functional vs emotional needs

8/12/2019 FUNCTIONAL vs Emotional Needs

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/functional-vs-emotional-needs 1/74

EMOTIONAL MARKETING/ BRANDING 101



To Summarise Emotional Branding/ Marketing

Introduction:

How does your brand make people feel?

Does it make them feel safer or more secure? I

s it reassuring?

Does it make them feel more in control?

More confident?

Does your brand make them feel sophisticated or sexy?

Do they feel as though they are making a difference in the world by purchasing and using your

brand?

Does your brand put a smile on their faces?

Does it harken back to a simpler time, a time of innocence and playfulness? Does using your brand make them feel as though they have status?

Does it reinforce who they perceive themselves to be?

Does it make them feel smart?

Does it make them feel uninhibited and free?

Does it amuse them?

Does it make them feel as though they have arrived in society?

Does it give them a sense of belonging?

Does it take them back to an earlier time in their lives? Does it take them back to their childhood?

Does it help them fanaticize about their future?

Does it make them feel romantic? Stylish? Giddy?

Does it make them want to sing or dance?

Brands can do all of these things and more. Don‘t forget about how your brand could make people feel.

People are much more likely to respond to feelings than a laundry list of attributes and features.

What is Emotional Branding

1. When the purchase or use of a brand gives the customer a positive feeling,that brand is providing an emotional benefit

2. Marry the brand to a positive emotional experience that enhances theuser’s day and their self opinion. In short, interaction with this brand

makes me feel ______. So when I want to feel that way, I reach for

the brand. This is the essence of the emotional benefit 3. An Emotional Benefit is nothing more than "Something nice I can say about myself because I

use your product or service" 4. Emotional benefits may be closely associated either with

a. temporary and instinctual physiological reactions (Feel refreshed and energised whileconsuming Coke)

b. Relate directly and powerfully to enduring self-concept.

Why is it required

http://www.mbaknol.com/marketing-management/emotional-marketing/







1. Emotional Benefits provide a brand with „a powerfully held set of brand beliefs‟ 2. Emotional benefits are more abstract but are harder to duplicate and thus

generate greater loyalty among customers

3. The purpose of emotional branding is to create a bond between the consumerand the product by provoking the consumer's emotion

4. People buy emotionally and justify their decisions rationally

5. Emotional benefits add richness and depth to the experience ofowning and using the brand. 6. brands become symbols of a person‘ s self-concept and provide a self-

expressive benefit by communicating her self-image 7. The ultimate end emotional benefit/ value is enhanced self-esteem. 8. An identity based on intangible associations or brand personalities

provides more strategic scope and liberty to extend the brand

9. Building a differentiation strategy on Emotional Benefits removes the pressure for continuous product innovation which is hard to achieveand constantly deliver

When is it appropriate Ideal for categories/ products/ brands

Whose features maybe associated with a rewarding emotional payoff. Whose features and benefits can be linked persuasively to emotional end benefits.

Possess the potential to enhance our positive sense of self-esteem.Another classification is by categories which

require a high level of involvement

are hard to differentiate on product features. Enjoy a long tradition and heritage. With the passage of time the

brand becomes more known and experienced, consumers attachemotional attributes to it.

Offer highly personalized products. Hand crafted for eachindividual needs, and a reflection of the owner’s personality.

Offer unique or limited edition products. What makes a painting

valuable is not the quality of paint or canvas, but its uniqueness, andthe impossibility of ever being replicated. Luxury clothing andaccessory brands fit this category perfectly

How is it done

1. always begin the expression of the emotional benefit with

the verb to Feel . This reminds us to follow that verb with atrue feeling—for example, ―Feel like a winner‖

2. We need to understand which features and functional benefits of our brandevoke feelings most strongly

3. Map out the corresponding feeling or set of feelings associated with each functional

benefit.

4. Fuse the functional and emotional benefits and create a composite. 5. You must learn to ask and find answers to these questions: What do they believe to

be true about themselves? What do they believe to be true about the world in

general

6. getting the emotional benefit ―done well,‖ as in:

Finding one that the target links directly to your brand‘s

functional performance;



Finding one that hasn‘t been so over-used across many

brands and categories; and,

Finding one that works only for your brand than others Treat the emotional side of a brand as the higher order benefits built on the

foundation of rational elements. Without that foundation, any claims for thecorresponding emotional benefits would lack credibility (Reasons to Believe)

When determining what the most important rational and emotional attributes arefor your brand, be sure that you understand how they are intertwined

What is required to do it

Differing features in each category are each capable of supporting a different set of

feelings. You need to know which feelings your category supports, and which particular

concrete features of your product are most closely associated with those feelings

For example while "Feeling Like An Attractive Person" might be an important emotion for

eye-wear, fashion, deodorant, or automobiles, it probably isn't an important emotionalbenefit for personal computers, stock brokerages, or long distance calling plans.

We need to understand which features and functional benefits of our brand evoke

feelings most strongly.

The essential concept is that every functional benefit or feature which is sought after

is sought after for an emotional reason

We need to know the extent to which each product feature supports EACH of the desired

emotional benefits in the human spectrum. (We also need to know where the competition

is in this emotional terrain, what the multivariate emotional field looks like — what SETS

of product features are most associated with desired emotions or desired SETS of

emotions)

Emotional Benefits must lie at the heart of your brand’s value proposition. Only then will your brand

truly tune into the nature of human decision making. the thing people care about most is themselves — their beliefs, attitudes, convictions.

Therefore, your strategy and execution should speak to them in an emotional way that

connects your brand with their beliefs.

Emotional branding creates a personal dialogue with consumers on their mostmeaningful issues.Brands must know their consumers – intimately and individually – with a deepunderstanding of their needs and cultural orientation.The more that you know about the real world and real people, the more you canpredict your customer‘s desires and expectations.

Great lines

Brand marketing involves the management of the emotional memories of both the

brand and all its communication

Emotional marketing is all about the ‗why,‘ the feelings and emotions underneath a

product or service.



The purpose of emotional branding is to create a bond between the consumer and the

product by provoking the consumer's emotion

The not ion that emot ion is no t only associated wi th compu ls iveness

an d irrational i ty, but is a su bconscious react ion, is the framework that dr ives

emot ional branding theory .

The biggest challenge is to identify and measure those emotions that will become thefoundation for your new ―lovemark‖ brand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrationality




1. Emotional Benefit

By Bruce Bradley

As a brand builder, the goal is to marry your brand to a positive emotionalexperience that enhances the user’s day and their self opinion. In short, interactionwith this brand makes me feel ______. So when I want to feel that way, I reach for

the brand. This is the essence of the emotional benefit .

What Is A Brand Value Proposition?

The central concepts of functional, emotional, and self-expressive benefits form an

essential part of the brand value proposition.

Brand value proposition is a statement of benefits delivered by the brand that

provide value to the customer. An effective brand value proposition should lead to

a brand—customer relationship and drive purchase decisions. Benefits are of 3 types:

1. Functional,

2. Emotional,

3. Self-expressive

1. Functional Benefits

The most visible and common basis for a brand value proposition is a functional benefit—that

is, a benefit based on a product attribute that provides functional utility to the customer. For

laser printers, functional benefits might be their speed, resolution, quality, paper capacity, or

lack of downtime. Other examples are as follows:

Volvo is a safe, durable car because of its weight and design.

Quaker Oats provides a hot, nutritious breakfast cereal.



A BMW car handles well, even on ice.

A 7-Eleven store means convenience.

Coke provides refreshment and taste.

Functional benefits have direct links to customer decisions and use experiences. If a brand can

dominate a key functional benefit, it can dominate a category. Crest, led the category with a

cavity reducing claim endorsed by the American Dental Association. Competitors were forced

to position their brands along inferior dimensions such as fresh breath and white teeth.

The challenge is to select functional benefits that will ―ring the bell‖ with customers and that

will support a strong position relative to competitors. Functional benefits have some

limitations—

often fail to differentiate,

can be copied,

assume a rational decision-maker,

can reduce strategic flexibility, and

inhibit brand extensions.

One way to overcome these limitations, is to expand the brand identity perspective

beyond product attributes by considering to expand the value proposition to include

emotional and self-expressive benefits as well as functional benefits.

2. Emotional Benefits

When the purchase or use of a particular brand gives the customer a positive feeling,

that brand is providing an emotional benefit. The strongest brand identities often include

emotional benefits. Thus a customer can feel any of the following:

Safe in a Volvo

Excited in a BMW or while watching MTV

In control of the aging process with Oil of Olay

Strong and rugged when wearing Levi‘s








Energetic and vibrant when drinking Coke

Emotional benefits add richness and depth to the experience of owning

and using the brand .

Without the memories that Sun-Maid raisins evoke, that brand would border on commodity status.

The familiar red package, though, links many users to happy days of helping Mom in the kitchen (or

to an idealized childhood, for some who wish that they had such experiences). The result can be a

different use experience — one with feelings — and a stronger brand.

To discover what emotional benefits could be associated with a brand, the focus needs to be on

feelings and enquire the following areas.

How do customers feel when they are buying or using the brand?

What feelings are engendered by the achievement of a functional benefit?

Most functional benefits will have a corresponding feeling or set of feelings. Identify those

Fusing Functional and Emotional Benefits

The strongest brand identities have both functional (―Your hair will be thick and full of body ‖)

and emotional benefits (―You will look and feel terrific ‖).

Therefore an important step would be to fuse functional and emotional benefits and create a

composite. For example,

Quaker Oats could combine the functional benefit of a nutritious, warm breakfast with the

feelings that accompany serving (or being served) such a breakfast to create a fused

―nurturing‖ brand image.

Similarly, Rice-A-Roni‘s ―the San Francisco treat‖ slogan combines the functional benefit of

adding flavor to rice with the excitement and romantic feelings associated with San Francisco.

3. Self-Expressive Benefits







Public settings and products (for instance, wine and cars) rather than private ones (such as books

and TV shows)

Aspiration and the future rather than memories of the past

The permanent (something linked to the person‘s personality) rather than the transitory

The act of using the product (wearing a cooking apron confirms oneself as a gourmet cook)

rather than a consequence of using the product (feeling proud and satisfied because of the

appearance of a well-appointed meal)

Emotional / Self Expressive Benefits Vs Functional Benefits

Brands essentially deal with different kinds of benefits. A brand that relies on the superior

performance of a key attribute may eventually get beaten by competition because the

attribute is a fixed target for competitors.

An identity that is based on intangible associations or brand personalities provides the

brand with more strategic scope and gives more liberty to extend the brand.



2. Understanding the Emotional Brand Benefit

Brand benefit is segmented into three categories.

Functional Benefit – Actual benefit from the brand. (ie. Low Fat)

Emotional Benefit – Benefit felt in the heart and mind of the consumer. (ie. feeling light and healthy)

Social Benefit – Benefit acquired by the consumer, only once it comes in contact with other people

(ie. being a healthy person among a group of friend.)

Only few brands (worldwide) have been able to translate the functional benefit into an emotional benefit that

consumers understand and adopt as part of their lives. Some examples of such brands are: Coca-Cola,

Starbucks, Singapore Airlines, Apple.

When we speak of emotional benefits, the consumer benefit isn‘t something tangible which they can show

off as an Oscar statue. Instead, it works more directly into the heart and mind.

The following are examples of emotional benefits:

• ―When I prepare a whole turkey from scratch, I feel like more of an accomplished mom.‖

• ―Working with a pharmaceutical company that has a history of standing behind their products tells

me that I can trust them. That level of trust allows me to focus on the patient and ultimately be a

better physician.‖

• ―Being in the Elite Member Club gives me prestige. When I bring friends to the Club as my guests,

I feel proud — like a very important person.‖

The tricky part on establishing an emotional benefit for consumers is the transition and translation of the

functional benefit into an emotional benefit.

How to do that?

Examples of successful brands that articulate both a functional and emotional benefit include:

Brand Functional Benefit Emotional Benefit

Gatorade Liquid Replenishment Capturing A Winning Spirit

Pantene Healthy And Beautiful Hair Being Proud Of Your Look

MasterCard Usage Across All Levels Of

Purchases

Helping You Enjoy Those

Lifetime (―Priceless‖)

Moments



Viagra Being Able To Perform

Sexually

Getting Your Loving

Relationship Back

Common Shortcomings to overcome

The benefit statement in a positioning lacks sufficient differentiation, at least a perceived point of

difference, and does not include an emotional dimension.

The emotional benefit and brand personality may be too generic and one-dimensional. Using

common adjectives like ―trustworthy,‖ ―peace-of-mind‖, ―empowerment‖ and ―dependable‖ is a good

start, but marketers must dig deeper to find more specific and engaging emotions that could more

effectively distinguish their brand and form this emotional bond with consumers



3. Emotional or Rational? Both!

Rational benefits are easy to understand, but can be easily copied. Think of the technical specs

of a computer. Emotional benefits are more abstract but are harder to duplicate and thus

generate greater loyalty among customers.

Unfortunately, this is sometimes interpreted as a choice between one type of benefit or the other

in your brand strategy. In fact, choosing one or the other is one of the worst things you can do

for your brand.

The relationship between emotional and rational benefits, it turns out, runs very deep.

It can be helpful to view the emotional side of a brand as the higher order benefits built on the

foundation of rational elements. Without that foundation, any claims for the corresponding

emotional benefits would lack any credibility.

