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McKinsey alumnus Portia Antonia Alexis believes that neuromarketing is the future when it comes to luxury goods consulting
The field of luxury goods consultancy is well-established, and one that has always relied largely on traditional marketing techniques. However, as the market becomes oversaturated and consumer shopping habits change over time, these strategies are becoming increasingly outdated, says Portia Antonia Alexis, a London-based consumer goods analyst. This was something she realised during her tenure as a luxury goods consultant at consulting firm McKinsey, when conducting research as part of her work.
"While the focus groups, consumer reports, and customer observations that we used in our consulting work was helpful, it didn’t provide the full picture," she recalls, citing that consumers might feel pressured to answer a certain way when participating in focus groups.
"I knew that I needed to find something that would give my clients the type of data that their competitors did not have access to. In my search for said data, I came across the emerging field of neuroeconomics, and soon fell down a rabbit hole."
With a keen eye on market trends, Alexis' focus has recently shifted to the Asia-Pacific region, which is considered to be the second largest regional market for cosmetics after Europe. The Briton, who also boasts stints in Newton Investment Management and Bank of America Merill Lynch, is "bullish about the prospect of market growth in the region".
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"I began reading the works of early proponents such as Jonathan Cohen, Christina Paxson, and Colin Camerer. These researchers proposed that by studying the brain’s response to different marketing techniques, brands could formulate advertising that was well-suited to their target audiences," said Alexis.
"I soon became confident that this approach was exactly what my clients in the luxury goods industry needed in order to launch successful marketing campaigns."
Inspired, Alexis took a leap of faith, putting her consulting job on hold to further her studies in neuroscience. By combining her two passions, she aims to gain a deeper understanding of how the brain subconsciously responds to stimuli such as branding, price, and advertisements, and how these responses translate into sales behaviour. She is, however, careful to point out that neuromarketing is not a replacement for traditional marketing techniques. Instead, she says, it serves to enhance them by providing unbiased data that can be utilised more effectively.
Here, Alexis answers five questions about neuromarketing and what it means for the future of luxury goods consulting.