Building brands based on emotion is a journey. And we love it!
Branding and marketing trigger emotions, so which emotions am I referring to?
Here’s a list of negative and positive emotions, let’s put things into perspective:
- Fear: People are fearful of being left behind, of not being prepared, of not fitting in with the crowd, or missing out on something (also known as FOMO, of which, I am certainly a sufferer).
- Competition: This emotion can push certain people to buy things that they normally would not. It’s keeping up with the Joneses, being better and having better than friends and family. In a way, this emotion can benefit you greatly, but selling to buyers who buy not out of want but out of fear, is not the best business plan.
- Security: Peace-of-mind really. People want to know that their family will be safe, that their stress will go down, and not wanting to worry, and so on.
- A sense of belonging: A natural human emotion, wanting to feel loved, belonging to a certain family or group or club.
- Freedom and independence: Feeling in control, making your own decisions, acting and living the way you want!
- Gratification: According to the dictionary, this emotion is known as “a source of pleasure.” I suppose some people turn to retail therapy for their gratification. And in turn, giving some the sense of belonging, triggering a feeling of being loved, eliminating the fear of missing out or not fitting in with the crowd.
I could list more, but the fact is, there are too many to mention. But, all of these have one important thing in common: self-interest. Consumers don’t really care about brands. Their concern is how brands can help them, solve their problems or make their lives easier.
Decide which emotion you want to tap into with your brand messaging and brand experience. But don’t assume you know your market and which emotion will matter to them, do your market research, properly! Once that is done, we can get talking about YOUR marketing strategy.