For example, an emotional benefit of shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-op (an outdoors

equipment retailer) is that you feel very rugged, like a genuine outdoorsman (or

outdoorswoman). Rationally, the store provides extremely knowledgeable staff who can help you

get the most out of your equipment. While these are separate benefits, they are inextricably

linked. The former couldn‘t exist without the latter. You might be able to buy the same bike or tent

at Canadian Tire, but you wouldn‘t leave the store feeling the same way.

When determining what the most important rational and emotional attributes are for your brand,

be sure that you understand how they are intertwined.

Combining rational and emotional benefits

BMW and Mercedes are all about build quality and engineering excellence. BMW howeverfocuses on performance while Mercedes focuses on reliability.

They have leveraged their functional excellence into an emotional resonance with consumers.How do they do this?

BMW transforms performance into a form of emotional aggression. Mercedes translates reliabilityinto a form of emotional reassurance.

For certain categories, emotional benefits are often closelylinked with self-expressive benefits.



Lets say you need a new car. Your first considerations are likely to be based upon functionalbenefits:

reasonable performance, 2.0 litre engine,

fuel economy, reliability,

four doors, golf clubs must fit in the boot, must have an iPod connector,

must fit in your garage, etc.

You have a choice of around 12 Japanese, French, German, English and Italian cars. All look

much the same, have near identical specifications and capabilities and will meet your

requirements admirably. Six of these cars are priced below $40,000, five are priced below

$50,000 and the BMW is $65,000.

How can the BMW brand command a premium price level when on paper it has almost identical

specifications and performance as the other less expensive cars? The difference lies not in

superior functional benefits but in the emotional and self-expressive benefit of having a clearly

identifiable high performance luxury brand that will sit in your driveway and be the envy of

neighbours and friends.

When owners drive their BMW, they are rewarding themselves with an emotionally engaging

experience that satisfies their desire to be part of an elite group of drivers and owners that seek

something different and better .



4. Identifying Emotional Benefits For Your Brand

By Derek Daye

To be truly effective at brand marketing we need to understand which features and functional

benefits of our brand evoke feelings most strongly. And which do so without simultaneously

creating emotional anti-benefits (aversive feelings).

This is not a new concept. "Laddering" is a term used to refer to a technique wherein a focus

group moderator begins with a specific product feature and continues until a specific emotional

benefit that supports the respondent's self esteem is unearthed.

The essential concept is that every functional benefit or feature which is sought after is sought

after for an emotional reason.

Even a completed price based benefit (e.g. 'costs less') is understood to be emotionally motivated

because people in different categories may desire that benefit for different reasons. (Saving

money in the automobile category may be found to lead to 'I am safe' or 'I am financially secure'

whereas saving money on a package of gum may more likely lead to 'I feel wise' or 'I am a smart

shopper').

Even brand choices can be 'laddered on' to determine the key emotional benefits which are

associated with them. One limitation of laddering however, is that in reality there are MANY

emotional benefits associated with each product or service feature (laddering tends to assume

just one).

To craft an effective marketing strategy we wish to know the extent to which each product feature

supports EACH of the desired emotional benefits in the human spectrum. (We also need to know

where the competition is in this emotional terrain, what the multivariate emotional field looks like

— what SETS of product features are most associated with desired emotions or desired SETS of

emotions)

It's also essential to realize that the importance order of emotional benefits varies by product or

service category. For example while "feeling like an attractive person" might be an important

value for most people, there are only certain product categories that can provide features that

support that benefit.

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/11/identifying-emotional-benefits-for-your-brand.html




"Feeling Attractive" might be a significant motivating emotion for eye-wear, fashion, deodorant, or

automobiles, because each of these categories have features that are perceived as supporting

attractiveness. However, it probably isn't an important emotional benefit for personal computers,

stock brokerages, or long distance calling plans because there are no features that directly link to

that feeling.

The specific order of importance of emotional benefits varies by category. The differingproduct/service features in each category are each capable of supporting a different set offeelings. You need to know which feelings your category supports, and which particular concretefeatures of your product are most closely associated with those feelings



5. Emotional vs. rational benefits: getting the mix

just right

When it comes to marketing premium brands, there‘s usually no shortage of RTBs (ReasonsTo Believe) to choose from (unlike brands in commodity categories)

Premium brand(s) in any ―vertical‖ should carefully choose which RTBs make it in the

communication. Whether to lead with emotional or rational benefits depend on consumer

context and the category.

Take cars, for example. We all know that dozens of options exists that can deliver all the

rational benefits: engine size, price range, fuel efficiency, horsepower, and amenities like

navigation or premium sound.

While I may have many rational reasons for buying a car, the emotional benefits play a hugerole in helping me choose one model over another: the look, the way it handles, how safe I

feel, etc. Which benefits, though, should be touted in marketing to convince the target

audience to buy? Rational benefits might actually have a stronger play in helping sell a

premium or luxury car, after realizing that the emotional benefits are obvious.

The question marketers ought to ask is this: How does the consumer want to feel about

purchasing this product?

Here‘s where consumer context too often gets left out of the mix.

Big mistake – Do NOT tell consumers how they sho uld feel about their brand. A low-

interest category like residential electricity, might misfire by trying to differentiate its brand

based on emotional benefits, because consumers don‘t want to feel loyal to a utility

company.

Premium brands need to Understand the way their target wants to feel about thei r brand

in order to convince consumers that they are worth more. It will help in deciphering which

RTBs make their way into the marketing message. For example another low-interest

category like insurance

Must lead with emotional benefits if it‘s not differentiating on price;

The consumers who will pay more for insurance are doing so because of the way

they want to feel about their choice: like they‘re ―in good hands.‖ While rational benefits are relevant, they‘re secondary for premium brands, but

primary for low-cost competitors, simply because the consumer context drives

different RTBs within insurance.

I know this: My wife doesn‘t like it if I tell her, ―Don‘t be upset,‖ or ―You should be happy

about this.‖ My experience is that consumers don‘t like it, either. And I think I‘m premium, by

the way.



6. Emotional Advertising must start with an Emotional Brief

By Bruce Bradley

To do great emotional advertising that is on strategy with the brand, the brief must start with

how the consumer feels now (consumer insights) and defines how we want the consumer to

feel after they experience advertising (an emotional desired response).

If the brief has zero emotion, the emotional ads developed by the creative team will be just

random emotional ads, not connected to any real consumer insight or any desired emotional

space the brand can own.

You Need Deep Emotional Insights

The dictionary definition of the word Insight is “seeing below the surface”. To demonstrate

knowledge of that target, defining consumer insights help to crystallize and bring to life the

consumer you are targeting. Insights help tell the story, paint the picture or inspire the

creative juices. Insights need to be interesting or intriguing. My challenge is to think beyond

specific category insights and think about Life Insights or even Societal Trends that could

impact changing behavior.

Insight comes to life when it’s told in such a captivating way that makes consumers

stop and say “hmm, I thought I was the only who felt like that”. That‘s why we laugh

when we see insight projected with humor, why we get goose bumps when insight is projected

with inspiration and why we cry when the insight comes alive through real-life drama. We see

ourselves and we feel connected to how the insight is projected.

When trying to come up with insights, I recommend you try to put yourself in the shoes of

your target consumer and project thought how they might feel by using their voice.

Brainstorm insights by starting each insight as a quote that starts with the word ―I‖ and you

will see statements get deeper and more personal.



As you brainstorm, to get deeper, keep asking yourself ―so what does that mean for the

consumer‖ (laddering) until you have an ―AHA moment‖. While it‘s possible to see the

behavior of your consumer, you can‘t always see the values, beliefs and attitudes that help

explain how consumers think, feel or act in relationship to your brand or category. You must

go below the surface.

Another way to really capture is to focus on your consumers‘ enemy. Yes, it‘s natural to think

about your consumers‘ problem, but you might find yourself getting a bit more creative if you

push yourself to think of who your consumers‘ enemy is.

For Starbucks, the consumers‘ enemy is the ―hectic life‖ of your average soccer mom–

driving the kids around, rushing to get to work, trying to get everything done on their to-

do lists, buy everything on the shopping list and get enough sleep. Starbucks attacks that

enemy: you can order your favorite elaborate drink, do so in Italian, eat cute little

pastries and sit in leather chairs listening to soft music. There are no screaming kids, no

play land and no kids items on the menu. Ahhhh peace and quiet, even if it‘s just for 15

minutes during the day. And to cap it off, you can order off an attractive 21-year-old who

knows your name and even what you like to drink. So Starbucks attacks ―hectic life‖ ofthe consumer in everything they do.

For Apple, the consumers‘ enemy is ―frustration‖. While we all use computers, very few

of us are competent. We hate having to set up the computer, run virus protection

software, fix things that go wrong and have to figure out the minutest details of your

system preferences. Apple attacks the enemy of ―frustration‖ making your computer so

easy to set up and use, apps for every potential need you might have a genius bar with

experts to help you figure anything out. The ―Mac versus PC‖ advertising was based on

the enemy of ―frustration‖

Leading with your consumers‘ enemy is a great way to connect with your target market, and

they engage and listen to your message.



Find the emotional Benefit

People tend to get stuck when trying to figure out the emotional benefits. I swear

every brand out there thinks it is trusted, reliable and yet likeable. It seems that not

only do consumers have a hard time expressing their emotions about a brand, but so

do Brand Managers. Companies like Hotspex have mapped out all the emotional

zones for consumers. I‘m not a researcher, but if you‘re interested in this methodology

contact Hotspex at http://www.hotspex.biz Leverage this type of research and build

your story around the emotions that best fit your consumer needs. Leveraging

Hotspex, I‘ve mapped out 8 zones in a simplistic way below:

Within each of the zones, you can find emotional words that closely align to the need

state of the consumer and begin building the emotional benefits within your Customer

Value Proposition. It almost becomes a cheat sheet for Brand Managers to work with.

But you want to just own one emotional zone, not them all.

http://www.hotspex.biz/



http://belovedbrands.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/slide13.jpg




Brands are better, different or cheaper. The key is to find a unique selling proposition foryour brand. You don‘t always need to find a rational point of difference as long as there isroom to be emotionally unique



7. Brand Positioning on Emotional

Benefits

The strongest positioning for any brand goes beyond product features or greatafter-sale service. Building a differentiation strategy on emotional benefits removesthe pressure for continuous product innovation which for most companies is hardto achieve and constantly deliver.

Mercedes-Benz is perceived as a symbol of success.

Longines does not offer watches, but elegant time pieces (positioningcommunicated through their excellent slogan “Elegance is an attitude”).

Apple does not sell electronic devices but tools for creative people.

Positioning a Brand on Emotions: The Advantages

This positioning is very powerful for at least three reasons:

Allows companies to charge a premium as price plays a diminishing role in thepurchase.

Offers a strong tool to compete against “lower price” private labels.

Creates a strong connection with the customer which leads to a deeper level of brand engagement.

What Brands Should Use Image Positioning?

People buy emotionally and justify their decisions rationally. Emotions are part of who we are as human beings: we want to feel confident, comfortable, safe,appreciated by others, regarded as smart or good looking or successful. All these areperfect ingredients for a strong positioning strategy based on emotional benefits.

This type of differentiation strategy is most suitable for brands that:

Compete in categories that require a high level of involvement in thepurchase decision. A company that sells toothpicks will find it hard to generate

emotional connections with the brand. A car manufacturer, such as Mercedes-Benz, can make use of this positioning very successfully.

Belong to categories that are hard to differentiate on product features.

Enjoy a long tradition and heritage. Almost every brand is launched as aresult of a product innovation. However, as time passes and the brand becomesmore known and experienced, consumers attach emotional attributes to it.Example Coca Cola



Offer highly personalized products. Rolls Royce owners prefer the brandfor the fact that it is hand crafted for each individual needs, and is a reflection ofthe owner’s personality.

Offer unique or limited edition products. What makes a painting valuableis not the quality of paint or canvas, but its uniqueness, and the impossibility of

ever being replicated. Luxury clothing and accessory brands fit this categoryperfectly.

Most luxury brands have achieved their status through the use of image positioning.

Difference Between Premium and Luxury

Premium brands: Differentiate by product characteristics that are easy to identify,compare and quantify.

Cervelo, uses superior geometry and aerodynamics to compete in the premium bikesegment. This competitive advantage is easy to demonstrate through wind tunneltests and race results and justifies its price premium.

Luxury Brands:

The $2000 USD price tag on a Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute whisky bottle has norational justification. People who are willing to pay that price do so for the exclusivestatus that the brand offers.

Goal of every Brand Manager: Move focus from functional features tointangibles.



8. Why Should Brands Focus On EmotionalBenefits?

by Wavelength Marketing

―That £100,000 Ferrari will become a collectors‘ item sweetheart.‖

‖The £3000 Gucci handbag I bought today is made from the finest Italian. It will last a lifetime darling.‖

On a number of occasions we‘ve outlined how the human decision making process is primarily emotional but is

then ‗justified‘ by rational / logical processes (―affect heuristic‖….zzzzzz). The Ferrari and Gucci scenarios fit

this mould….Emotion drives decisions.

