Body and Mind
Even a single cell organism such as a bacterium acts as if it has a mind. It moves away from toxins and towards nutrients. For bacteria, such behavioural response is the key to survival. Humans have minds, in addition to bodies, although both serve the same purpose -- a purpose shared by every species on earth, i.e. survival and well- being. Products and services, in essence, serve the purpose of mind/body by enhancing the survival (physical, psychological and social) and the quality of survival. No wonder advertising is more and more focused on the quality of life that products bring to consumers’ lives rather than their functional attributes.
The question of mind-body has intrigued many great philosophers and scientists. While the eastern civilization had long understood the connection between mind and body, it took a long time for the West to grasp this knowledge. An increasing body of scientific evidence suggests that mind (the immaterial) and body (the material) have a symbiotic relationship. What happens in the mind has outcomes on the body, and the body has a significant role in the shaping of the mind. But for many centuries, the West embraced the concept of disembodied mind (mind separate from the body; spirit separate from matter) and this had a profound impact on many disciplines including medicine, as exemplified in the way it treated diseases (by simply focusing on the body and not the mind). It would not be wrong to assume that this mind/ body problem had a great impact on the way marketers approached advertising. As a result, for a long time, marketers practiced a rationalist-materialistic approach in advertising (e.g. nice shampoo=nice hair=nice job).In the absence of proper understanding of bodily emotions and their influence on the mind, emotions were generally overlooked as an effective approach in advertising.
Emotions help us survive and survive better. If we did not have the emotion of fear, we would walk

freely in the middle of the highway, though not for very long.If we did not feel good or happy, we would not get into any kind of exploration; whether it was seeking a mate or having sex when we lived in the jungle or seeking scientific discoveries while we live in a civilized world. It is very difficult for an eternally sad and depressed person to engage in such explorations. Some argue that emotions are dysfunctional, but this is true only when an emotion or its intensity is inappropriate to the situation.
With the re-emergence of the integrated theory of mind/body, and the role of body (where emotions occur) and its making of the mind (where the emotions are felt and classified as painful or pleasurable etc.), emotions have received their due importance in management and, by extension, in advertising. It is worthwhile to note that beliefs are tied with emotions. And emotions can lead to new beliefs and strengthen existing beliefs. It is our emotional connect with the brands that strengthens our belief in them.Only recently has science agreed upon a broad definition of emotions and their purpose in our lives.

Mind and Brands
Products exist in the outer world. Mind exists inside us. We engage our body to interact with objects (including products) and events in the outer world. However, it is our mind, in conjunction with our body, which gives meaning to those products.
In other words, mind and products come together to make a brand. Products, or for that matter, any external objects or events, do not have much intrinsic qualities of their own. Products are generally neither good, nor bad; neither black nor white; neither beautiful nor ugly. And when they are made under the statutory quality standards, they are neither superior nor inferior. It is our mind that gives (or doesn’t give) products such qualities.
This is where advertising comes in. Advertising helps the mind embrace the

intended qualities of products through association or conditioning. When those intended qualities, through a repetitive exposure of messages (provided they are delivered in the proper way, here delivery of the message is the key) become hardwired in the brain, they become a belief. Beauty care products don’t make us more beautiful as much as they make us feel more beautiful, and so do the designer clothes and many other products. Does one nutritional drink make kids smarter or taller than others or does it make any smarter at all? No one can say for sure. Most of the scientific claims made by product advertisements are derived from correlation rather than causation. But if the consumers strongly believe (with strong emotions) that it does, then no reasoning can change their mind.

Brands and God
Brands are much more than simply matter, much more than what they are made of. Belief is what lies underneath both God and brands; the only difference is the degree. And mind is the space where both God and brands are experienced. This is in no way meant to reduce God to mental states or to draw any parallel between God and brands, because God is much more powerful than any brand mankind has ever made.

Only God can create the kind of belief that He does. However, I believe that any brand that can create a godlike belief will be the truly ultimate brand. Whether it is ever possible to do so is another question altogether. But that should not stop brands from trying. This effort is what will drive brands to continually evolve forever. (Panday is a Creative Consultant and winner of six Crity Advertising Awards)