Subliminal Loyalty

This past weekend I finished my first marketing class at NYU - at the School for Continuing and Professional Studies. The class was based on my book "The Experience Effect", an interactive look at building the brand experience. The students were amazing and I loved every minute of it. Can't wait to do it again.

I'd like to share those experiences all this week, starting with a guest blog post from one of the students, Henry Rooney. Here Henry shares a new perspective he has gained from the class.

Henry, what's your experience? Jim.

I always thought that having worked on the sales side of advertising that I was smarter than the average consumer. Spending so much time around ad placement made me think that I could recognize any message put in front of me and be impervious to it. I was not going to be a victim of marketing!

Recently after taking Jim Joseph's class, I realized that not only do I give into brand messaging on a daily basis, I probably spend more than most. Not that it's a bad thing -- all the products I'm buying are serving me well -- but this has been an interesting and eye-opening week. I am indeed a sucker for brand marketing.

I didn't think I paid much attention to television commercials and I thought I did a fairly good job of avoiding internet ads. Clearly there is still a message getting across to me.

First thing I noticed was my running shoes.

Asics and nothing else will do.

I started noticing footwear when I started competing in triathlons. After one race a rep from some shoe company approached a group of us and commented on our worn out shoes.

After a brief talk about how to replace running shoes every 200 miles, I headed right to the store. Once there, all I heard from the in-store rep was Asics. So I bought a pair based on his recommendation and finished the next race in my best time. Although I am sure there were thousands of factors in play that day, all I could think about were my new shoes.

Little did I realize that the rep at the past race was from Asics. He never even mentioned the brand, except for the logo on his shirt and the fresh new shoes on his feet. And of course the store I went to, as recommended by the rep at the race, was an Asics exclusive retailer.

They got me. Not only will I continue to be loyal to my Asics, I will replace them every few months.

After Jim's class, I now realize that this is only one of several aspects of my life where brand loyalty plays a huge part. I've never thought about it before.

I'll only use a Burton snowboard, phone has to be Verizon, casual sneakers are always New Balance, news comes from CNN.com, dress shirts are Brooks Brothers and the list goes on.

I'm not sure how each one started, but they are all a part of my daily routine and personal experience effect!

- Henry Rooney, student at NYU