This recent article, provides a fascinating insight into this process. For marketing folk this was the most

interesting snippet:

“More and more, psychological and neurological science is discovering that much of our decision-making is

made at an unconscious and emotional level. What we are now finding is that when we are thinking about

mundane and simple issues, such as small calculations, the brain areas associated with rational planning

(such as the pre-frontal cortex) tend to be more active.

But when thinking about difficult, exciting, interesting activities, such as investing in a new business, or

perhaps buying a $10 million lottery ticket, the brain areas associated with emotion – such as the midbrain

dopamine system – become more active.

Images, colours, music, even social discussion means that the midbrain emotional area becomes dominant,

and the rational part of the brain finds it hard to resist the temptation. The emotional centres of the brain

simply tell the rational part to shape up or ship out .

And then, a very funny thing happens. The rational part of the brain agrees, and starts to look for evidence

that supports the emotional brain – it becomes an ally in the search for reasons why the emotional choice is

a good one. (All of this is going on very quickly and we are not conscious of it.)”

So what does this mean for brand marketing folk? It means emotional benefits must lie at the heart of your

brand’s value proposition. Only then will your brand truly tune into the nature of human decision making.

This doesn’t mean you should forget functional brand values. After all, what good is a Ferrari that won’t

start?

9. Finding your brand's emotional truth

http://wavelengthmarketing.wordpress.com/author/wavelengthmarketing/



http://wavelengthmarketing.wordpress.com/



http://neurosciencenews.com/economics-brain-how-people-make-decisions/








by Mike Freedman: A doyen of the advertisingand branding community, and founder of

Freedthinkers.

Vincent van Gogh needed an incentive. He wanted Paul Gauguin to join him in Arles and

together begin a movement there that would galvanise the European art scene.

Gauguin, tempted, but undecided was older than van Gogh, more worldly, more recognised in the

circles van Gogh wished to move. He was studious and carefully contemplated each brush-stroke,

whilst the impetuous van Gogh painted fast, fuelled by emotion. They could learn much from each

other - but how to give Gauguin that final push. Van Gogh wrote saying he had completed a self-

portrait as well as one of Gauguin. Intrigued and flattered, the elder artist came to Arles and this is

what he saw:

Van Gogh‘s chair was one he used - the pipe, tobacco and box of onions, as well as the colour

palette, display his rustic self-view. Gauguin‘s chair reveals a more sophisticated man, the books

and multi-coloured carpet show his larger embrace. They are not literal self-portraits - they convey

a deeper truth, the Emotional Truth.

The search begins



All your product development, service and communications should combine to answer one simple

question. "Why should I choose you?"

You can show off your attributes - engine size, special ingredients, investment skills - and receive

polite interest. Moving to rational benefits - like fuel consumption, stain removal and expected

returns - may put you on the ‗to be considered‘ list. But so far, no cigar. You need a powerful

emotional connection, a truth to make your own. Omo claims dirt is good, Allan Gray laterally shows

us the benefits of long-term thinking whilst 90% of car ads take the low road, looking for applause

in the smoke and mirrors of adland.

The search for emotional truth flows from your purpose, so begin with a journey to the source. Why

do you exist? Why will we be better off because of you?

Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita and Panasonic, hailed by John Kotter, Professor of

Leadership at Harvard Business School, as the greatest entrepreneur of the 20th century, has this

to say:

Happiness of man is built on mental stability and material affluence. To serve the foundation of

happiness, through making man's life affluent is the duty of the manufacturer.

Profit comes in compensation for contribution to society. Profit is a yardstick with which to measure

the degree of social contribution made by an enterprise.

If the enterprise tries to earn a reasonable profit but fails to do so, the reason is because the degree

of its social contribution is still insufficient.

Today, as we stumble towards sustainability, organisations that serve a real purpose by adding

value to society attract committed employees and loyal customers. Companies will also attractshareholders and analysts burnt and dismayed by the toxic bubbles that the ‗greed is good‘ mantra

continues to blow up and burst.

We join organisations in the hope that financial reward for hours and inspiration is only part of the

deal. Working with others of complementary skills propels us to become the best we can be. We

hunger to know what we can achieve together... the difference, however small or large, we can

make in this world.

An organisation’s purpose may never be fully achieved - Google will always aspire to

"organise the world‘s information and make it useful", Sam Walton‘s descendants know they cannot

totally succeed in their quest "to give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as richpeople". A purpose is a direction, not a destination. If ever you do get there, you will need a

new place to go. Rather than human beings, we are human becomings.

The king was not content with being. He was striving to become.

- Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence

From purpose to emotional truth



For brands that bear the organisation‘s name - from Nando‘s to Nike, from Save the Children to

SANBI - the emotional truth connects inner purpose with prospect. The Nike purpose is: To bring

inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. Their emotional truth, best expressed in a

TV commercial launched at the time of the London Olympics, showing hundreds of athletes of all

ages all over the world, participating rather than winning, is Find Your Greatness.

For multi-brand companies, the purpose should be constant for the organisation, while each brand

finds its own emotional truth. Unilever has defined its corporate purpose as "adding vitality to life".

This is how its purpose cascades into attributes, rational benefits and emotional truth for Dove, one

of the fastest growing brands in the Unilever stable.

The insight to feature women of different shapes and sizes in advertising come from research where

female consumers complained of adland‘s impossibly perfect bodies. Using this emotional truth led

to the highest viewed branded video on YouTube, with 56 million views and counting.

When Dove decided to double its brand territory by bringing out a range for men, research again

provided the direction.

"We hear from 73% of men that they're falsely or inaccurately depicted in advertising," Rob

Candelino, Unilever VP-skin-care marketing.

There were three aggravating stereotypes:

1. Alpha males with chiseled abs driving high-powered sports cars

2. Guys obsessed with winning the affections of women

3. Buffoon dads.

We wanted something to show real men in real life and what most men in Dove's target say is "First

and foremost, I'm a dad".

And that‘s what Dove Men + Care showed, in print and TV. The "+ Care" part of the name

encapsulates rational benefit and the emotional truth. As the brand cares for your skin, you show

your care as a dad. Powerful stuff.

For that younger guy, Unilever has Axe, adding vitality to life in a way that would be a stereotype,

but for the humor.



For their leading washing powder, Unilever captured another emotional truth.

Attributes only convince and excite those who develop them. We give rational benefits half an ear,

as they do not answer why - Why should I choose you?

The answer to this question can sometimes be because you are the cheapest, or most accessible, or

newest. More often though and best for growth is the answer: Because you really understand me -

you get me.

An emotional truth, whether by Van Gogh, Unilever or Nike contains deep insight on which you can

build your communications.

"I think therefore I am" is the statement of an intellectual who underrates toothache. "I feeltherefore I am" is a truth much more universally valid.



10. Emotions vs Emotional Benefits In Marketing

By Dr. Glenn Livingston

In the past few years, we have identified the difficulty in assessing emotional benefits.

What we need to understand is, exactly HOW DO emotional benefits wield their influence? What is the concretepathway by which emotions affect purchase and branding? This essay answers that.

People buy benefits rather than features.

For example:

Time-release (feature) products are purchased because they are long acting (benefit).

Clear bottles let us see the purity in color and consistency of waters.

Dissolving tablets allow us to take medicine on the go.

Roller ball pens write faster .

Rubberized handles on scissors provide a sure grip.

Many marketers would agree that we buy products that enhance our positive sense of self-esteem, in some way.

They believe that all brands, products and their features are associated with a rewarding emotional payoff.

Moreover, all features and benefits are l inked to emotional end benefits.

We seek out brands with their USPs, features and functional benefits because we like the way they make us feel

and what they allow us to communicate about ourselves.

But let's backtrack for a moment. People get confused between emotions and emotional benefits. There is an

important distinction between them.

An 'Emotion' is best defined as a state of physiological arousal to which we attach a cognitive label. There are four

core 'emotions' ("Mad", "Glad", "Scared", & "Sad"). Of course, there are various gradations, combinations and

shades of grey regarding all of the above (thus we can say we feel "disappointed" which means we were expecting

to feel 'Glad' but found ourselves feeling one of the other three core emotions). Sad includes disappointed, gloomy,

heart broken, distressed, etc. Mad includes frustrated, raging, bitter, annoyed. At an even simpler level, we either

feel 'good' or 'bad'.

But knowing how our brand or brand activity (concepts, advertising, names, taglines, etc) makes someone 'feel' is

only minimally useful. Yes we definitely want to know, does our new commercial make people feel 'Glad' or 'Sad'

but that is ONLY a measure of valence, it does little or nothing to lend direction to our creative efforts. It tells usnothing about how to set the mood and tone for our advertising, or even necessarily how to FIX any bad feelings

which emerge.

Rather, it is instead the "Emotional Benefit " statement and NOT the RAW "Emotion" which is most informative,

motivating, and useful for brand development. An emotional benefit, rather than being a physiological state of

arousal with a simple label, is a POSITIVE, cognitive statement which consumers are able to make about

themselves DUE TO their use, display, and attachment to our brand and its features.

http://www.tlgonline.com/company/Glenn_Livingston.asp






More succinctly, an emotional benefit is nothing more than "Something nice I can say about myself because I use

your product or service". (more detailed essay with examples and categories of emotional benefits, please

see http://www.executive-solutions.com/sharon/articles/8.asp)

The critical differences between Emotions and Emotional Benefits are:

Emotional benefits are entirely cognitive, whereas Emotions include a state of physiological arousal.

Emotional benefits are specifically attached to brands, their particular features, and advertising. In

contrast, Emotions are more diffuse human physiological reactions with a limited set of simple labels.

Emotional benefits relate directly and powerfully to enduring self-concept. Emotions are more closely

associated with temporary and instinctual physiological reactions.

It is this last distinction which is most important, and most closely identifies the reason that emotional benefits are

so vital to branding.

Emotional marketing helps us link our brand to our target's enduring self-concept. We want a LIFETIME

RELATIONSHIP with our target, and this is possible only if we understand our target's core values

A vital brand has a "relationship" with loyal users not unlike a healthy relationship between two people. Peoplemaintain ongoing affiliations as long as each person in a relationship feels as though the other contributes

positively to his/her sense of self. For example, being coupled with a successful friend casts a positive halo onto

someone who values success.

Of course, in branding we are a little more limited in providing emotional benefits than we are in our actual human

relationships, because there are only certain elements of self-concept that we can viably support with a brand. Our

self-concept is admittedly constructed of MUCH more than just the brands we buy or the features that attract us.

Nevertheless, it is this very ability to support self-concept which is the MOST potent glue available for branding.

The Impact of Emotional Benefits

Emotional benefits, although mostly unconscious, are attached to specific elements of a brand and to the brand

itself as a whole.

You can actually think of them entirely without reference to the word "emotion" and remain fully in the rational

sphere, if you prefer, because really it is just the "kind of person" that a particular rational feature supports. The

emotional benefit/ value is the adjective describing the self

I am an attractive person because I chose this particular color of rouge.

I am a productive person because I purchased a PDA with a fast microprocessor.

I am a sexy person because I drive an aerodynamic car.

I am a powerful person because I bought a rowing machine from an infomercial with that muscular guy.

I am an energetic person because I replenish electrolytes after exercise with Gatorade.

A brand then becomes nothing more than the profile of self-concept-supporting statements people make via

their attachments to its features and advertising / messaging.

Two more important points.

http://tlgonline.com/sharon/articles/8.asp






A common objection to emotional brand research is that certain categories are purely rationally driven and thus

preclude emotional branding. Given our above understanding, EVERY rational feature is desired for the support of

some aspect of self concept. EVERY LAST ONE!

If you were to read the above benefit statements (e.g. "I am a sexy person because I drive an aerodynamic car") to

a respondent directly and ask for levels of agreement, you would get a MUCH lower level of agreement than

actual. This is because of four major obstacles to asking questions directly such as:

Social Desirability Bias: the fact that respondents prefer not to reveal certain emotional motives to

interviewers, and sometimes even themselves.

Rational Purchasing Consciousness: the fact that respondents believe that they make decisions

based upon purely objective and observable criteria about the product or service at hand. Emotional

motivation threatens this belief system.

Fear of "Hidden Persuaders": many respondents fear that if we really knew what made them tick, we

would take advantage of them and sell them things they don't really need.

The Presence of Emotional Motivation is beyond Conscious Awareness : emotional motivation

usually operates below the surface, beyond the ability of respondents to easily access and articulate.

People do not want to believe that they are emotionally influenced towards brands. They find the idea repugnant.

The fact that people don't want to admit to using brands as a method of partially supporting their self-esteem

forces these associations out of their consciousness, and PREVENTS THEM FROM COGNITIVELY REASONING

ABOUT THEM or articulating them out loud.

And it is THIS fact (that our consumers erect a strong barrier preventing them from becoming aware of or admitting

the influence of emotional benefits), which makes them so incredibly powerful. Thus Emotional benefits are able to

wield their influence precisely because they work behind the scenes BEYOND the awareness of the customer. It is

the very fact that they are so elusive and hidden which makes them so very powerful and persuasive.

Language is the food of the intellect. Without language (cognitive, symbolic representation), logical reasoning is

much more difficult, if not impossible. When a thought is put into language and made conscious, a person's adult

mind is able to make adult, rational decisions. In our analogy, when the consumer becomes conscious of the

emotional benefit, it becomes somewhat nullified because they then say to themselves "Oh, I'm being ridiculous -buying this product doesn't really make me a different person".

