Memory & media
Hoorcollege - Using Media week 6
Write down the brand
1. “_________ geeft je vleugels”
2. “Omdat ik het waard ben” (or “Because I’m
worth it”)
3. “Have a break…”
4. “Ik ben toch niet gek!”
5. “I’m lovin’ it”
Write down the slogan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Nokia
YouTube
Heineken
Belastingdienst
Centraal Beheer Achmea
Answers
1. “______ geeft je vleugels”
- Redbull
2. “Omdat ik het waard ben”
(or “Because I’m worth it”)
– L’Oreal
3. “Have a break…” – KitKat
4. “Ik ben toch niet gek!” –
Mediamarkt
5. “I’m lovin’ it” –
McDonald’s
1. Nokia - “Connecting
people”
2. YouTube – “Broadcast
Yourself”
3. Heineken – “Biertje” or
“Heerlijk, helder,
Heineken”
4. Belastingdienst – “Leuker
kunnen we 't niet maken,
wel makkelijker”
5. Centraal Beheer Achmea –
“Even Apeldoorn bellen”
or “Foutje, bedankt”
Today’s question:
How did you remember these?
Learning goals
• By the end of this college you should:
– Understand more about how memory works
– See how this can be applied to your what you
communicate via media and how you might
communicate it
Agenda
• How memory works
• Implications
How memory works
Recent theory of memory
What is memory?
• Once we learn something we do not do not
hold it consciously in our minds at all times
– We store it in our memory
• When we need that learning in future we
bring it back into our conscious minds
– We retrieve it from our memory – we remember it
• This suggests that memory is a process that
involves the storage of learning and the
retrieval of that stored information
Memory is not one thing
Explicit memory
Features of explicit memory
• Memory that can be expressed verbally
• Memory we are consciously aware of once
retrieved
How explicit memory works
- Magic number 7±2 /
4+1
- Executive processes
(chunking & rehearsal)
to extend working
memory
- Encoding is key to later
retrieval
- Recall vs. recognition
- Retrieval requires
memory traces
- Retrieval is a process of
association
Working memory
• Used to be called Short-term memory
• It is a kind of work bench for our consciousness
– Incoming stimuli are stored here for use
– Memories from long-term memory are brought here for
use
– Working memory lets you remember the beginning of this
sentence so that you understand it
• Magic number = 7±2
– The number of items that can be held in working memory
was thought to be between 5 and 9
– However more recent research suggests that this is in fact
more likely to be lower at 4+1
The limits of working memory
• Put down your pens: Can you remember this
sequence of letters?
CBSTAVABNKRO
Extending working memory via executive
processes
• This sequence of 12 letters falls outside our working
memory capacity (7±2 or 4+1)
CBSTAVABNKRO
• One way to avoid this is to rehearse the information (e.g.
saying it to yourself several times how many of you did
this?)
• Another way would be to do this
CBS TAV ABN KRO
• This is known as chunking and it allows us to make better
use of working memory (how many of you did this?)
Exercise:
• What are the implications for marketing
communications of how working memory
functions?
• Take two minutes to discuss this with your
neighbour
– What are the problems?
– How might you avoid these problems?
• Write down your answers on the worksheet
LTM
• LTM (long-term memory) is the place we store
things we have learned explicitly
• It is thought to have a massive capacity (some
believe near infinity)
• Learning gets “put” into LTM via encoding
Encoding: the key to retrieval
• Encoding is not a passive thing
– We actively encode information for storage in memory
• Strategies for successful encoding
– Use deep processing in place of shallow processing
• Deep processing involves understanding the meaning of the stimulus
• Shallow processing involves only looking at superficial (oppervlakkig) characteristics
of the stimulus (e.g. only looking at the font of a sentence)
– Organization
• Chunking
• Relating it to what is already known
– Mnemonics (ezelsbrug)
• Verbal - rhythm and rhyme / music and song
• Visual imagery
• smell(?), taste(?), feel(?)
Exercise:
• What are the implications for marketing
communications of the idea that encoding is
key to retrieval?
• Take two minutes to discuss this with your
neighbour
– How might you help aid encoding within your
marketing communication?
• Write down your answers on the worksheet
Retrieval
• Once encoded and stored in LTM, memories
must also be retrieved
• Successful encoding provides us with memory
traces that allow us to access our memories
• Two types of conscious retrieval
– Recall (e.g. response to a question)
– Recognition (e.g. picking from a list)
• We do this via association
Spreading activation theory
How we retrieve stuff from LTM
Put your pens down and listen to this list
Now write down as many as
you can remember on the
worksheet
Who wrote down “zoet”?
Snoep, zuur, suiker,
goed, ijs, lekker,
smaak, tand, honing,
chocolade, taart, eten
Spreading activation
• Spreading activation suggests that retrieval
works based on associations that are cued
(triggered)
• Many of you (hopefully!) wrote zoet because
the words I read cued you to think of zoet
Spreading activation example
Spreading activation is based on
association
• Essentially we remember things by association
• We associate some things with other more
readily
– Some links in the brain are stronger than others
– Regular association (learning without realizing)
helps strengthen links
Example: Centraal Beheer Achmea
Marcoms relies on spreading activation
• One aim of marcoms is positioning a brand or
product
• Positioning is about getting your brand or product
high up in the agenda when a product category is
mentioned or a problem is encountered
– You are aiming to strengthen the cue (trigger) for
target group to think of your brand and think
positively about it
• This is called Top of Mind Awareness (ToMA)
Exercise:
• What are the implications for marketing
communications of the idea that
remembering relies on association?
• Take two minutes to discuss this with your
neighbour
– How might you help aid retrieval in your
marketing communication?
• Write down your answers on the worksheet
Implications
Tips for ensuring retrieval of your
persuasive messages
• Don’t overload working memory
– Help with chunking or rehearsal
• Facilitate encoding and retrieval
– Provoke deep processing (get them to question the meanings)
– Help them organize information
• Chunking
• Link to things already they know
–
–
–
–
Suggest context to develop memory traces
Use mnemonics (rhythm, rhyme, tune)
Consider how to link the learning context to point of sale
Positioning