Hong Kong – Ogilvy’s global growth and innovation arm, Ogilvy Consulting, has just launched a new practice called ‘Behavioral Science’ in Asia, which works to creatively apply the insights of contemporary behavioral science to diagnose, create, and validate ‘unseen opportunities’.
The ‘Behavioral Science’ practice, which was first launched in North America in 2017, focuses on how audiences think, feel, and behave to improve marketing and communications effectiveness. By moving away from assumptions about consumers, the practice uses the latest insights from social psychology and behavioral economics, which in turn ensures creative solutions are touching the right nerves.
Following this endeavor, Ogilvy has also appointed Paolo Mercado as the new vice president of ‘Behavioral Science’. He will report directly to Jerry Smith, Ogilvy’s president of growth and innovation and Ogilvy Consulting’s CEO for Asia.
Mercado brings with him 12 years of experience working with Nestlé, where he headed up marketing and communications in China. He also led Nestlé’s Innovation in the Philippines. Throughout his career, Mercado has managed marketing projects in all major geographies of APAC, North America, and Latin America, as well as Europe, and the Middle East.
Besides his previous roles in Nestlé, Mercado is also the founding president of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines, a think tank that advocates for the recognition of creative industries as the country’s next economic growth driver.
Mercado said that ‘Behavioral Science’ looks beyond demographics and what people say, to the inner workings of how people view the world and create their own identities.
“Instead of targeting people, understanding them works better. And that’s at the heart of how ‘Behavioral Science’ helps us as marketers, by creating more effective ways to help brands achieve better outcomes,” said Mercado.
Meanwhile, Smith believes that ‘Behavioral Science’ is the key to unlocking that potential for organizational performance, product development, communications strategy, and service optimization.
“‘Behavioral Science’ will create a real edge for us in the marketplace, and Paolo’s diverse marketing and innovation experience, in addition to his background in psychology, makes him the perfect leader to help us transform the way we understand and move people on behalf of our clients,” said Smith.