The point is, most customers don't allow themselves to raise emotional benefits to this level of consciousness, so

the impact remains.

In fact, many brands make the mistake of raising the benefits to a level of awareness which takes away their

power. They try to FORCE the emotional benefit by telling the consumer directly.

This doesn't work nearly as well as INDIRECTLY communicating these benefits via an emphasis on specifying the

features of the brand which support them, while the creative mood and tone of marketing applications convey the

emotional benefit.

The mind LIKES to have to work to solve the mystery (aiding recall and attention), and by not forcing the consumer

to recognize that they are using your brand to support their self-esteem, we permit them the grace of ignorance (to

maintain their rational purchasing consciousness, avoid admitting socially undesirable motives, etc)

Emotional benefit motivation is knowledge for marketers, not consumers.

The ultimate end emotional benefit/ value is always enhanced self-esteem. That, however, does not give creativesand marketers a handle to hang their campaign on. Instead, it is the rung just before positive self-worth thatprovides insight and gives direction to advertising and marketing



11. Emotion Is The Engine Of Brand Name Choice

by Stealing Share

Make Advertising Work Harder

The question we must ask of advertising is: How do we craft marketing strategies and creative brand

messages that prompt viewers to voluntarily surrender their attention to watching a commercial?

We might also put it this way: How do we get customers to care? The importance of that question

cannot be understated. It is vastly different and quite superior to the question: “What do we tell the

customer?” It brings about a more effective answer because “caring” is an emotional response. A

consumer simply hearing some facts (if we can even get them to listen to those facts) is not as

engaged. Great advertising must prompt people to care rather than simply understand a list of

product attributes.

Yet a great deal of advertising today is merely factual. For the most part, marketing departments

have believed that they need a quantifiable product advantage in order to convince a potential

customer to switch brands. They ask themselves why the customer should care, and yet they answer

this emotional question with a rational benefit. Hmmm. Most of us have no understanding of the

reasons behind our brand selections — as a matter of fact, we don’t need reasons. Oh, sure, when

somebody asks us why we choose what we choose, we can and do come up with some rational

reasons. We do it because we think we need a rational basis for our purchasing behavior.

But really, we don’t. Our actions in the marketplace are almost always intuitive and emotional.

Consider beer purchases. Does anyone believe that Budweiser is the runaway market leader because

beer consumers are big fans of Beechwood and Budweiser is “Beechwood Aged?” In other words, do

they buy it because of taste? They may say they do, but in blind tasting only the savviest two or three

percent of beer drinkers can distinguish any difference between beer brands. If they can taste a

difference, they are hard-pressed to name the brand.

Beer brand choices are obviously not about taste and rarely about benefit or attributes. If you want a

customer to change brands, you must make them care. You must know what they care about, and it

is no surprise that the thing people care about most is themselves — their beliefs, attitudes,

convictions. Therefore, you should develop a strategy and execution that speaks to them in an

emotional way that connects your brand with their beliefs. This means that you must understandyour customer better than your competitors understand your customer.

You must learn to ask and find answers to these questions: What do they believe to be true about

themselves? What do they believe to be true about the world in general?



Lets take an example of a more mundane category. Tide has remained on top of the laundry heap

because there is an emotional connection to the brand message that extends way back to its

emergence as part of the American cultural landscape. Even consumers born in the eighties find

comfort in the familiarity of the brand, and it’s not about heritage and habit as much as it is about

family and family values. How much are consumers willing to pay for this feeling of connection?

Check out the price points next time you are in the supermarket. Consumers don’t pay this premium

because of effectiveness or a brand promise of quality. They pay it because they desire a closer

connection to their own lives. Those that steal share make closer connections. Their brands align

themselves with the target audience’s precepts and “mean something.”



12. Emotional Branding In A Changing

Marketplace

- Winnifred Knight Director of: www.theMarketingSite.com

Customers are changing and so are their buying decisions and shopping habits.

Fundamental changes are taking place in their preferences and behaviour. They expect to be spoken to on a one-to-one

basis.

Customers expect emotional commitment and honesty from brands. In response, we need to create and build emotional

loyalty through customer relationships.

Many questions need to be asked: • How do we get our product or service to stand out in this crowded marketplace?

And keep discriminating customers coming back for more?• How do successful companies use emotional branding to capture their customers‘attention and foster long-term brand loyalty?• How do we connect our brands to our customers‘ hearts for a lifetime?• Are we only interested in single sales, or is it the lifetime value (LTV) of ourcustomers?

Direct link to customer’s emotions

Smart marketers directly link their customer‘s emotions to their brands.

The marketer influences both how people experience the brand and the resultant emotionalmemories; Brand marketing involves the management of the emotional memories of both thebrand and all its communication.

Andrea Syverson version of emotional marketing and branding

―Emotional marketing is all about the ‗why,‘ the feelings and emotions underneath aproduct or service.

You know why it‘s important to brand, but emotional marketing goes a step further tohelp garner attention and really develop products.‖

http://www.themarketingsite.com/






The more that you know about the real world and real people, the more you can predict yourcustomer‘s desires and expectations.

What we need to make the change?

Technology has facilitated changes at an inconceivable speed, and is a key tool, to be usedto gather information, build and manage customer relationships. Which, is the onlycompetitive difference that cannot be duplicated.

PersonalisationCustomers want to buy products or do business with companies that recognise them, makethem feel good, challenge them by fitting into their lifestyles and provide them with anidentity. Especially personalised communication. In other words, they want to be emotionally

connected and want a branded experience.

Preparing for the Now Economy and what it expects from us Many experts predicts that the fundamentals of the now economy is not without it‘suncertainties, issues and limitations.

Here are some considerations, some of which you may already have implemented on yourroad to change and some that you need to consider to make the transition. Add your own tothe list and see how you fare.

From mass production to doing business on customer terms

• From homogenous markets to segmented and niche markets• From broadcast marketing (one-way) to relationship marketing (interactive)• From customer acquisition to customer retention• From one-off transactions to Lifetime Value Relationships• From market share to share of customer (share of wallet)• Measurability and Accountability • Time-pressured marketplace – time will become a bigger driver of value than price• Using interactive marketing vehicles, e.g. Internet, Mobile Communications,Interactive TV, etc.• Permission (Opt-in) Marketing – Privacy, limited time and attention span• Collaborative agility across various relationships – customers, suppliers, distributionnetworks and employees

• No more fixed pricing – dynamic pricing vs. supply and demand• Change management amid constant change – company processes, supply chainorchestration, technological adoption and customer relationships• Real-time management (database access) and automation of systems = managingexceptions• Outsourcing – interconnectivity between suppliers and customers, employees andout-sourced part-timers, consultants, etc.• Instead of functional offerings, making an emotional connection that createspreferences.



Considerations for the measurement and accountability of yourbrand

The only true measure is a company‘s effectiveness at building and maintaining long -termrelationships with their customers. This leads to greater retention, profitability and asustainable platform for growth.

The new metrics in marketing were developed by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore. According to them there have been four phases of economic procession.

1. Commodity phase – Measured by characteristics.2. Goods phase – Measured by features.3. Service phase – Measured by benefits.4. Experience and attention phase – this is just beginning and is measured by

experience.

In the Experience economy (or now economy), companies that create a positive experienceare rewarded with loyalty and premium pricing. In addition to the Cost Per Customer (CPC)metric, you now also have to measure the Cost Per Experience (CPE) and the most valuemetric = People‘s Attention.

Attention is one of the world‘s scarcest resources and decision-maker attention is somethingcompanies are willing to spend millions to buy. According to Seth Godin (PermissionMarketing), the average person is ‗attacked‘ by about 3000 marketing messages every day.

Attention is money. In addition to measuring our ROI, we should now think about ROA –

Return on Attention.

The Future – Our Future and the Now Economy

Marc Gobè says, ―Today, I feel, an emotional branding approach is quite simply the crucialdefining element that separates success from indifference in the marketplace. But only a fewcompanies understand the art of accessing, with intelligence and sensitivity, the true powerbehind human emotions. Emotional branding brings a new layer of credibility and personalityto a brand by connecting powerfully with people on a personal and holistic level.‖

And the dialogue that will flow from this ‗connection‘ is only possible through databasemarketing and management of customer information. Emotional marketing is not a stand-alone strategy or a quick fix concept. Prepare for a long-term commitment to customerrelationships and get company-wide buy-in. Emotional marketing needs top-down supportand a caring corporate culture.

Your key branding goal and measurement is customer equity



13. Getting The Feel Of Emotional Benefits- Richard Czerniawski & Mike Maloney

“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

--Maya

Angelou

It‘s pretty hard these days to find a marketer anywhere who doesn‘tagree with the principle that, if you want to build a strong, winning

brand, you must connect emotionally with the brand‘s target. Andmostly what marketers mean when they express the principle is that

their brand positioning strategies must include emotional needs andbenefits. Since so many brands are now relatively equal in

performance, it‘s hard to disagree with the ―emotional benefitprinciple‖ which, when done well, enables a brand to build a sustained,

meaningful relationship with a given target consumer or customer.

But there‘s the rub--getting the emotional benefit ―done well,‖ as in:

Finding one that the target links directly to your brand‘sfunctional performance;

Finding one that hasn‘t been so over-used across many brands

and categories; and,

Finding one that works only for (or at least better for) your

brand than it does for others in the same category orclass…differentiated!

And there‘s one other aspect to getting the emotional benefit done

well: knowing when and how to communicate it. Because many

marketers feel the pressure to get an emotional benefit ―out there,‖



they often rush into communications with too many benefits—for

example, with a couple of functional benefits and an added emotionalone…making the creative team‘s task of developing ―on brief‖

campaign ideas virtually impossible.

While we wholeheartedly endorse the emotional benefit brand-building

principle, the very best advice we can give to any marketer isto devote the time to discover potentially winning emotional

benefits and to communicate them strategically . In other words, goslow.

Emotional Benefits in the Brand Positioning:

It sounds so simple, but we recommend always beginning theexpression of the emotional benefit with the verb to Feel . This

reminds us to follow that verb with a true feeling—forexample, ―Feel like a winner‖ (an emotional benefit that the

Gatorade Brand might use).

Be insistent that what is being called emotional is truly

emotional, and not a higher order functional benefit. We oftenhear marketers suggest something like, ―Get back to a normal

life‖ as an emotional benefit; but it‘s not emotional atall. There is no ―feeling‖ expressed and its meaning could not

be clearer: being able to resume the functionality of normal,everyday living.

Absolutely refuse to allow one of the Dave Letterman Top 10

―usual suspect‖ emotional benefits (you know, the ones withthe differentiation and memorability of elevator music) into

your brand‘s positioning, such as feeling…

10. Safe/safer

9. Assured

8. Rewarded

7. Satisfied

6. Like a Good Mom

5. Empowered



4. In Control

3. Smart/Smarter

2. You Can Trust

1. Confident

Aim instead for original, fresh and more ownable emotional benefits, like

these:

o Feeling Amazement (from Curves: ―Your Curves Will Amaze You” )

o Feeling Joyful (from Depuy Hips & Knees: “Feel the Joy of

Motion” )

o Feeling Happy (from Ikea UK: “It’s How It Makes You

Feel —Happy Inside” )

Emotional Benefits in Communications: There are some generally

accepted principles about when to use what kinds of benefits

1. Product —what the product literally does;

2. Customer Functional —what that provides the customer;

3. Emotional —how that makes the customer feel

in the Communications Strategy part of the brand‘s Creative Brief. Of

course, there can be exceptions, but most of the time these principleshold true:

If your brand has a legitimate functional-benefit advantage,make the most of that in your communications. For example,

if your brand can resolve pain 19 hours faster than others in

class, drive that benefit hard…and don’t muddle it withsome kind of “vanilla” or other over-used emotionalbenefit.

If you know that competition is going to launch a product with afunctional benefit that will equal (neutralize) or best your

functional benefit, add a meaningful emotional benefit toyour functional one ahead of time…to insulate your



franchise. (This is exactly what Viagra did in the 2-3 years

prior to the introduction of Levitra and Cialis.)

If your brand is the 3rd, 4th or 5th to enter the market and it hasparity product benefits with others already launched, move up

the “benefit ladder” and lead with a novel customerfunctional benefit. Don‘t waste precious company resources

repeating the same, well-known product benefits that othersbefore you have already claimed.

Go with an emotional-only benefit communication effort IFyour brand has broadly established its functional benefits, has

a strong franchise heritage, and is the leader or strong #2 inthe market.

We hope these tips are helpful, whether you‘re engineering anemotional benefit into your brand positioning strategy or adding one to

your communication campaign. But whatever approach you choose,make sure you‘re dealing with real, honest-to-goodness feelings that

your target will readily recognize and appreciate.



14. Purpo se

The purpose of emotional branding is to create a bond between the consumer and the product by

provoking the consumer's emotion. Vance Packard ' s The Hidden Persuaders speaks to the

emotional response of consumers to advertising. It reads, " In the buying si tuat ion, the

consum er genera l ly acts emot ional ly and com puls ive ly , unsubc onsciously react ing to the

images and designs that are associated w i th the produc t ." The not ion that emot ion is not

only associated wi th com puls iveness and irrational i ty, but is a sub consciou s react ion, is

the framework that dr ives emot ional branding theory .

