this, because a lot of you ask me questions about it. So I'm calling this week the memory matrix. Let's have at it. So the fun thing is well, it's not necessarily fun, but it's something that I think will blow your mind, and that's your customers forget 90% of what they learn about your brand within a week, and I mean this applies to most information. It's not just you know branded material, but the the. I guess the kicker of the fact is that only 10% that they remember is not what you think it is. So what you think might be a cool hook or a tagline, or your USP or even a story that you've said, it's actually how your brand made them feel in that short time frame, which is really interesting. And the short time frame is 50 milliseconds. So boom, boom, literally. That's how quick that it happens. This is why visuals are important, but also the right wording, and that's why people use hooks, because if it doesn't attract them in that short time frame, see you later. So basically, that's how fast your customer's brain is making or keeping or deleting information and decisions about your brand. Crazy, right? How fun is that? And most businesses are completely clueless about it, like they have no idea about the memory game, literal recognition I hardly see anyone talking about this. They say, hey, make your brand memorable, but they actually don't give you the reasons as to why you're memorable in the first place, and because of that, most brands are losing life every day. It's always like technicalities I always say.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about the science behind brand memory formation, which is basically association. It's a nice way to talk about that and, because I love this, let's nerd out, because understanding this changes everything about how you approach your branding. So your customer's brain processes visual information, get this 60,000 times faster than text. But the thing that people miss most isn't, I guess, the obvious. But it's. Processing doesn't equal remembering. Right, let that sink in for a sec. You'll probably forget it later anyway, but you know what Doing it anyway.

Speaker 1:

So when someone comes across your brand, their brains go through what we call a memory encoding sequence, and if you've heard our past episodes, I talk about this in depth. Usually it requires a four-part system. I've got blogs on it so you can go check the website out on it, but it's really important that you understand how this processing works. Four-part system I've got blogs on it so you can go check the website out on it, but it's really important that you understand how this processing works. So first there is exposure, so they see your brand. Then there's attention, so their brain decides if it's worth processing. Then there is interpretation, so they assign meaning to what they're seeing. And then, finally, the last stage is storage, so they either file it away in a long-term memory or they just disregard it. It's like bye, see ya.

Speaker 1:

But the cool thing is that brands that make it to the long-term memory aren't always the prettiest or the loudest. They're the ones that we have. Well, I call them anyway. They're memory hooks, so visual and emotional patterns that work with how the brain naturally wants you to store information. So this is where we come across recognition versus recall, in reality anyway. So this is where I see, from my perspective, 18 years in the game for those that playing home, where most businesses or brands get it backwards so they obsess over recall. How many people can remember your brand name when someone asks you, for instance? Remember, you know your brand name when someone asks you, for instance. But recognition is actually what drives the choice. So when your customers are scanning for options and looking at competitors and they choose brands that they recognize instantly over brands that they have to remember, so I guess you could look at it like well, look at it like this so you're in a supermarket, you're overwhelmed. There's like a bazillion breakfast cereal options, your brain isn't going to go through every single one thinking. Now let me recall everything that I know about that brand. It's doing like instant pattern matching which package feels familiar.

Speaker 1:

You know what color triggers positive associations, what color triggers positive associations, what visual elements create comfort. Most of this is unconsciously done, like people don't even know that they're doing this, and this is why visuals matter. So when I talk to visual identity and visual association, I'm talking about heuristics and things that connect people from that feeling of color, and we're not talking about the westernized color psychology meaning, right, because color means different things in different countries. So it's important to note. You need to know where you're marketing, you need to know the associations of that country and you need to know the underlying meaning of the things that you're using Just to throw a spanner in the mix of the things that you're using Just to throw a spanner in the mix.

Speaker 1:

But basically, this is part of our design phase in our D3 framework. So we've got three parts design oh sorry, design's last it's dissect, dna and design, and so this is built around, I guess, recognition in reality. So we're not just creating logos or visual identities that look good in a nice presentation or on a box. We're creating the visual system that will stick in people's minds, that will trigger that instant recognition when they're ready to choose something. So let's take it one step further and dive into the visual processing, or what we call visual like, I guess, the memory architecture of the visuals.

