Emotional marketing is a tool used by many brands to persuade the consumer through human emotions. At least once in their lives, every consumer has experienced this rare but satisfying transaction of brand bonding. In many cases, the reality has been that the linked product may be of little or no value at all. An emotional interaction triggers the purchase.
The most relevant aspect of emotional marketing lies in establishing a connection through a conversation —real or fictitious— that changes the consumer’s perspective. In many cases, even a consumer’s loyalty to a brand can be put at stake. Emotional marketing makes the consumer feel identified, attracted by the message or perceived value of the brand. Being recognized as a valued customer can make a difference.
Thousands of brands use emotional marketing seeking to win the hearts of their target market. For many companies it is an essential element of their daily work, achieving the desired results; it can even provoke unexpected positive reactions.
As a marketing strategy, brands use human emotions as a connection to persuade customers to choose their brand. These emotions mainly refer to happiness, sadness, or anger, as they are general opinions that people might share on a particular topic. Responding to current topics or relevant trends that are popular makes them positive for the consumer. An example is citing references to the use of polluting or harmful materials to the environment. What you do is opt for related options that are integrated into your products by letting your customers know. That can generate a relevant and lasting emotional link with consumers who follow these types of trends.
Emotions are used as a bridge between a brand and customers. By promoting the values of the brand towards a specific connection with the consumer, the latter can be loyal to the brand for a long time. Of course, the brand must be consistent and think about maintaining that connection by presenting the topics in an emotional way. Some ways to develop this are:
1. Activating memory and nostalgia. Emotions stored in memory due to issues of the past, as well as nostalgia, can activate moments in the client’s mind, which reminds them of their value and joy. The subconscious of memory always plays an important role in the life of every consumer. Countless brands develop campaigns and products seeking to activate elements encapsulated in the consumer’s memory, provoking nostalgia and motivating a certain desire to return to those times. It is common to see these strategies for consumers who are generally older adults, due to their age and memories. As unusual as this may seem, this group of consumers is the fastest growing, and is expected to continue growing in the coming years.
2. Promote the purchase by helping the decision. Similar products and brands seek to differentiate themselves on the shelves. Developing packaging that facilitates selection helps the consumer decide on the brand. Other things being equal, consumers select the products that appeal to them the most. The use of colors and specific elements can be attractive to various target segments.
3. Provoking action. The company aligns itself with a global or popular trend, even for a broad group of consumers, without going for one in particular. The emotional campaign can attract many unexpected additional consumers by becoming identified. Examples are seen in campaigns like #MeToo, #LikeAGirl, #LGBT or similar. The emotional marketing for this must be clear and adequately developed, otherwise it will have possible undesirable effects.
Emotional marketing is a strategy that as a tool plays a relevant role to win the hearts of customers. Well developed and thought out, it becomes a powerful identification tool before the competition, causing a strong increase in sales. The brands that use it are in sight such as Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, WWF, Google among many more. Emotional marketing pays off in a competitive market that seeks differentiation.