Marketing Strategies - What Is Emotional Bonding in Advertising?
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Emotional bonding in advertising refers to efforts by companies to create subconscious emotional attachments between customers and their brands. When you can successfully create such a bond between your target customers and your brand, you can get customers to make routine purchases of your products and services regardless of their conscious concerns.
Bonding through Branding
The process of using advertising to present your brand and develop emotional bonds is called branding. This strategy is part of the long-term communication objectives commonly implemented by companies. New companies invest significantly to make target customers aware of their brands and to present and reinforce core benefits, such as product quality, sophistication, luxury, value and affordability. Established companies look to strengthen bonds with customers with ongoing communication and frequent reminders about brand attributes.
The Great Contradiction
In his 2008 book "Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy," author Martin Lindstrom shared the results of his three year neuromarketing study. Lindstrom found that prospects often say one thing about particular brands, but then act differently in buying situations. For instance, a buyer might say in a focus group or survey that he likes the features and attributes of a particular brand the best. However, when shopping, he may be subconsciously drawn to a competing brand because of its color, style or positive subconscious recall. This contradiction makes it difficult for companies to get entirely accurate assessments of buying motives when conducting research.
Testing the Bond
In a November 2008 article response to Linstrom's book, ad agency i.d.e.a.'s Chief Relationships Officer Jon Bailey indicated that one way to overcome the discrepancy between a buyer's cognitive expressions and buying habits is to conduct research differently. He advises his clients to ask buyers to view products as people when making assessments of them. For instance, when expressing views on a brand of toilet paper, a buyer might think of a person and describe qualities like strong, dependable, sturdy or soft. By viewing the product as a person rather than an inanimate object, the person is may connect more easily to his emotions.
Emotional Appeals
Advertisers use a number of emotional appeals in their ads to help shape customer perceptions about the brand. Happiness, joy, peace, fear, anxiety and guilt are some of the emotions advertisers target when trying to form emotional bonds. A coffee brand might tell a story about starting your day with a comfortable routine where you read the paper and drink your coffee to instill an emotional bond between the customer and the coffee that ties to the routine.
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Marketing, Marketing Strategies
Bonding through Branding
The process of using advertising to present your brand and develop emotional bonds is called branding. This strategy is part of the long-term communication objectives commonly implemented by companies. New companies invest significantly to make target customers aware of their brands and to present and reinforce core benefits, such as product quality, sophistication, luxury, value and affordability. Established companies look to strengthen bonds with customers with ongoing communication and frequent reminders about brand attributes.
The Great Contradiction
In his 2008 book "Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy," author Martin Lindstrom shared the results of his three year neuromarketing study. Lindstrom found that prospects often say one thing about particular brands, but then act differently in buying situations. For instance, a buyer might say in a focus group or survey that he likes the features and attributes of a particular brand the best. However, when shopping, he may be subconsciously drawn to a competing brand because of its color, style or positive subconscious recall. This contradiction makes it difficult for companies to get entirely accurate assessments of buying motives when conducting research.
Testing the Bond
In a November 2008 article response to Linstrom's book, ad agency i.d.e.a.'s Chief Relationships Officer Jon Bailey indicated that one way to overcome the discrepancy between a buyer's cognitive expressions and buying habits is to conduct research differently. He advises his clients to ask buyers to view products as people when making assessments of them. For instance, when expressing views on a brand of toilet paper, a buyer might think of a person and describe qualities like strong, dependable, sturdy or soft. By viewing the product as a person rather than an inanimate object, the person is may connect more easily to his emotions.
Emotional Appeals
Advertisers use a number of emotional appeals in their ads to help shape customer perceptions about the brand. Happiness, joy, peace, fear, anxiety and guilt are some of the emotions advertisers target when trying to form emotional bonds. A coffee brand might tell a story about starting your day with a comfortable routine where you read the paper and drink your coffee to instill an emotional bond between the customer and the coffee that ties to the routine.
