Branding and presentations. Keep it simple!

Simple and clear wins

As a company we do a lot of presentations and pitches, something I've always wondered is why presentations, advertising and branding messages must always be kept simple and easy to understand.

I've researched this and I appreciate that communication and the human mind is a very complex area. Certainly too complex to explain fully in a blog.

Therefore, I'm going to focus on two areas of the brain and how they react to communication.

First the Neo Cortex this part of the brain is smart. It handles linguistics and problem solving. It's what gets you up in the morning, it figures out how to get you to work and how to do your job etc. Many people think this is all the brain does.

Secondly, we have the primitive brain this is routed in survival; it governs any new information and your physiology. Let me give you a quick example of how it works.

You're rustling through your back garden, and suddenly you see a huge Tarantula spider. You get scared and your physiology starts freaking out. Then after a while the Neo Cortex kicks in to help you understand the situation. And you realize it's not a spider it's just a few leaves and sticks.

However you're still shaking for minutes after. The primitive brain commands the flight or fight response system.

What does this have to do with branding, presentations and advertising?

Whenever humans encounter something new or we are asked to accept new information such as presentations, advertising or design, the primitive brain is automatically engage.

And it's called the primitive brain for a reason

It only understands simple, clear communication. If information is too complex or lacking in confidence, it will freak out and shut down the rest of the brain including the Neo Cortex. When that happens people have no option but to switch off.

Therefore it's imperative keep all messages clear and simple when we consider presentations and branding.