Today's most successful companies have built relationships with consumers by engaging them in

a personal dialogue that responds to their needs.

Brand Personality is crucial in emotional branding. Marc Gobé outlines the difference between

Identity and Personality as:

Identity is recognition. Personality is about character and charisma!

Brand Identities express a point of difference in the competitive landscape--but that's just

the first step. Brand Personalities are special: They evoke an emotional response.

American Airlines has a strong Identity but Virgin Airlines has Personality.

Techniques

Emotional branding uses the consumer's ability to process messages to promote a significant

feeling associated with the brand.

The two types of processing that a person can use to comprehend branding are Active

Processing, which is learning that happens when deep, attentive processing is being applied,

or, Implicit processing, which is when meaning can be processed without awareness.

Emotional branding is quite complex. A person can interpret a brand image through attentive

processing, but once his emotions are provoked, the meaning that he takes from the brand image

can be implicitly processed, or in other words, subconsciously created.

Author A.R. Dimasio notes, ―We are more vulnerable when we are only vaguely aware that our

emotions are being influenced, and most vulnerable when we have no idea at all that our

emotions are being influenced.‖

There are multiple techniques for achieving an emotional response to a brand.

1. The first, and most complicated method is by attachingthe brand to a certain set of ideological values.

This works best when the advertiser has done substantial amounts of research on

the demographic audience, knowing what values and ideas will trigger an emotional

response and connection to the brand. The values can be embedded into the brand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_Packard



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Persuaders




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Atlantic_Airways



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_learning




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_learning



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology












through images and language. An example of this would be the family values and

essence of childhood and bonding portrayed in Walt Disney World Ads.

Emotional branding uses a series of themes and symbols to create meaning for a consumer. In

this sense, "theme" means a concept or story line that is present throughout an ad, and if

integrated well-enough, throughout the brand. A "symbol" is part of the theme and represents a

promise which consumers buy into. For example:

The cosmetic manufacturers are not selling Lanolin, they are selling hope.

We no longer buy oranges, we buy vitality.

We do not buy just a car, we buy prestige.

As suggested in Edward Bernays' The Engineering of Consent , themes must appeal to

human motivations. Motivation lies deep within a person's subconscious desires to achieve or

meet certain goals. There is an extensive list of factors that drive motivation based on both

ideological values and personal experience.

There are a few techniques used with symbolism.

Publicise the brand theme and symbol continuously.

Ensure that the theme and symbol hold substance and promote a specific idea about

the brand.

Adapt the symbol to a changing society‘s needs while standing firmly as a set of

values.

Symbols can represent multiple themes simultaneously (a kitten can represent both

playfulness and comfort).

Symbols provide a promise for a sense of fulfillment associated with their brand. Vance

Packard highlights the eight hidden needs that consumers have that themes and symbols attemptto sell. The eight needs are as follows:

1. Emotional security

2. Reassurance of worth

3. Ego-gratification

4. Creative outlets

5. Love objects

6. Sense of power

7. Sense of roots

8. Immorality

These needs, which are subconsciously emotion-based, serve as a foundation for emotional

branding and allow marketers to create a self-fulfilling prophesy when it comes to consumer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Engineering_of_Consent







needs. People want to fulfill these needs, and advertisers promote the need to fulfill these needs

in a perpetual cycle.

2. Making a literal statement about a product and its

association to emotion

An example of this can be seen in a 1966 Hamlet Cigar ad that states ―Happiness is a cigar

called Hamlet.‖ This associates the brand with a particular emotion in the most literal way

possible

3. Giving the consumer an emotional reaction to an ad

Example 1: Calming music playing simultaneously with images of people enjoying the

product.

Example 2: Playing somber music with images of people struggling without the

product

In the first case, the brand creates a positive connotation with itself, in the next, the

brand creates a negative connotation of life without the product.

It is important to note that emotional branding is something that comes with time and long

standing presence. For example, attachment of the specific emotion of ―nostalgia‖ to

the Kodak brand of film, ―bonding‖ to the Jim Beam bourbon brand, and ―love‖ to

the McDonald‘s brand are built over time. Through repetition of these themes and symbols, these

brand names have reached brand euphoria, where meaning no longer needs to be created, as

enough branding has been done to solidify the brand image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(cigar)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Beam



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%E2%80%99s



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoria










15. Do People Connect With Brands At AnEmotional Level?

By Neal Cole

Marketing and advertising people often talk about connecting emotionally with the target audience. Brandswant to engage with us at an emotional level. They encourage us to like them on Facebook. Indeed,

research often brings out emotional responses to products and services. So emotional benefits must be key

to understanding what motivates people to buy, right?

Perhaps not! In his book, Decoded, Phil Barden challenges this popular view of how brands should

engage with customers. He argues that the use of emotions as a concept is one of the biggest barriers to

effective marketing. The concept is ―vague‖ and encourages subjective and flawed decision making.

Sure there is extensive evidence to indicate that our decisions are heavily influenced by our emotions.

Behavioral economists suggest that emotions such as fear, affection, arousal and hatred explain why people

behave irrationally. However, reliance on irrational behavior doesn‘t sound like a sustainable business plan.

Apple and Amazon have strong value propositions that don‘t depend upon the emotional state of their

customers. Our minds are prone to predictable biases and as a result we make suboptimal decisions, but do

brands that connect emotionally have an advantage?

The brand police talk about how they have a strong brand and customers are loyal due to their emotional

attachment. This is not supported by the evidence. The late Andrew Ehrenber g‘s work suggests that

emotional engagement with brands is much less prevalent than many marketers assume. Most brand loyalty

is the result of habit and availability. Habits though can be broken and if the latest product innovations aren‘t

available from established brands, customers may soon move onto where they are more easily accessible.

We only have to look at the likes of Nokia and BlackBerry to see how rapidly the once mighty can fall.

So why do people swear by products or brands? Scientists involved in neuroscience research suggest that

products or brands that we value activate the reward system of the brain. This has been found to be a good

predictor of future sales, much better than subjective likeability. The intensity of the brain‘s response

appears to be related to the value we anticipate the product will deliver.

Price on the other hand activates a different area of the brain, the insula, which is normally a signal that we

are experiencing pain. No wonder we are so strongly attracted to free offers as we naturally avoid pain and

we are also loss adverse.

Barden suggests that our brain‘s reward system is activated by products or brands because they allow us to

achieve our goals. The nature of our goals may vary according to our situation as we often have different

motivations for purchasing a product according to what we are doing or where we are located. For instance

we might want a tablet computer for work to demonstrate new designs and impress our colleagues, whilst on

our commute it is about avoiding boredom and relaxing.

Our brains are sensitive to the difference between reward and pain. If the difference is sufficiently large we

may purchase a product. This ‗net value‘ can of course be influenced by increasing the expected reward andor decreasing the pain/price. The very essence of many a marketing campaign. Our herd instinct of being

influenced by what other people are buying also comes into play because this can affect the perceived value

of a product or service. We don‘t like walking into a deserted restaurant because our expectations are

lowered, but we are happy to wait if the place is busy and vibrant.

Goals also focus our attention so that even subconsciously we notice products and services that may help

us achieve a goal. Products that we believe are most likely to help us achieve a goal get the greatest share

http://decoded-book.com/



http://www.decodemarketing.co.uk/







of our attention. This may explain why consumers are drawn to guarantees and propositions that appear to

promise a desired outcome.

At a product or category level people usually intuitively understand why they want to buy a product to meet a

certain goal. When we achieve a goal, we feel good about it and it triggers an emotional response. However,

brands operate at an implicit, psychological level, that we have limited awareness of.

These underlying psychological goals are important to marketers because they allow brands to differentiate

themselves from their competitors. Also by using signals that are associated with implicit goals (e.g. long

established can indicate security) they can help increase the perceived value of a brand.

Another myth that Barden explodes is that brands are like people and have personalities. Neuroscience

suggests brands are objects to the brain. But the more important the goal the stronger we relate to a brand

that is highly relevant to the goal. We may talk about brands as if they have personalities but this is more

about the nature of language and how our use of analogies is central to how humans think.

To be effective marketing activity needs to build an association between the usage of the product and goals

that are most relevant to the consumer. This association makes the brand instrumental in achieving these

goals.

“Brands create possibilities and offer fictitious, symbolic rewards that frame the physic al effect of the product” Phil Barden, Decoded

Barden identifies six key psychological goals that motivate people to buy brands. But he points out that to

create a compelling value proposition it is critical that we incorporates both explicit and implicit goals. By

linking implicit to the explicit goals we may translate the proposition into signals which will activate mental

concepts within the brain. If these mental concepts are more relevant to an individual‘s active goal than

those triggered by a competitors they will buy our brand.

If you want to know more about these psychological goals and how they are so important to the success of

your brand I recommend you read Phil‘s book. I hope you enjoyed reading my post and hopefully it may

have generated a few ideas to improve the effectiveness of your marketing.

Further reading: Decoded by Phil Barden, Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman, Herd by Mark Earls(@Herdmeister ), I‘ll Have What She‘s Having by Alex Bentley, Mark Earls (@Herdmeister ), & Michael O‘Brien




https://twitter.com/herdmeister



https://twitter.com/#%21/herdmeister








17. A Survival Guide For Symbolic AndLifestyle Brands

by Antonio Marazza, general manager at

Landor Associates

What is it that causes a product to sell by

the millions? Take the Snuggie, for

example, the so-called blanket with arms.

Launched in 2008, it went on to become

one of the biggest breakaway successes the

apparel market had ever seen. Twenty fivemillion units were sold, one for every 12

residents in the United States.

But, five years later, would you have

remembered Snuggies without my little

reminder? Probably not. Because, while

these products often secure massive sales

very quickly, their long-term potential isless bright.

The challenge is to build a brand that is able

to endure and inspire the long-term loyalty

of millions of people. But what is it that

separates the products we love from those

that are destined to be the latest fad? In

order to answer this question it’s necessaryto understand and map the world that

different brands live in.

Working with Stefania Saviolo, professor

of management in fashion,luxury and

http://www.forbes.com/management/



http://www.forbes.com/luxury/







creative industries at Bocconi University, I

set out to create a new map of “symbol-

intensive brand” categories (brands that

represent certain qualities or meanings to

the consumer rather than just functional

values) and define the type of symbolism

that different categories of brand possess.

The axis of our map are the “scope” of a

brand i.e. the number of market segments it

serves (e.g. price, gender, age, product

categories, context of use) and the type of

benefit it delivers such as functional (e.g.

usefulness, durability); emotional benefits

i.e. the ability to stimulate emotionalresponses in consumers.

Within this map, we charted five main

categories that symbol-intensive brands fall

http://b-i.forbesimg.com/onmarketing/files/2013/10/3.2_Marazza-2.jpg



into, plus an outlier category where the

possibility of failure by fad is strongest.

Our first category is “ Authority Brands,”

brands that typically fall within a narrowmarket segment and generally auto-

directed emotional responses, making

people feel a certain way. They are often

based on technology patents or processes or

highly distinctive styles, for example Illy;

BlackBerry; Dr Hauschka cosmetics.

Often this category is the starting point for brands that become iconic and which

gradually extend into new product

segments, for example, Hermès.

The second category of symbol-rich brands

are “Solution Brands,” the territory that

most well-known brands occupy. Like

authority brands, these often make peoplefeel a certain way, but unlike them, they

cover a wide range of consumer segments.

Often, these brands were formally authority

brands that started as highly respected

products in a defined area, for

example Microsoft,

Honda, Sony and Mattel.

Our third category is “Icon Brands.

“ These brands carry with them powerful

universal values or stories that are instantly

recognizable. They prompt hetero-directed

http://www.forbes.com/companies/microsoft/



http://www.forbes.com/companies/sony/



http://www.forbes.com/companies/mattel/








responses, making people perceive they

have “become” something more than their

usual status.

Most have transcended fashion. Forexample Chanel, Bulgari or Tiffany. They

have often travelled from the position of

“authority brand,” gradually extending their

reach beyond a very exclusive audience.

At the height of an Icon Brand’s success, it

will share deep values that go beyond age

and geographical boundaries. But this isalso a weakness because in society, values

can change. Usually change is slow and a

brand can keep in sync. When it is deep and

fast an Icon brand can fall from grace. This

can also happen if an Icon Brand does not

stick to its core values. For example, Gap

suffered when it left its “American classic”

positioning.

The fourth category on our map are “Cult

Brands,” those that are orientated toward

symbolic excellence. They are usually

specialists tied to a single customer

segment or product category. They often

deliver “social” benefits making people feel

part of a group; think bikers, golfers,musicians. Harley-Davidson is of course a

classic example. A product that is not

necessarily the most advanced, but

encapsulates the spirit of the open road.



Brands that move on from cult status often

shift into the Icon brand territory taking

their original core customer base with

them.

Finally the last category is “Lifestyle

Brands,” those that truly represent the

word by associating themselves firmly with

a particular way of life. They deliver strong

social benefits through which a consumer will be able to subconsciously answer the

question, “when I buy this brand, the type

of people I relate to are…” they create a

sense of belonging or disrupt the status

quo. So,

Nike aligns people who want to push

their limits. Club Med connects those who wish to

communicate;

The Body Shop, those who value

nature.

A lifestyle brand will almost alwaysoriginally connect with young consumers

and represent change. Brands such as

Apple, Virgin and Nike initially grew from a

youthful community before convincing



more people that adopting them would

amplify their personal ethos or identity.

