Can you think of a time when you made a purchase simply because you liked what you saw? Of course you can; we all can. Emotional appeal plays a significant role in influencing consumer behavior. The first step to creating a strong sense of brand attachment is to establish an emotional connect with your buyer.
Ads with an emotional appeal work better
An analysis of 1400 case studies submitted to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) found that ads with an emotional appeal were more effective than those with a rational appeal, as well as those that took a combined approach. To understand how humanizing your brand can set sales figures going northwards, let’s look at one brand that has earned attachment through its many successful ad campaigns – AXE.
The AXE ad below is flirtatious and fantastical – a tone that the brand has made its own simply by using it consistently. AXE doesn’t just sell deodorants; it calls on a man’s need to feel desirable. And that’s the emotional appeal we’re talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKLR894oMs
Here’s a screen-shot from the AXE Facebook page – take note of the unified approach that popular brands such as AXE maintain across all their marketing efforts. This way your consumer is not only buying into an emotion, but he’s buying into the same one each time.
What’s the right emotion for your brand?
If you’re looking to identify the right emotion for your brand, here are a few suggestions that could help you get started with the brainstorming. First, ask a few questions – What product/service are you selling? Who are you selling to? What need does your product/service fulfill? Find an emotional association that would work best with your product/service based on the need/want that you identify. For instance, if you’re selling stationery, ambition would perhaps be the apt emotion to tap into.
Thanks to advances in technology and the e-commerce boom, there’s little businesses can achieve by focusing solely on pricing as a differentiator. As author and professor, Rita Gunther McGrath notes in one of her contributions to the Harvard Business Review, the emotional appeal that you create around your brand can go a long way in setting you apart from your competitors. Do you have more ideas on how you can use emotion to create brand attachment? Leave your comments below.