O&M brings behavioural sciences arm to Asia

Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) is further expanding the global footprint of #ogilvychange, its behavioural sciences practice born in London in 2012.The unit is aimed at using cognitive psychology, social psychology and behavioural economics to influence people's behaviour and purchase decisions.Singapore is the third city globally to launch the practice following Prague, and marks the first in Asia Pacific. Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific’s regional planning director, Sonal Narain, will oversee the practice in Singapore along with Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of Ogilvy & Mather UK and co-founder of #ogilvychange and Jez Groom, also co-founder of #ogilvychange and director of strategy integration, O&M UK.“What we're discovering through Behavioural Economics is that large parts of the human brain involved in decision making aren't even accessible to introspection, let alone description, so attempting to pursue marketing by simply asking people to explain what they want to market researchers is sometimes dangerously wrong and at best incomplete,” said Sutherland.He added that to significantly improve marketing efficiency - and through that economic growth – marketing must improve its forecasting of how people will behave.Sonal Narain, head of #ogilvychange Singapore & regional planning director, said: “We are launching #ogilvychange in Singapore because we see a strong business case for it in this market, and have already been applying Behavioural Science principles to our working philosophy for some time, and with great success in recent campaigns for the public sector.”