Our outlier category is, “Icon

Products.” This is a territory from whichan iconic brand may evolve, as the short-

term emotional responses a product

generates gain traction, something the

Australian sheepskin boot brand UGG looks

destined to achieve. But, it’s also a space

which may see the product go supernova

before flickering out like countless other

fads.

There is a common thread across all of

these categories that reveals the art of

brand survival. They move from territory to

territory. There is no single route map to

brand survival or necessarily a linear

progression and the evolution of brands

within these broad categories may be verysmall over time. But they do change.

The process is complex and, of course, long-

term success is never guaranteed. For

example, it’s a challenge faced by the

American brand Crocs. The company

launched its plastic resin clogs, which

suddenly became a global phenomenon. Within a few years, competitors saturated

the market with lower-priced imitations. To

avoid the risk of being a fad, the brand was

extended in terms of occasion (winter



usage), was invested in other product

categories (clothing) and explored new

segments where clogs could be functional

(such as clothing for hospitals).

But will Crocs be able to create unique and

sustainable emotional benefits for

consumers?

This is the challenge that every brand on

the map, whichever category they fall

within faces. The failure to adapt and

deliver relevant experiences means evenlong-established brands can be left behind

and, in the long term, even they will be

remembered as a fad.



Why Do We Love Brands?

We love brands. We feel attached and loyal to them. We put them on a pedestal and worship them. The textbook

explanation is that there is an underlying, magical essence that only good brands share. A great deal of hard research and

attention has focused on finding and explaining this slippery essence. But that approach has led us down a long, dead-end

street.

Compare 10 cult brands: Zappos, Linux, Trader Joe’s, Vans, Dos Equis, Ikea, Wegmans, Vespa, Harley -Davidson, and

Lululemon. What do they all have in common? Like strong resemblances between family members, they all share certain

qualities that draw us in. But when we search for the essence of all good brands, that defines what it means to be good, and

that we can use to build up a good brand, no matter how long and hard we look, we can’t find it because in reality there is

no basic essence to which all good brands can be reduced.

Instead, we should be trying to understand a brand, not as the thing marketers sell, but as the thing consumers use.

Almost from the moment of birth, we learn what we are from our reflection in the minds of significant others to whom we

belong, like family. I cannot look directly into my own eyes or taste my own tongue. Imagining and judging my appearance

in their eyes, I build up a picture of the kind of person I think I am. As I am learning what I am, I also am learning what I

am not. In every mind, there are two pictures.

That’s what a good brand is. It is an exterior way out of an interior crisis. A good brand is an expression of my better half.

It is a wish fulfilled. It reflects the thoughts, emotions, and actions of the person I desire to be, and becoming one with the

brand, I can be. Good brands are a way to achieve the uncreated self and redeem self-love. That’s why we love them. That’s

why we feel called to them. That’s why we feel compelled to possess them in a deep, lasting relationship and we experience

joy, accomplishment, and completion. That’s why good brands are such effective motivational devices. Good brands fulfill

the dreams I have about myself and create harmony between the me I am and the me I desire to be.

Brand loyalty is not the result of turning conveniences into necessities. Good brands fill the void between the real and the

imagined. The material needs that are fulfilled by good brands are only excuses to play language games that picture things,

not as they are, but as they ought to be. A good brand is its own world in a nutshell. I am not in that world. I am that

world. We are one. A good brand is how I play at being my uncreated self.

My true self is the only true reality. But a good brand is a deeply held feeling about the way things ought to be, and its chief

cornerstone is the person I ought to become. The brand is me, not as I am, but as I wish to be. Brand loyalty, then, is an act

of self-love. The person I have yet to become is fulfilled in a world that is yet to exist.

What, then, are the techniques of building a good brand?

First, good branding should always center on the person who uses the thing you are selling and never on the thing in itself.

The brand and the user become one. The user is the hero of the story, not the brand or the thing. A good brand is not a

promise that the thing is what it ought to be, but that what I can be, I ought to be.

Second, good branding should always compel the consumer to make a choice, but not between Thing X and Thing Y. The

pivotal choice should not be about the thing in itself, but about the brand and its world of feeling, meaning, and emotion.

To engage a good brand in a deep relationship is synonymous with my becoming my uncreated self, and this is the most

profound of choices.

Third, good branding should always assert the perfectability of all things, including society, humanity, and the world. That

is its higher purpose. A good brand is a door to what ought to be from what is. It is a promise to create a world that

nothing else can and where I become what I can never be.

Joan Khoury is the Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer at LPL Financial.



18. Building An Emotional Connection

by Brad VanAuken

To achieve brand insistence the consumer must trust your brand and feel an

emotional connection to it. People become emotionally connected to a brand fora number of reasons:

• The brand stands for something important to them.

• The brand is intense and vibrant. It connects with people on multiple levelsacross several senses.

• The brand is unique.

• The brand is admirable.

• The brand consistently interacts with them. It never disappoints them.

• The brand makes them feel good.

There are many innovative ways to achieve this emotional connection – fromadvertising and the quality of front line consumer contact to consumermembership organizations and company-sponsored consumer events.

It is especially important to ensure that all of your employees with front linecustomer contact are Boy Scouts –that is, that they are trustworthy, helpful,

friendly, courteous, kind and cheerful. Add to that list empathetic, goodlisteners and reassuring. Accomplish this by establishing the appropriate hiringcriteria, training and organization culture. Remember, good service is all aboutcreating positive feelings, treating people well and solving people‘s problems.

Ultimately, emotional connection will come from positive shared experienceswith the brand over time. While this trust is built over time, offering anunconditional guarantee is a quick way to reduce the risk of a new unknown

brand and to generate some minimum level of trust immediately.

Other loyalty inducing approaches:

• The brand encourages frequent, habit-forming interaction (as long as theinteraction is pleasant or beneficial and not against people‘s wills).

• The brand finds ways to build cumulative value for customers over time,especially if the value is not transferable to the use of competitive products andservices.

In his book, The Dream Society, Rolf Jensen makes the case for a shift from aninformation society to a dream society in which imagination and storytellingbecome the primary drivers of value. In this book, he identifies six emergingemotion-based markets:

• Adventure • Community (togetherness, friendship and love) • Providingand receiving care • Self-expression (―Who-Am-I?‖) • Peace of mind • Standing for something (convictions)

Any brand that seeks to create emotional connection should find ways to tapinto these and other underlying human motives.

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/04/building-an-emo.html

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/author/brad-vanauken-the-blake-project




http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/04/building-an-emo.html



19. Brand Strategy And The Lovemarks Theory

by Derrick Daye

Lovemarks theory is based on a simple premise: human beings are powered by emotion, notby reason.

This is the essence of the Lovemarks argument. If you want people to take action—whetherfor something momentous, like voting for a president, or seemingly mundane, like buying onebrand of facial tissues over another—you need to appeal to their emotions.

Neurologist Donald Calne perhaps said it best: ―The essential difference between emotion andreason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.‖

How can we create the kind of appeal that makes people feel inspired or laugh or cry? First,we must realize that brands don‘t just get it by asking. They start by giving love,demonstrating that they love the people who buy them. The sea change comes when brandsstop thinking about their customers as ―them‖ and start thinking about ―us.‖ When marketersmake this change, they start rewarding their customers every day with brand experiences thathave special resonance in three key areas: mystery, sensuality, and intimacy.

Of all the potential aspects of emotional resonance, perhaps none is more important than thesense of mystery that comes from great storytelling. Annette Simmons, an expert instorytelling, puts it precisely: ―When you tell a story that touches me, you give me the gift ofhuman attention—the kind that connects me to you, that touches my heart and makes me feelmore alive.‖

Stories have huge value in business as well. They look in the right direction: at people. Youcannot tell a story without characters and emotion and sensory detail. Even the dumbestchicken-crossing-the-road jokes have it. And stories capture us faster than the mostelaborately produced annual report.

Sensuality is another aspect of emotional engagement that too many brands ignore.Lovemarks ask, ―What does our brand smell like, taste like, look like, sound like, and feellike?‖ These are not easy questions, but the best brands find answers. If they are not in thefood or perfume business, most marketers don‘t immediately think that taste or smell are

relevant. But taste and smell are surefire ways to stretch your brain about your brand. Walkthrough any mall in America and you can smell Hollister from a mile away (you can hear it ata slightly shorter distance), it is also the only store that actually invades the corridor spacewith its red-tiled porch. Hollister gets sensuality.

―When you think about it, love is based on inspiration. We are inspired by brands for the samereason we‘re inspired by the people we love, because they have principles and treat me like ahuman being who is intelligent and has feelings. They show empathy and bring joy to my life.‖~ Juan Carlos Rodriguez, Executive Creative Director, Badillo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi

The Love/Respect Axis

How do you know when you have gotten there?

Lovemarks are not created overnight. Marketers need to know where they stand in the

beginning, and how well they are doing along the way to building a Lovemark. To help them,Kevin Roberts created the ―Love/Respect Axis.‖

This tool allows companies to measure how much consumers respect their brands versus howmuch they love them. Low respect and low love? You are a commodity. Low respect and high

love? You are probably a fad. High respect and low love? You are a solid brand with a bigopportunity. High respect and high love? You are a Lovemark.

Call it Lovemarks or call it something else, but the pressing question for 21st-centurymarketers in a digital world of social networking and brand advocacy is how to engage people

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/08/brand-strategy-and-the-lovemarks-theory.html

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/author/derrick-daye-the-blake-project




http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/08/brand-strategy-and-the-lovemarks-theory.html



so they embrace and proselytize your brand. The answer to that question: move from the topleft hand quadrant to the top right.

The Data

First, let’s look at some research statistics.

Knowing the need to prove the Lovemarks theory, Saatchi & Saatchi engaged pioneers inemotional research, London-based QiQ International. It was essential to have evidenceshowing that being a Lovemark delivered higher return on investment (ROI). QiQ‘s workshowed that growing love and respect can increase buying intention for a product by as muchas seven times. Even if your brand has high respect already, you can double volume byincreasing love and becoming a Lovemark. For example, in the cereal category, a respectedbrand can increase the probability of future purchase intention by 60% by increasing their lovequotient. In the car category it is 133%!

Beyond purchase intention, people use their Lovemarks more often than they use other

products. The average consumer uses their respected brands 26 days per year on average.For Lovemarks it is 119 days.

Further research has supported the overall thesis. The 2007 ―Firms of Endearment‖ study bySisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth of 35 public companies that had Lovemarks characteristics showed

an ROI of 1025% (between 1996 and 2006)—compared to only 122% for the S&P 500, and316% for the companies profiled in Jim Collins‘ book Good to Great .

Love equates very strongly with loyalty. A survey of 60,000 shoppers across 50 markets foundthat if a brand can increase its loyal shopper base by just 5%, it can expect an increase insales of 10%. And in this age of online social networking, loyal shoppers have a much higherpropensity to recommend products to friends. In effect, people who love and talk about yourbrand online are now part of your sales force.

Research never sleeps. An associate company of Saatchi & Saatchi, AMR Research of London,has a reservoir of knowledge about what makes a Lovemark, after doing proprietary research

on 4,000 brands in 50 countries and reviewing over 100 industries. It found that consumersare tough, awarding Lovemark status to less than 10% of brands surveyed.

Perhaps this is why Lovemarks don‘t just create typical loyalty. They often create loyalty

beyond reason. What that means is that people who love those products often buy themwithout cross shopping any other brands. For example, in research, when they are asked ifthey can imagine a world without that brand, they honestly answer ―no.‖

A recent paper in the Journal of Marketing by researchers Batra, Ahuvia, and Bagozzi (2011) reported on a three-stage study of brand love. The results of the study summarize

Lovemarks in a nutshell. They found that when consumers feel a sense of love for a brand they have a higher sense of brand loyalty, spread positive word-of mouth, and resist

negative information about that brand.

http://amzn.to/16doGYF






20. Rethinking Emotions In Marketing

by Derrick Daye

Although the importance of emotions in consumer behavior is certainly not a new topic, thereis still a feeling that marketers have minimized them in their market approach in the past. Of

course, it is easier to change the packaging of your product or add a different ingredient thanto make your brand ‗less sad‘ or more ‗passionate‘. However, recent neuro-research illustratesthat we have been underestimating the impact of emotions on decision making for a longtime. There are three different levels in our brain:

The first layer is called the ‗visceral brain‘ or ‗automatic brain‘. These are the type of braincells we have in common with the most primitive animals. For simple animals like lizards, lifeis a continuing set of threats and opportunities and an animal has to learn how to reactappropriately to all of them. The visceral level is fast. It compares information from the senseswith pre-wired patterns of information. Based on this judgement, it swiftly gives instructionsfor routine deeds: running away, freezing, fighting or relaxing. This part of the brain istherefore responsible for instinctive behavior.

The second part is the limbic system. This brain adds emotions to the sensory informationfrom the visceral brain. It is the base of the amygdale, a brain structure that is responsible forexperiencing positive and negative emotions. Based on the emotional evaluation of a stimulus,the limbic system decides to continue or stop certain performances. We have this brain incommon with other mammals. This limbic level is not conscious. It is responsible for so calledautomatic acts. Think of the way you drive your car or how a skilled piano player seems to docerebral activities without much effort.

