Emotional Branding - Why do emotions sell?

You influence people through emotion, not logic.
Logic is there to confirm what you feel.

Here’s the important stuff – only emotions drive our actions, not our thoughts. So to influence anyone’s behaviour we must consider which emotions will trigger which behaviours, and then identify those thoughts or experiences needed to create those specific emotions.

"You can say the right thing about a product or service and nobody will listen. You've got to say it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut. Because if they don't feel it, nothing will happen."  

William Bernbach

Today's businesses operate in a world of emotional engagement, not transaction. A brand is really an emotional connection you have with a product, service or organisation. For you to attract people, they need to feel a connection, it's no longer about being B2C or B2B, it's about connecting Human-to-Human.

Thoughts – Emotions – Actions

Thoughts drive emotions, emotions drive thoughts. But only emotions drive actions just as actions only create emotions. Thoughts in themselves do not drive actions.

“Emotion serves as a cognitive guide and helps adults make decisions every day” (Goleman, 1997)

Extensive research has shown that emotional campaigns outperform functional ones by up to 11x (Marketing in the Era of Accountability – IPA Datamine). We are emotional beings. Everything we do is driven by emotion. Our actions. Our decisions. Our memories. 

As Donald Calne, Neurologist said: “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions”.

As John Medina, Neuroscientist further explains, from the relationship between emotions and memories in the brain: “The brain remembers the emotional components of an experience better than any other aspect”.