The word 'emotion' is misunderstood in the advertising world. “Our brand ad must be emotional” is a generic statement that leaves too much to interpretation. Here are some myths of what 'emotion' in advertising isn’t.
3 incorrect uses of emotion in advertising
1: Ads do not need to make people feel something for your brand
An emotional connection with a brand is hard to establish and certainly should not be an objective. Aim to get the people who don’t buy from you at all, to buy you occasionally.
2: Ads do not need to communicate an emotional benefit.
The best ads are the ones that have a product demonstration and not show an emotional benefit.
3: Ads do not need to show emotion.
o does telling a good story. Or a joke. Even a rational message or fact can cause an emotional response. Your ads don’t need to show emotion to trigger emotion, meaning an ad should not have someone crying in order to evoke emotion.
Emotion is a tool to make memories stronger.
An emotional response is not the goal of long advertising, but a means to an end. Getting people to feel something helps them build memories. Consumers won’t remember how ads made them feel. But moving them is how you build strong brands that are recalled easily and often. The word 'emotion' is a big concept which can be subjective. It is not easily defined and therefore easily misused and abused. Rather than trying to create ads with emotion try to create ads that will elicit a reaction.If the objective of short advertising is action, then the goal of long advertising is reaction. An emotional response to build memory, associating your brand with a need.
Next time someone says we need to use emotion in our ads, ask them for a definition first.
Read the full article @CMO
