The 265 Signals That Drive Human Choice with Bill Harvey

Oliver Atkinson sits down with media pioneer Bill Harvey, creator of Resonance Media Theory (RMT), to explore why understanding human motivation beats chasing attention, and how a breakthrough audience measurement system is reshaping the future of marketing, media and AI. Bill shares the remarkable story behind a lifelong quest that began when he experienced flow state as a child performer and led to decades of research into how audiences really make decisions. Discover how a project that started with 13,000 psychological descriptors was refined to 265 “value signals” that predict what people connect with. He also unpacks why media and creative should never be separated, comparing media to the rocket and creative to the payload. The conversation dives into Wharton’s largest-ever neuroscience study, where RMT proved a stronger predictor of brain synchrony than three out of four EEG measures, challenging long-held assumptions about attention, persuasion and effectiveness. With marketers under increasing pressure to deliver measurable outcomes, this episode offers a fresh perspective on why motivation matters more than demographics, why context can reduce wasted media spend, and how future AI systems may need to understand human feelings before they can truly help people. Follow Audience Connection Podcast: Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.