Brain Driven Brands — Episode 99: "Steal Your Customers from Your Competitors (the Easy Way)"

Host: Sarah Levinger
Date: August 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this milestone 99th episode, Sarah Levinger (with co-host Nate Lagos) explores neuromarketing strategies used by powerhouse brands to ethically "steal" customers from competitors. Leaning into behavioral psychology (with heavy emphasis on the BJ Fogg Behavior Model), the hosts walk through real-world tactics—using personal anecdotes and client examples (including True Classic, Spotify, and Plants vs. Zombies)—to equip e-commerce brands with practical, psychology-driven marketing prompts that seamlessly fit into customers’ lives and motivate them to switch brands.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Psychology of Brand Naming and Social Norms

 • Lighthearted banter opens the episode, analyzing why law firms and agencies use “and Son,” never “and Daughter,” and how women seldom get team camaraderie via surnames (00:09-03:48).
 • Notable moment: Sarah urges listeners to try calling female colleagues by their last name to foster inclusion.

“Here’s what I want all the dudes who are listening… go out and call one of your female compatriots by their last name and just say, I want you to be part of the team.” — Sarah [03:07]
 • Reflections on gendered naming conventions highlight unconscious biases and the cultural signals encoded in business identity.

2. Milestone Banter: Episode 99 Achievement

 • Celebrating reaching episode 99, the hosts remark on podcasting statistics—most shows “don’t get past 12 episodes.”

“Moment of loudness for episode 99, everybody. We did it, actually. This is really hard.” — Sarah [04:03]
 • Underlines the commitment required to maintain audience engagement in branded content.

3. Case Study: The Consumer Decision-Making Process for Rings

 • Sarah shares a personal anecdote—her husband Casey is deciding between brands (Original Grain vs. Ridge) for a new ring.
 • The discussion shifts to real-time brand battle:

• Brand Attachment: Original Grain’s rings are purpose-built to match their watches, appealing to loyalists but potentially narrowing the customer base.
• Material Matters: Ridge wins Casey over not by style, but by offering a Damascus steel ring, a unique material with storytelling power [09:30-10:34].

“He said it was not the look, it was the material.” — Sarah [09:27]

4. Category Expansion and Material Storytelling

 • Ridge’s success in rings is noted as an “amazing category expansion” for a wallet-first brand (09:41).
 • Damascus steel—a high-quality, visually distinct metal—becomes a talking point for how brands can leverage unique materials and origin stories to prompt purchase consideration.

5. Breakdown: The BJ Fogg Behavior Model Applied to E-commerce

 • Model Elements
1. Motivation: The drive to change or make a purchase
2. Ability: The means (cash, access, competence) to act
3. Prompt: The trigger that turns intention into action ([11:41]-[13:03])
 • Importance of aligning marketing prompts with customer behavior (“Date night,” material preferences, recurring rituals).

“You have to have all three of these in play… Motivation, ability, and prompt.” — Sarah [12:59]
“The prompt that he sees is going to be critical… it really has to match who he is as a person.” — Sarah [14:00]

6. How to Craft Effective Prompts for Stealing Customers

 • Generic prompts (ads) aren’t enough. To “steal” a customer, the brand must insert itself into moments the buyer already values—like date nights or recognizing preferred materials.
 • Examples Discussed:

• Targeting ads to married men (“Men who carve out time for their marriage wear our rings”) [15:16-15:25]
• Prompting around “when” (e.g., special occasions, life milestones) and “what” (material or design preferences) [16:29-17:09]
• Making the ring relevant to hobbies—e.g., Sarah’s husband links the ring’s material to his paramotoring passion (carbon fiber and Damascus associations)

“You want them to go out and get their carbon fiber freaking paramotor ready to go… and say, ah, Original Grain still has those rings.” — Sarah [20:37]

7. Testing & Iteration: Reframing Product Prompts

 • The hosts resolve to experiment with new prompts for ring ads, personalized to common life moments and passions (22:17).

“How can you frame your products to exist in what they already do?” — Nate [20:28]
“You don’t convince him to buy anything. You’re just reminding him that that was something he already wanted.” — Sarah [20:53]

8. Tactile Cues & Quality Signaling

 • Product “weight” and material feel—heavier products signal higher quality [18:33].
 • Close-up visuals of materials can strengthen the mental association and consumer recall.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Necessity of Prompts:
  “Even though motivation and ability are there, the prompt isn’t there, so you don’t do it.” — Nate [13:53]
• On Brand Storytelling:
  “Ridge… fantastic case study in, like, category expansion.” — Nate [09:45]
• On Building Reminders into Life:
  “You want [your customer] to go out... look at that material and say, ah, Original Grain still has those rings. I need to go back and take a look at those. That’s why you advertise in the first place.” — Sarah [20:37]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:07] — Sarah’s call-to-action: Surnames and inclusion
• [04:03] — Episode 99 celebration & podcasting persistence
• [06:00] — Case Study: Deciding between Ridge & Original Grain rings
• [09:27] — “It was not the look, it was the material.” — Why Casey chose Ridge
• [11:41] — Introduction to BJ Fogg Behavior Model
• [14:00] — The critical moment: Prompts must fit customer identity
• [15:16-15:25] — “Men who carve out time for their marriage wear our rings.”
• [20:28] — “How can you frame your products to exist in what they already do?”
• [20:53] — The real purpose of advertising: prompting recall, not creating desire

Actionable Takeaways from the Episode

• Analyze what naturally prompts your audience, then match your product messaging to fit those lived moments.
• Use unique materials and sensory cues (like weight, texture, color associations) to create memorable product prompts.
• Don’t neglect emotional or event-based triggers—plan campaigns for “life moments” like date nights, anniversaries, or achievements.
• Iterate on prompts—use testing and customer feedback to find what resonates and breaks habitual loyalty to competitors.
• Brand storytelling isn’t just about your company; it’s about embedding your product in the customer’s ongoing story and rituals.

The Episode’s Core Message

To ethically steal customers from your competitors, your brand’s prompts must align seamlessly with real needs, routines, and moments already present in your customer’s life. Recognize and reinforce what they value, and you’ll become the brand they recall—and switch to—when it matters.

For more, find Sarah on Twitter or LinkedIn (@Sir Levenger), and stay tuned for episode 100!