Speaker 1:

So something that's really interesting from neuroscience research because I love that stuff is that your brain remembers experiences, not information. So when we're designing here, we're not just thinking about the visual aesthetic I mean we are, but that's not the only thing. We're thinking about the visual aesthetic. I mean we are, but that's not the only thing. We're thinking about the visual experience that creates those memory structures. So color triggers emotional memory faster than any other visual element, but not in the way that most people think. So it's not red means passionate or blue means trustworthy, which is what I was just referring to with the westernized way of color psychology but it's about how consistent color experiences build, like, I guess, that sense of familiar, and how unexpected color choices create, I guess, memory distinctiveness.

Speaker 1:

So we also then look at typography. So typography affects memory through what psychologists call processing fluency, getting heavy here. Now, right, it's not just about choosing something that looks nice. There's all of these underlying meanings, which is something that has meant so much to me for such a long time, but I haven't been able to articulate it because there's a knowledge gap. You talk to people about things and you're like this is so much deeper than just being all like hey, I love script fonts Anyway, completely different conversation there. But fonts that are easy to read create cognitive comfort. But fonts with subtle distinctiveness create memory stickiness. So it's like finding that sweet spot where your brand feels effortlessly I can't even speak recognizable, but not boringly generic. This is where brand personality comes into it, by the way.

Speaker 1:

So let's look at, I guess, the cultural memory connection because that's what I was talking about before with cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is that where our approach here gets a little bit rebellious is that most people that design brands follow category conventions. So tech companies look like tech companies and wellness brands look like wellness brands. But cultural memory is constantly evolving and the brands that will, I guess, win are the ones that connect where the cultural psychology is heading, not where it's been. So think of brands like Liquid Death, complete Category Shaker. Their branding looks like an energy drink or a beer can and that's what makes the water so cool. They've created this whole association. It's challenged conventions. And then you look at the same thing with, like, who gives a crap? And their toilet paper is nothing like any other toilet brand on that shelf Same thing.

Speaker 1:

All of this comes from that brand strategy, coming from that personality driven content, aligning the visual association to what that brand stands for. And so it's about creating for that space, because we're moving now so quickly that traditional branding is essentially out the window, and so this is where our dissect method comes in. So dissect is part one. It's like breaking apart, like research and analysis, and we have like a stack of methodology maps. So we call them cultural memory patterns because we do that internally. But it's understanding how visual associations are shifting. So what new meaning is being attached to older symbols, how generational differences affect visual interpretation and we see this happen with language all the time. A word and its meaning can evolve. That's what happens in society. So complete restructuring and redefining words, symbols, patterns, recognitions based on what's happening with the world right now. That's why culture is so deeply aligned to the things that we do with brand.

Speaker 1:

So I guess, for example, minimalism, used signal sophistication and premium quality right. So Apple did this really well. But after years of doing minimal design, cultural psychology has shifted. So now minimalism can signal generic or soulless to many audience or me too brands, because we know Apple did this so well that anyone else that does it looks like Apple. You don't want to be another one, you want to be the original. So minimalism can affect, I guess, I guess it creates that genericness. It's simple, it's good for cognitive reduction, so that people can remember, but also it doesn't really give you anything else. So the brands that are breaking through here are the ones that are reading these cultural memory shifts before their competitors do so. Here's a big one for you.

Speaker 1:

But building memory through systemic recognition, which is what I was just saying in terms of the cultural narrative, is changing. So this is the level of conversation that I've always wanted to have, but I don't think people were ready for it. And you know what I was like on the weekend screw it, I'm just going to have it, we're just going to go in and go hard, because I was reducing what I was putting out, because I felt that it wasn't articulated in a way that people could understand it. But I'm like you know what. People aren't dumb, so I'm just going to talk about it and you guys can come to the conclusion of whether you want to listen to that or not. You guys, even that's questionable these days. I call myself out on it.

Speaker 1:

But when we're looking at like I guess, insights internally, every touch point that your customer has with your brand either builds recognition or it dilutes it. So most businesses treat each touch point as an isolated design rather than understanding how the cumulative experience or the visual experience creates memory. So this is what I was talking about. When I create visual systems here at your One and Only, I'm looking at that visual identity as a whole puzzle. I don't go this is the logo. I don't go this is a font, and I don't go this is the color. I look at how these things come together to form a visual language that will articulate the vibe of the brand strategy that we create to build the positioning and memorability in the space that they need to own. And I don't think people understand that yet. So this is something that I've been diving into. I don't think people understand that yet. So this is something that I've been diving into, hoping, to God, people understand it. But this is where we're at, and so I guess this is where my ADHD pattern recognition kind of comes in.