The limbic system interacts closely with the neocortex, the brain part that developed in thelast stage of human evolution, called the ‗rational brain‘ or the ‗reflective brain‘. It reflectsback on our acts and links sensory information to existing memory structures. Based on thesereflections, it tries to alter behavior. This leads to informed decisions and is therefore oftencalled ‗the ratio‘.

The actions we undertake are the results of co-processing done by all three layers in our brain.

However, research by Joseph LeDoux has shown that the impact of our limbic system is the

biggest. Contrary to long-held beliefs, it is not our rational brain that is in the driver‘s seat.Consumer behavior is largely controlled by emotions and only sporadically overruled by ourratio.

Implications for branding and marketing

What do these neuropsychology findings teach us as marketers? It is crucial to re-evaluate therole of emotions in our marketing approach for a couple of reasons. First, they have a directimpact on consumer decision-making. Emotional thinking works much faster than rationalthinking. Our gut feeling directs very quick reactions. The emotional brain processes sensoryinformation in one fifth of the time our cognitive brain takes to assimilate the same input.

Second, emotions have always had an important evolutionary meaning. Our capabilities fordetecting anger, fear or disgust have served as powerful indicators for dangerous situations.Similarly, positive emotions have re assured us that we could safely engage in certain

activities. Emotions are therefore important attention grabbers. We are wired to pay attentionto emotions. Using emotions in communication will therefore draw your customer‘sattention.

In the middle of our limbic system we find the hippocampus, a brain structure responsible formemory. Together with the emotion center, the amygdale, it helps us capture new memories.Whenever a new stimulus contains emotions it will trigger the amygdale, which will thencreate a new memory connection in the hippocampus. Every time we recall the storedinformation, the accompanying emotion will be revealed again. The limbic system is thereforethe seat of emotional branding.

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/04/rethinking-emotions-in-marketing.html




http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2010/07/brand-messaging-for-a-strong-emotional-response.html





http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/04/rethinking-emotions-in-marketing.html



Whenever we are confronted with a brand, we will experience these emotions. We do not onlyconsume a product, we are also emotion consumers. We eat chocolates or drink warm drinkssuch as coffee when we feel sad. We drink tea to relax and take away our agitation. Becauseof our typical memory structures, our perceptions are constantly colored by our emotions.

What the heart thinks, the mind speaks. People who experience an emotion tend to start acommunication process to share this emotion with others. Research found that only 10 per

cent of the emotional experiences are kept secret and never socially shared with anyone. Themore disruptive the event, the sooner and more frequently it will be shared. Social sharing ofemotions is also positively related to the intensity of emotions. Emotions do not only appear tobe an important element in stimulating word-of-mouth but also in creating online buzz.Successful viral movies trigger an emotional response in the recipients‘ brains.

Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Joeri Van den Bergh and Mattias Behrer, excerpted from their book, How Cool Brands Stay Hot, with permission from Kogan Page

Publishing.

http://amzn.to/127kKJJ






21. Identifying Emotional Benefits For Your Brand

by Derrick Daye

To be truly effective at brand marketing we need to understand which concrete features andfunctional benefits of our brand (as well as the brand as a whole) evoke feelings most strongly

and which do so without simultaneously creating emotional anti-benefits (aversive feelings).

This is not a new concept. "Laddering" is a term used to refer to a technique wherein a focusgroup moderator begins with a specific product feature and continues to ask the respondent'what is good about that' until a specific emotional benefit that supports the respondent's selfesteem is unearthed.

The essential concept is that every functional benefit or feature which is sought after is soughtafter for an emotional reason.

Contributed to BSI by: Dr. Sharon Livingston, President, The Livingston Group





http://www.tlgonline.com/index.asp








22. Brands Must Be Built On Emotional Benefits

by Derrick Daye

Emotional and psychodynamic factors are long known to drive brand selection and loyalty.Even in today's price-sensitive economy, the imagery attached to brands goes far beyond

product attributes, functional benefits and price.

All products and brands develop personas in consumers' minds. They project varying userimages, which differ by audience. Members of one audience may buy a product because itmakes them feel affluent. Members of another, which values thrift, buy a brand because itmakes them feel like smart shoppers.

More generally, consumers buy products with imagery that is

Either consistent with their positive view of themselves ("I'm sophisticated andtherefore buy this type of wine to complete my image") or

Which conveys a plausible aspirational model – something they would like to be andbelieve they could conceivably achieve ("I can be a real ladies' man if I drive a sportscar.")

In fact, we have discovered that the essential component of Brand Character goes far beyondadvertising slogans and packaging. The most powerful influencing factor in purchasing habits

is the subtle, often-overlooked product/consumer relationship. A vital brand has a"relationship" with loyal users not unlike a healthy relationship between two people.

People maintain ongoing affiliations as long as each person in a relationship feels as thoughthe other contributes positively to his/her sense of self. Relationships fall apart whenperceived negatives begin to outweigh the rewards of the association. For example, beingcoupled with a successful friend casts a positive halo onto someone who values success.

If you want to build a strong Brand Equity relationship, (indeed — to develop a truly effectiveadvertising platform of any kind) you must first understand the core values of your targetmarket. In marketing, we often talk about the assessment of these core values as "ladderingup to emotional end benefits." These are the unspoken consumer values that are the glue to

brand loyalty because they validate the user's self perceptions.

Contributed to BSI by: Dr. Sharon Livingston, President, The Livingston Group

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/11/brands-must-be-built-on-emotional-benefits.html









http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/11/brands-must-be-built-on-emotional-benefits.html



23. Brand Building: Is ‗Function‘ The New‗Emotion‘?

by Derrick Daye

The ‗emotional‘ revolution that has engulfed the marketing world is undeniable: brands are

constantly seeking to win our wallets by way of our hearts. The mythmakers of Madison Ave did

so by crafting poignant stores that masked products‘ imperfections or downright uselessness. Though today‘s marketers are forced to meet a slightly higher standard of credibility, their goal is

still to teach us how their brand is supposed to make us feel. It seems it‘s not enough for soap to

clean and moisturize – it must also compel us to philosophize about what it means to be

beautiful.

Psychology, and more recently, Cognitive Neuroscience, has elucidated the critical role emotions

play in our day-to-day existence. We have entire brain regions dedicated to expressing,

perceiving, and processing emotions, and so it is no surprise that emotions lie at the core of many

of our decisions and behaviors. But marketers have, for the most part, misinterpreted the

implications of our biology for their brand-building activities.

The most successful companies in the world understand that brand and business growth don‘t

result from the kind of emotion that is manufactured in an advertisement. Instead, these

companies channel all of their energy into creating magnificent products that add true, tangible

value to people‘s lives. Emotion – and the financial commitment it inspires – actually emerges

as an organic side-effect of satisfied functional needs.

Dyson, for example, takes pride in the fact that it has no marketing department. Indeed, its

products are the only marketing department the company needs. James Dyson dedicated his life

to perfecting what was always an imperfect technology, and in the process created the most

innovative, powerful, and beautiful vacuum cleaner on the market. The team behind Dyson‘s

Luddite sibling, the Swiffer , did something similar: they understood the misery of mopping and

invented a simple and effective tool to mitigate the pain. And Apple, fed up with man‘ssubservience to overcomplicated technology, introduced people to the most elegant and intuitive

devices upon which they‘ve ever laid a finger.

These brands have achieved extraordinary success by fulfilling a fundamental functional need –

be it cleanliness or communication – in a unique and innovative way. When Dyson, Swiffer, and

Apple communicate with people, they allow their products and technologies to speak for

themselves (many of their ads simply consist of product glamour shots) and inspire consumers to

forge their own emotional connection with the brand. Millions of people would be devastated if

these brands left the planet – not because they intentionally tug at our heartstrings, but because

they add meaningful value to our lives.

Contrast these examples with Google‘s recent ads for its Chrome browser. The ads are beautiful

and chill-inducing, but their purpose is ultimately unclear. As Google continues to lag behind

Microsoft and Mozilla in terms of browser usage share, it becomes increasingly important for

them to give people a reason to switch to Chrome. This recent campaign has generated millions

of YouTube views (and even more tears), but has done little to convince anyone besides current

Chrome users that it‘s an application worth trying. Had Google found a way to, say, bring Flash

to my iPhone, I‘d also be crying tears of joy, but this time on my own terms.

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/05/brand-building-is-function-the-new-emotion.html













The functional/emotional divide

It is evident even when it comes to issues of sustainability and social responsibility that

consumers care more about function than vice versa. Two examples illustrate the same.

A brand like Seventh Generation, built entirely on an emotional promise of protecting the planet,

has lost many customers who feel that the brand doesn‘t actually fulfill its functional duty: keepingthings clean.

And while Pepsi‘s Refresh project revolutionized how we use social media and proved to the

world that brands are capable of doing good, the fact that Coke now holds the top two spots in

the Cola Wars suggests it‘s the other refreshment – the functional kind – for which people actually

pine.

So has the emotional revolution really been replaced by a functional one?

Not exactly.

For one, it is emotion that ultimately drives the functional innovation that I have described here:the passion and empathy of people like James Dyson, Steve Jobs, and their disciples allow them

to conceive of and execute the value-adding innovations that draw consumers in.

And once they‘re drawn in, it is emotion that keeps them there: a brand that has functionally

integrated itself into someone‘s life creates an enduring emotional bond that is difficult to break .

But notice that it is function that lies at the core of this system.

Until companies realize that it is through superior performance and meaningful, empathetic

innovation that brands become beloved and irreplaceable icons, the only emotion they can hope

for is of the artificial, transient variety. And any human-brand relationship built on this kind of

emotion cannot expect to function for very long.

Contributed to BSI by: Eric Tsytsylin, Millward Brown Optimor

http://www.millwardbrown.com/Home.aspx






24. Brand Messaging For A Strong Emotional Response

by Derrick Daye

Recent breakthroughs in neuro-science confirm what we marketers know in our guts, but

sometimes forget in the day-to-day rush of preparing the next ad campaign launch. Namely,

everybody feels (emotions) before they think (rational decision), and without generating theappropriate emotional response, no ad campaign can succeed.

Here are some guidelines to help avoid that fate.

Get Physical

Sight and sound are fine, but over-used. Leverage the sensory dimensions of feel, touch and

taste to create more intimacy and differentiation. Remember: the brain originated with the sense

of smell. So Descartes got it wrong. It's more like, I can smell, therefore I feel/think and will buy

your product.

Keep It Simple

You've got three seconds to connect. The joke that has to be explained is never as funny as the

joke you just get. The frustration of "huh" (message-itis) is marketing's hidden emotional cancer.

Consumers feel lost more often than anybody wants to admit.

Keep It Close to Home

Generate likeability and preference through familiarity. Most advertising only has time to echo the

story already in your head and heart. Out-of-the-box ideas risk being out of one's emotional

range. What's intellectually complicated merely becomes emotionally obscure in a 30-second

spot.

Focus on Faces

The face is the center of our being, the barometer of one's health and beauty. It's also how we tell

if we like somebody, or the place to check if we distrust what they're saying. Fake smiles don't

fool us; everybody's a natural facial coder. For instance, "surprise" that lasts for more than a

second isn't genuinely feeling surprise; it's canned, spin, rejected.

Make It Memorable

Ad agencies too often set a pace that feels like a blur to consumers. Their clients can meanwhile

be foolishly blind to the need for an ad that has an emotional peak. People notice change; a

solution where the "pain" of the status quo isn't conveyed adequately means the solution

isn't perceived as valuable and the storyline just drones on.

Relevancy Drives Connection

Us and me is everything; attachment and self-esteem are the motivations that work best.

Differentiation from rivals doesn't by itself deliver anything on behalf of your target market. In

Latin, "motivation" and "emotion" have the same route to move, to make something happen.

Without emotional engagement, you're dead.










Always Sell Hope

Meaningfulness is the key to sustained happiness. Create a powerful context, a way to enhance

confidence and security, or merely sell a product or service instead. When we're happy we

embrace a branded offer, and are inspired to solve problems at a clip that's as much as 20%

faster (with superior results). In other words, happiness isn't "soft."

Don't Lead with Price

Price has only to be heard to be pigeon-holed, short-circuiting the emotional connection. In

contrast, value gets assessed over time, based on the build-up of brand associations and

experience of the offer. Make money by building a relationship. Loyalty is a feeling, after all, and

in this case depends on overcoming our natural aversion of giving up cash for a company's

goods.

Mirror the Target Market's Values

There are the ephemeral emotions created by responding to an ad as stimulation. But richer pay

dirt results from evoking emotions that nourish brand equity through projecting a compellingbrand personality and enshrining values that echo what the target market accepts and can

embrace. Most companies merely talk to themselves, thinking the offer is the hero, when the

consumer is.

Believability Sticks

Arguing through statistics is the least persuasive type of advertising. Analogies and cause/effect

ads work because we intuitively believe the story and visuals. That enables us to believe the tale,

not the teller, which is essential to ad effectiveness because corporate credibility is on life

support.

Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Dan Hill, President, Sensory Logic and Authorof About Face

http://www.sensorylogic.com/


http://amzn.to/J1MHpI







25. Building Emotional Connections To Your Brand

by Brad VanAuken

If a brand is able to consistently connect with its customers on an emotional

level, it is much more likely to achieve strong customer loyalty. So, how then

does a brand create this emotional connection?We have created a process that enables organizations to understand how

emotionally connected their customers are to their brands, and based on that

insight, to develop ways to create stronger emotional connections.

