June 15th, 2016: Canadian University Dubai (CUD) communications professor, Dr. Franziska Apprich, has been invited to contribute to an ambitious research project on the role of sight, sound and motion in consumer behavior, with leading global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.
An award winning filmmaker and creative director, Dr. Apprich will lend her expertise to a unique project, which aims to understand how people’s brand preferences are driven by different mediums. As an expert in audio-visual simulation, Dr. Apprich will explore how sound and images enhance consumers’ emotional engagement and connect with them on an unconscious yet influential level.
The research is driven by Saatchi & Saatchi The Lovemarks Company, an initiative that transcends brands to look at the relationship people have with products and how they can connect with hearts and minds to create an intimate, emotional bond.
The collaboration will see Dr. Apprich build upon her previous research in ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), a psychological phenomenon in which sound can induce pleasurable feelings that enhance wellbeing, for which she won a VIFRA Outstanding Scientist Award.
Dr. Apprich explained, “The new research will show participants certain moving images and colors, have them listen to certain musical scores and sound, and measure their brain activity and eye ball movement. The data collected will reveal what makes consumers tick, what works for them, and ultimately help to create ads that connect with the audience, rather than those that are considered an interruption to the constant flow of content.”
Speaking about the collaboration, CEO at Facto Saatchi & Saatchi, Fabrice Boutin said, “The research partnership will shed light on consumer behavior and brand preferences. SISOMO (Sight, Sound and Motion) are integral parts of our advertising tools. How can we stimulate our audience even more effectively? How can we make our audience fall in love with our advertising? How can ads be inspiring rather than interrupting"
“Dr. Apprich is an expert in audio-visual stimulation and with her support we will conduct focus groups, undertake research, turn theory into practice and implement, as well as publish our findings. We are excited to have Dr. Apprich with us; exchange is all that counts.”
Dr. Apprich concluded, “The corporate world and academia are meant to be together. Our goal is to inform each other, find out, research – bring both disciplines forward and exchange ideas. As a practitioner as well as academic – my PhD was one of the first ones which was practice based – I think we as educators need to inspire our students by working with the most prestigious companies in the world and develop ourselves, our research and our practices; only then can we truly call ourselves educators.”
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