The ALR Marketing Solutions Blog

The Emotion of Marketing

Arguably some of the most memorable marketing campaigns of all time were those designed to appeal to the emotion of the viewer.

Over the summer Wal-Mart aired TV commercials targeting students (and their parents) who were heading off to college. 

The message- Everything you need is at Wal-Mart… dorm supplies, school gear, electronics, clothes, etc.

In one commercial spot a mom was helping her daughter set-up her new dorm room.  At the end of the commercial, the mother had left the building to head home and her daughter ran after her for one last “thank you” hug….  The commercial ad was sweet.  It had great emotional appeal to the millions of parents and their children heading off to college.

My favorite sitcom growing up was the popular TV show Growing Pains.  In one particular episode the daughter, Carol (Tracy Gold), was discussing with her friend Annie (guest star Katie Boyer) how the long-distance commercials made them cry…  (Keep in mind this episode was from 1987, before the age of cell phones and Social Media communication.)

The idea behind the old “long-distance” commercials was to conjure up feelings that target the emotion of the viewer.  If watching them made you cry, then the marketers were doing their jobs. 

Lots of brands consistently play on viewer emotion:  Campbell’s Soup (a child is sick at home in bed or a child coming in from the cold… all they need to feel better is soup); Maxwell House Coffee; Kodak Pictures; Kleenex; Disney World; ever Budweiser (all the donkey wanted was to be a Clydesdale); and many more brands.  Emotional marketing can also be found in various entire industries such as insurance, pharmaceuticals, and security systems.

When developing an Emotional Marketing Campaign, consumer response to emotion typically falls into 1 of 3 categories. 

1. Pleasure

Including:  desire, joy, affection, and pride

2. Arousal

Including: interest, surprise, and involvement

3. Dominance

Including:  guilt, sadness, fear, conflict, and skepticism

Moving into the holiday season, you should expect to see many emotional marketing campaigns on the air, in print, and on the web.  Lexus, for example, is well known for their seasonal car commercials.  Who wouldn’t want to wake-up on Christmas morning to find a brand new car, big red bow and all, in the driveway?  Consumers often tend to seek out products that provide positive emotional arousal.  So, keep that in mind when planning to tap into your consumer markets emotion.  

Avoid Mixed Message Marketing Campaigns

What a Blunder!

A few years ago my university alma mater launched a marketing campaign to increase enrollment into the College of Business’s MBA program.  The great minds on this campaign came up with the slogan, “Join the Elite,” thus implying... earn your MBA and you will be a member of an elite group.

So you’re probably thinking, “Sure, OK…I get it.”  But herein lies the problem...

The message implies that earning an MBA makes you elite.  Therefore, I could earn an MBA from anywhere and thus become a member of this elite group.

Now, for example, look at Milk.  “Got milk?” is a question that has been posed on TV commercials and print ads since 1993 when the California Milk Processor Board launched the “got milk?” campaign http://www.gotmilk.com.  “Got milk?” however, is a slogan that works… 

 

 

So, why does “got milk?” work and “Join the Elite” not work?  

The answer is quite simple.  “Got milk?” is a marketing campaign that is licensed by the California Milk Processor Board.  Now, if Mayfield Dairy (www.mayfielddairy.com) wanted to ask you if you’ve “got milk?” then the question would really need to be phrased, “Got Mayfield Milk?”  Otherwise, the consumer’s milk could just as easily have come from Stonyfield Farm, Parmalat Dairy, or any other dairy milk company.   

Sure the “Join the Elite” campaign encourages the audience to earn an MBA.  But, it doesn’t put any emphasis on what university one should earn their MBA from.  

Watch out for marketing message blunders.  A mixed message can end up helping the competition instead.  

It’s Not Just Fiction Anymore

Interactive Marketing that engages the consumer…

Engaging the market, building brand awareness, and driving revenue to the business are challenges that face many marketers.  Now try accomplishing all this with innovation and fresh ideas.

Recently, I’ve found some marketing efforts that have seemingly accomplished these objectives and more through unique approaches using Interactive Marketing.  Interactive marketing is first and foremost a practice of engaging the audience with encouraged participation.   It creates a direct communication between the brand and the market.

Last year on the hit soap opera The Young and the Restless several key characters launched (in story line) a print and online magazine called Restless Style.  At the same time, production launched an “in character” corresponding website for fans (www.restlessstyle.com).  The design and content of the site present Restless Style as reality.  The site provides viewers content that is featured in episodes, while also serving as a way to encompass undated storyline information into the site’s theme.  Restlessstyle.com allows the audience to be engaged.  Because the site is constantly updated, it keeps fans coming back for more.

 

Another example of a TV show that offered audiences an engaging way to stay connected with the storyline is HBO’s hit show Entourage.  After lead character Vincent Chase stared in the fictional movie Medellin, HBO launched a website  (www.medellinthefilm.com) promoting said movie complete with a movie trailer, synopsis, photos from the set, and a cast interview.  If you didn’t know any better, you might have thought Medellin made it to the box office.

 

Good interactive marketing, however, doesn’t just have to be an extension of reality.  It merely needs to be an engaging way to promote the brand and involve the market.  When the remake of the 1963 film, The Pink Panther opened, producers were able to feature European Smart Car (smart fortwo) as part of the cast playing the role of Inspector Clouseau’s police car.  As an interactive promotional game, fans were invited to “Pick up the Trail” and hunt for the stolen diamonds at a site featured on www.smart.com. 

 

Find a way to engage the market through Interactive Marketing practices and you’ll have them coming back for more…   

Planning Your Ad

Good advertising can often make the difference between a specific product's success or failure, and in some cases, the entire business’s survival. Advertising is a message that is typically designed to entice the audience into making a purchase. In addition, it can create a need or demand when perhaps there wasn’t one in the first place. Now that's power.

Chances are you've probably heard most of this before. So, let’s assume you’re ready to advertise and start from square one.

When planning your ad you'll need to format the advertisement in a way that will best connect with your market.

Where to begin?

There are four common categories of Ad Formats to choose from:

1. Product Information Format

• The product is the center of attention
• All elements of the ad explain the featured product and its use
• Pictures both the brand name (logo) and product
• Includes LOTS of copy
• Provides a rational argument

2. Product Image Format

• Ties the product into a symbolic setting
• Product given special qualities

3. Personalized Format

• Provides a tie between the product
and a personal life style or view
• Highly symbolic
• Could contain a testimonial
• Often implies product will make audience
into a better person

4. Lifestyle Format

• Blends the product, setting, and persons
featured in ad together
• Based on stereotypes
• Often "activity" centered
• Offers a connection between product and audience

How to decide the right format??

Begin by assessing the situation:
• What is the image of your company?
• Does the audience already know who you are?
• What is your product/service?
• Why is it unique?
• What is the competition like?

How are you going to approach your audience?

Answer the above questions and you’re on track to better understanding your audience and ready to begin planning your next ad based on your findings.