We are emotional, whether we like it or not. Our life is an endless series of emotional interactions. Nothing happens without emotions. On the one hand, we communicate with the world by showing our feelings, on the other hand, we guess and interpret the feelings of others.
Emotional Branding
The concept of “emotional branding” as one of the marketing trends assumes that all activities, including branding, will consider and refer to the recipient’s feelings. In short, it’s about the users thinking fondly of a given product or (more commonly) a brand, while we (the people responsible for brand creation) are supposed to strengthen the emotions desired by our branding. A more hardcore take on this is pure propaganda.
However, it is worth realizing that in our work we can use tools that will help to build brand strength, also thanks to the emotional relationship with the recipient.
Let’s list the following aspects of emotional brand strengthening:
1. Functional
When the brand or a product is clearly assigned to a specific emotion and the recipient has no doubts about what emotional needs can be satisfied thanks to it, and because of that reinforcement, we can precisely describe our brand. The whole world of the brand and the entire Swatch’s branding concept clearly communicates that it is about a sense of pleasant independence, and Lego is about creative fun.
2. Distinctive
Where the products we use communicate who we are and how we want to be perceived. This is best seen when observing clothing brands, which on the one hand are making it easier for the recipient to adjust to the desired group and ensure identification with the environment. Think Tom Ford, Louis Vuitton, Gucci. And on the other hand, there are also brands that emphasize otherness, individuality, and precisely standing out from the surroundings.
3. Mythical
Ways of expressing your brand which provide additional value by means of storytelling. A good example is Adidas Superstars, whose strength and position are inextricably linked with the greatness exhibited by legend Michael Jordan. When using this aspect, watch out for false stories here, they can very much harm the brand!
4. Magical
When a completely irrational brand element can guarantee a high position for the brand. This is e.g. the secret ingredient of Coca-Cola, or Steve Jobs’s position in Apple at one time, the wizard who provided uniqueness to his products.
Why are emotions important in brand building?
To Wrap Things Up
Building a strong and efficient brand is a difficult and not obvious task, despite a large number of tables in Excel and the numbers placed in them. In the end, it turns out that the consumer is really a human being and it is better to think of them this way, not as an abstract number with an equally abstract purchasing power. That is why the emergence of the emotional aspect helps to both understand the decisions that users make and target them as individuals more precisely.