Speaker 1:

With memory design is because when I create things, I create for my own brain and that essentially makes it easier for those who are also neurodivergent. But when you aren't neurodivergent, if you're creating for a neurodivergent, then everything just becomes easier for you. Let that sink in for a hot sec. Everything has to be systemized, everything has to be labeled, everything has to be clearly articulated for me to be able to grasp and understand it, and that's how I create brands. So I guess this is where my thinking breaks through in some results, because we've seen some really big things happen lately. I just haven't spoken about it. Go me, yay.

Speaker 1:

But linear design thinking follows established patterns, right. So similar industries use similar visual approaches, but I guess the neurodivergent pattern recognition sees memory connections that other people just miss. So if you're an ADHD or if you're you know someone with autism or you know part of our awesome neurodiverse community, we might pull visual interpretation from completely different categories. So this is what I try and do is not look anywhere in the same space and try and combine. This is what's in our market advantage gap. So if you haven't downloaded that workbook, you can purchase it for $67, and it talks about combination gaps. This is one of the four areas in positioning that you can actually jump on. This is how I think. So, basically, we're combining cultural references in ways that feel fresh but also familiar, so creating visual languages that break through. They break expected patterns, but they're also serving memory formation, and the result is that brands don't just look different, that they think differently about how memory actually works.

Speaker 1:

So here at you Want it Only. The memory science is why our day three framework works, because we start with the psychological understanding, not the aesthetic preference. This has been a big thing for me, because I've been struggling to articulate what that actually means to people. But as we see this evolution of AI, the thing that will counteract that is human connection, human behavior, human brains, and what people are missing is that the human brain is also adapting as the AI tech world adapts. So people are missing the neuroplasticity element, which is how your brain creates new information and evolves, and this is a big thing, so something that we're really, really focusing on. So they're optimizing for immediate aesthetic impact instead of focusing on that long-term recognition and memory formation and they're fighting against how brains naturally want to process visual information.

Speaker 1:

I'm a visual processor. That's how I work. It's how I've always worked. I mean naturally fell into design, of course, but I create things because I can see things in my head. So when I'm talking to a client, I'm like, trust me, I've got the whole thing mapped out end to end. I've now just got to show you. It's really interesting. So I guess I'll leave you with this right Brand.

Speaker 1:

Design is evolving from looking nice so from pretty pictures, but it's moving into memory formation and science. So this is where the thinking's going to come. So I don't actually see AI as something destroying the design industry. If you're an executor, it's absolutely probably going to do that, but as someone that is a creative thinker first and an executor second, I see this as something really cool. It's like a new way of art direction. So here is my idea. This is what I'm trying to achieve here Execute it like this, and sometimes, if you don't have that skillset to be able to execute like this, then having that ability to be able to do it just gives those people with big ideas the ability to execute.

Speaker 1:

People are always going to use designers, by the way. So, like this times, ai just cannot do what I want it to do at the moment, and I know people where I will be like yup, that's the style that I want and that will never go away. So don't be too scared, but make sure that the creative aspect is what you're using here, because, at the end of the day, the businesses that understand the visual psychology, the design for recognition over recall, they create that memory architecture instead of just visual identity. So they are the brands that will own that, I guess, mental real estate we call it like psychological territory or mental territory for the next decade or so, while everyone else is just decorating or, as I like to say, rolling a sheet in glitter.

Speaker 1:

So this is the content that's going to be coming out from us for a little bit. Um, I've decided, instead of thinking about stuff, I'm just going to start executing. So strap in. If you're interested in all this stuff, I'd love to hear from you in my dms. Um, you can slip in on LinkedIn I'm over there at the moment or on your one and only Instagram, but there's going to be some things pop up. So if you're not on our email list, I highly suggest you jump on, because I'm going to be releasing all of the cool things there first, but in the coming weeks we're going to have a four week challenge that I will be pushing out in September and that's on positioning, and probably a masterclass in August which will be focusing on how to create an unforgettable brand which will be heavily focused in the memory space.

Speaker 1:

So I hope you liked that episode and feel free to please rate and review, which you'll see that you'll hear that again in the end. Closing podcast strap. But any questions, feel free, jump in, message me and I will talk to you all next week. Did you like that episode? I hope so, because if you did, why don't you head over to whatever platform you listen on and rate and review? It's much appreciated and helps others know what we're about. If you want to follow us, you can find us at.

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Tara Ladd

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