🌻How The Use of Emotion Can Determine Marketing Success Do you want to entertain, or do you want to sell?

Female holding up two pieces of paper- one with a smiling face and one with a frowning face

Do you remember the first time you held your new pet? Or laid eyes on your soulmate? When you were told you had landed your dream job?

How did you feel?

Close your eyes — but only for a few seconds, as I need you to read on! — and imagine the emotion you felt then. The endorphin boost, the broad smile across your face, perhaps the quicker beating of your heart.

Feeling in a good mood?

Great, now I have you feeling that way, let’s talk about the power of emotion, whether in a story or a marketing campaign.

Research indicates that our initial instincts or ‘gut reactions’ can form in less than three seconds, leaving enduring imprints guiding our decisions. This phenomenon provides a powerful opportunity for marketers to leverage in their campaigns. By employing emotional triggers — be it joy, fear, or anger — advertisers can provoke lasting emotional responses in consumers, significantly elevating the likelihood of their ads leaving an indelible mark.

The same can be said with any storytelling; you want to use emotion to pull in the reader. However, using the right emotion to trigger the consumer into a purchase is essential.

Read also: To stop being a wantrepreneur, read this

The wrong emotion can be disastrous — as we shall soon see.

Executing evocative emotions

In 1959, W.D. and H.O. Wills wanted to launch Strand, a brand of cigarettes in Britain.

They set aside a big budget for T.V. and magazine advertising to launch the product and brought in respected advertising executive John May to create a campaign.

At the time, dark film noir movies were popular, and May wanted to tap into this and give Strand a cool and mysterious feel. His creative concept was of a cold, dark, wet, deserted London street. The main character, played by actor Terence Brook, wore a raincoat and portrayed a brooding Frank Sinatra type as he puffed away on a cigarette. In the background was a lovely instrumental piece, “The Lonely Man Theme” by Cliff Adams, and it ended with the narrator saying.

“You’re never alone with a Strand. The cigarette of the moment.”

Read also: How highly successful people get it done

It was well executed and compelling as a piece of entertainment. The commercial was popular as a piece of art, and Brook soon became a star. The instrumental song even made it onto the U.K. Singles Chart.

“Public awareness of the brand and its advertising rocketed to over 90% within weeks. This was unprecedented and has rarely if ever, been surpassed.” Winston Fletcher wrote in Powers of Persuasion: The Inside Story of British Advertising 1951–2000.

90% awareness — now, that is a metric that any marketer would love to achieve.

But it became one of the biggest failures in British advertising history. Watch the video below and think about what emotion you feel.

Contributed by Ash Jurberg

For more information and updates join our WhatsApp group HERE

Twitter HERE

Telegram HERE