The first part of the process is research-based and seeks to understand

the ways in which customers connect emotionally to the product orservice category and then to the brand itself.

The second part of the process generates hundreds of ideas for

strengthening that emotional connection based on the insights from the

research.

Next, the ideas are culled down to those that can be implementedquickly and that have the highest potential for success at the lowest

possible investment.

Finally, we develop a plan to implement these ideas.

So, what have we learned from using this process with our clients? First and foremost, a brand

must be trustworthy. It must consistently deliver on all of its promises. All customer touch points

must be in alignment on this. Related to this, an organization should never oversell its

capabilities. Set customer expectations realistically.

Next, organizations would do well to be customer-centric. That is, they should be driven by

meeting and exceeding customer expectations rather than squeezing one more cent of profit outof each ―transaction.‖ In a related manner, organizations should strive to treat every one of its

customers as it would a beloved friend or family member, with that same level of caring and

respect.

Organizations should try to be as transparent as possible in their interactions with customers. It is

always helpful for an organization‘s managers and its other employees to ―live the brand‖ with

their customers or to at least ―walk a day in their customer‘s shoes.‖ The simplest way to do this

is by monitoring customer service calls for at least one day each quarter. Better yet, people could

experience the brand directly with their customers much as Harley-Davidson executives do as

they ride and interact with their customers on H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) rallies.

Another strategy is to surprise and delight customers with extraordinary service as often as

possible so that the customers themselves become the brand‘s biggest evangelists. Create some

brand legends. And the realization that happy employees make for happy customers cannot be

overemphasized.

How does an organization achieve these ends? Through

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2010/01/building-emotional-connections-to-your-brand.html





Hiring criteria that includes ways of interacting with customers,

Balanced scorecards that include customer-centric measures,

Rewarding employees for treating customers well,

Designing specific brand proof points into each point of customer contact,

Developing new points of customer contact,

Simplifying and externally communicating customer processes and customer servicepolicies,

Training customer facing employees in the art and science of superior customer service,

Designing ways for employees to experience the brand as their customers do,

Establishing a set of ―guiding principles‖ by which employees should live and

Treating employees with the same caring and respect with which they should treat their

organization‘s customers.



26. Brand Research: Emotions, Feelings And Behavior

by Derrick Daye

If I ever needed proof that our emotional response to the world around us is quicker than our

ability to think, I got it a couple of weeks ago. Anticipating that I was about to hear anotherpseudo-science sales pitch, I cut off the speaker with an ill-considered outburst. In retrospect, I

suspect that I did them an injustice. But the episode does highlight the powerful role that

emotions play in shaping our behavior.

The primary role of emotions is to dictate our response to the world around us. Based on our prior

experience, the emotional ―charge‖ either impels us toward or away from something. What was

being said on this occasion triggered a negative anticipation for me, and I reacted without

engaging my conscious brain first. But then my conscious brain caught up and shut down my ill-

tempered rant. I could then reflect on why I had acted the way I did and take action to put things

right.

At the time of the outburst I am not sure I was conscious of any particular emotion, but afterwards

I interpreted the reaction as anger. And that led to me feeling guilty and defensive. I had behaved

badly and felt the need to make amends.

Now let‘s look at this event from the research viewpoint. Could we have predicted that I would

react this way?

This blog proves that I am allergic to the suggestion that traditional research gets it wrong most of

the time. If I was asked in advance, then I could have easily predicted my reaction to the

speaker's statement (he was suggesting that people don‘t know why they act the way they do).

What I could not have predicted was the strength of my reaction or exactly when it would come to

fruition; that depended on the specific circumstances and what was said. However, after theevent I was able to easily reflect on why I behaved the way I did and how it made me feel.

What is really interesting to me is the motivational power of the emotions and feelings involved.

The emotional reaction that guided my immediate action was strong but short-lived. The reflective

feelings subsequent to the event were weaker, but motivated my behavior over a longer period of

time; I tried to be a good listener, I tried not to cut people off in mid –flow, and I tried to make my

case as clear and compelling as possible.

And this is what worries me about much of the popular discussion about the role of emotion in

shaping how people respond to the world around them. Like Erik Du Plessis, I think we need to

distinguish between instinctive short-term responses and longer-term feelings. The short-term will

be important to guiding attention and impulse decisions, but the mediated response – the

knowledge of how something makes us feel – will have far more effect on people‘s behavior when

they are making a considered purchase. And if that feeling is strong en ough to affect people‘s

behavior, it is probably also strong enough to enable them to answer questions about it.

So what are your thoughts or expressions of emotion?

Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Nigel Hollis, Chief Global Analyst Millward Brown

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2012/11/brand-research-emotions-feelings-and-behavior.html





http://www.millwardbrown.com/Global/Blog/Post/2008-06-03/What-brand-do-you-feel-like-choosing-today.aspx












27. Building Emotional Connections With Research

by Brad VanAuken

The most compelling brands usually connect with consumers at an emotional level. Their benefits

are often experiential, emotional or self-expressive. Certain types of research can help marketers

understand which benefits will have the greatest emotional impact.

Following are some of the types of research that one could use to identify these sources of

emotional connection:

Laddering – this helps one understand the following links: product or service features and

attributes → functional benefits → emotional benefits → underlying consumer attitudes and

values → self-image → self esteem (―I feel good about myself.‖). The researcher leads the

research participant from brand or product features and attributes to self-esteem through a series

of ―why‖ questions. The most powerful levels at which to communicate with the consumer are at

the emotional benefit, attitudes/values and self-image levels.

Projective techniques – these help the marketer uncover brand associations that the averageperson cannot or will not articulate unless asked indirectly. Typical projective techniques include:

o Sorting (into two piles: ―This is the brand,‖ and ―This isn‘t the brand‖ or ―This is the brand‘s

consumer‖ and ―This isn‘t the brand‘s consumer‖) – can be done with the products themselves,

images, colors, flavors, textures, sounds, etc.

o Analogies, including ―If the brand were an animal, what kind of animal would it be and why?‖

or ―If the brand were a car, what kind of car would it be and why?‖

o Word association, warming people up with ―up‖ (―down‖), ―hot‖ (―cold‖), man (―woman‖), etc.

but quickly moving to the brand in question and each of its competitors

o Collages – have people create collages telling a story about the brand, perhaps about their

most memorable experience with the brand, their first experience with the brand or their most

recent experience with the brand

o Thought balloons – have people fill in the word and thought balloons in cartoon frames in

which people are talking about or experiencing the brand

o Story telling – have people tell a story about the brand or have them act out a story about the

brand

o Convincing a friend – ask people how they would convince a friend to purchase and use the

brand

o Consumer letters – for this technique, you create a variety of fictitious (or use real) consumer

correspondence regarding the company‘s brand and its products and services. Each letter or e -

mail or telephone message might focus on a different consumer need, hope, anxiety, fear, etc.

You share the correspondence with the research participants to determine which ones resonate

with them and which ones don‘t. An important part of any projective research technique is to

probe the respondent to explain why he or she said or chose what he or she did.

Guided imagery – this very powerful technique requires people to relax, close their eyes and be

guided in an imagining exercise with you. It allows them to see, touch, taste, smell and hear

things that they otherwise couldn‘t. By guiding them along the way, you can get them to imagine

an ideal product/service purchase or usage experience. When they are done imagining, they are

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/06/building-emotio.html





instructed to open their eyes and write down everything they experienced. Once they have done

this, they discuss it with the group.

Inundation / deprivation testing – in this research, you require very heavy product users to cease

using the product for a period of time (through several usage cycles) and to document their

thoughts, feelings and actions/behaviors during this process. Similarly, you ask non-users to use

the product heavily during the same period of time (through several usage cycles) and to

document their thoughts, feelings and actions/behaviors during this process. At the end of the

test, you debrief each person about his or her thoughts, feelings and behaviors during the

process.

There are other techniques that distract people or get them in angry or very light hearted moods

so that their normal ―filters‖ are down and they can be mor e honest with themselves and the

researcher.

While people typically cite functional reasons for their purchases, study after study has shown

that most purchase decisions are based on emotions. This is why it is so important to understand

people‘s underlying emotional structures, not only to better position the brand based onemotional, experiential or self-expressive benefits, but also to establish long-term emotional

connection and loyalty to the brand.

Political strategists and researchers have long known that it is far more effective to connect with

voters on a values level than on an issues level. Some of the strongest brands either:

- Serve as self-expression vehicles for consumers (―This brand demonstrates that I am smart,

frugal, wealthy, powerful, attractive, environmentally conscious, a good mother, a good husband,

of refined taste, a non-conformist, etc.‖) or

- Stand for something very important to consumers (freedom, independence, creativity,

compassion, etc.).

To be truly successful in today‘s competitive environment, it is not enough for a brand to claim

only functional benefits, no matter how unique. It must also connect with people on an emotional

level. These types of research can inform a marketer on how to best create that emotional

connection between his or her brand and its target audiences.



28. Why Brands Are Loved

by Mark Di Somma

Recently, the research firm APCO Insight released its list of the top 100 most loved companies.

Their study measured consumer attachment to brands based on eight emotions: understanding,

approachability, relevance, admiration, curiosity, identification, empowerment and pride. There

are some interesting results. Yahoo beat Google. Disney beat everyone (OK, maybe that‘s not so

much of a surprise) and Apple came in at ninth (which certainly would surprise many).

According to the study:

The tech sector outperforms across all emotions, and rates especially well on relevance, meaning

people see these brands as fitting with them and playing a meaningful role in their lives. But they

could inspire more curiosity.

Retail brands are seen as highly approachable but people are less enthusiastic about wanting to be

associated with them.

Restaurants are also approachable for the most part, but they don‘t appear to help consumers feel as

confident or self-assured as they could.

So what does this tell us about how we react to brands? Why is one brand more loved than

another and are the criteria for loving a brand changing?

My thoughts:

We love the brands that help us love ourselves: the brands that we feel ―get‖ us, welcome us and

empower us. The rise of tech in APCO Insight‘s research shows just how much devices have

mainstreamed their way into our psyche. Machines telegraph our own currency (and therefore

relevance) to others in addition to being relevant to us. More broadly, brands help us resolve

things – personally and for those around us. There‘s a lovely thought that explains this in this

article by Joan Khoury – a good brand, she says, ―is an exterior way out of an interior crisis.‖

We look for brands that show leadership: the brands that we admire, that we identify with and that

we are proud to call our own. So there is both a sense for consumers of wanting to be in control of the

brands they buy but also wanting to be part of a wider community. Step inside an Apple store and

there is both the celebration of the individual and a palpable sense of community;

We differentiate between brands that we feel welcomed by and brands that we welcome being

associated with. My reading of this research finding is that we like how a great shopping experience

feels but we don‘t necessarily want to broadcast who and where we go. That suggests retail brands

still have work to do to lift their desirability as brands as distinct from merchants;

We want to be guided at some level, but in ways that lift our confidence rather than telling us

directly what to do. Loved brands navigate rather than direct. They light a path and invite … and

increasingly they need to do that over an increasingly multi-channelled, multi-stage buying pattern

that David Armano has christened the ―purchase spiral‖ using, I surmise, a combination of in-store,

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/11/why-brands-are-loved.html



http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/author/mark-di-somma



http://www.apcoworldwide.com/content/news/press_releases2013/emotional_linking1009.aspx



http://www.forbes.com/sites/gyro/2013/05/06/why-do-we-love-brands/




http://bozell.com/from-point-a-to-purchase-how-consumer-behavior-is-changing/











content, reviews, word of mouth recommendations and paid marketing. That further suggests that

conversion cycles are increasingly individualized and therefore that calls to action that help

consumers get to a point of comfort at each point of their personal conversion cycle, especially for

considered purchases, are critical. Brands need to pay a lot of attention to who stays in and who opts

out, where, when and why right along that buying process if they are to make sense of what works

and what doesn‘t. Each experience in that elongated pattern has a pass/fail. Each ―converts‖ in thesense of impelling consumers forward, or it doesn‘t.

That, in turn, would suggest:

Experience design is critical, content is now part of experience, and responsibility for

experiences is becoming shared. The brands that consumers love keep giving them more and

stimulating them to want more. Sounds obvious. But it reinforces the point that experiences are not

isolated, that there is no one big- bang experience and that content alone doesn‘t make you loveable –

the full (wider) experience needs to aim to evoke the eight emotions that APCO Insight refer to:

understanding; approachability; relevance; admiration; curiosity; identification; empowerment; and

pride.

To make that happen, the experiences that brands provide to customers will need to be sourced

from across the business, not just created and championed by the marketing department. This

excellent PSFK article on Designing Customer Experiences clearly articulates the evolution ahead:

―The new customer experience is actually a journey and it‘s driven by the shared experiences of other

consumers. It‘s perpetual. It‘s emotional. With big data, social media listening, research, customer

information is more than readily available. More importantly, experiences and the emotions that

people feel and share must be met with more than a listening or research team. This understanding

and awareness requires a handheld escort throughout all avenues of the organization that in some

way, shape or form contributes to the customer experience.

http://www.psfk.com/2013/08/designing-customer-experiences.html




functional vs emotional needs

Documents