Alumni Success Story: An Interview with Neuromarketing Specialist Ani Kyureghyan (MBA ’09)
3 min readThe American University of Armenia (AUA) alumna Ani Kyureghyan (MBA ’09), the founder and CEO of Neurohub Business Academy and a proponent of neuromarketing in Armenia, organized the first International Neuromarketing Conference 2018 (#INC2018) in the region.
Tell us about your education at AUA. How did you benefit from it?
AUA offers a unique working and learning environment. Here I was shaped both as an individual and a professional by seizing the opportunities. During my studies at AUA, I faced some challenges and only by overcoming them did I gain such qualities as flexibility, stress resistance, crisis management, and strong leadership skills. I can say that AUA had a huge impact on my career and prepared me for my future endeavors.
Tell us about your doctoral research.
The theme of my doctoral research is “Neuromarketing technologies in Armenia.” The major goal is to bring and develop the usage of neuromarketing technologies in Armenia, and give a chance to local products to be competitive in a global market.
What is the most important lesson you teach as a lecturer?
The main idea that I always try to convey to my students is the success they can achieve as a result of hard work. The knowledge that they gain is the key that will open numerous doors for them. However, without hard work and consistency nothing can be achieved. Failure is inevitable on the way of success and only those who fail but rise and continue ‒ or start from the scratch ‒ will reach horizons never explored before. Success is all about ideas, creativity and diligence.
Tell us about Neurohub Business Academy. How and when did you come up with the idea?
I have always been a seeker and explorer. When I found passion in marketing to continue my career path, I researched to explore every corner, every new detail of it. When I discovered neuromarketing, I realized that this is the future of marketing and the direction I want to specialize in. To my disappointment it turned out that there is no practice of neuromarketing in Armenia, so I decided to be the one who would bring it to my country. That is how I founded Neurohub Business Academy and started the development of neuromarketing in Armenia.
Neurohub Business Academy specializes in neuromarketing applications that test and examine the effectiveness of marketing techniques and studies influence of neuromarketing on customers’ subconscious behavior. Established in 2011, Neurohub is the first business consulting organization in the region that provides neuromarketing research on consumers’ preferences and purchasing behavior through implementation of innovative technologies.
Tell us about the 2018 International Neuromarketing Conference that you organized this spring.
#INC2018 was the first neuromarketing conference in the region, which took place in Armenia in March 2018. The main topic of the conference was around Neurobranding. Leading local and international speakers, including Bert Ohnemuller, public speaker, author, and CEO of Neuromerchandising Group, Dr. Omid Asgari, practical neuromarketer and founder of DeltaLab, Dr. Armenak Antinyan, behavioral economist and innovation specialist for Sustainable Development Goals at UNDP in Armenia, and Karen Babajanyan, branding specialist, branding director and co-founder at Braind, gathered in one place to share their visions, experience, to inspire and get inspired.
How would you evaluate the future of neuromarketing in Armenia?
Neuromarketing is an emerging and fast-developing field not only in Armenia but all around the world. I guess, it is one of the major trends shaping the future of marketing. I am delighted to see that today’s youth are interested in neuromarketing and recognize its potential to practically change the way we do business. By studying specific types of brain activity that motivate consumers to make their decisions, you can adjust your product, service or brand to reflect subconscious consumer needs. Knowing this, it’s hard to imagine the limits of neuromarketing in the future. The more researchers learn about the human brain in the context of consumerism, the more fascinating and inspiring examples of neuromarketing can be found. Along with every step we take to raise awareness of what neuromarketing is, I notice the bright future ahead. Neuromarketing is a truly strong tool to do smarter, better, and unprecedentedly targeted marketing. Armenia is surely going to be on top of the game!