Emotional branding

Emotional branding is a term used within marketing communication that refers to the practice of building brands that appeal directly to a consumer's emotional state, needs and aspirations. Emotional branding is successful when it triggers an emotional response in the consumer, that is, a desire for the advertised brand (or product) that cannot fully be rationalized. Emotional brands have a significant impact when the consumer experiences a strong and lasting attachment to the brand comparable to a feeling of bonding, companionship or love. Examples of emotional branding include the nostalgic attachment to the Kodak brand of film, bonding with the Jim Beam bourbon brand, and love for the McDonald’s brand.

History

Branding has always served as a representation of meaning through the use of a sign or symbol. Often times, these symbols were meant to hold a particular meaning or stigma. This is where the history of emotional branding began. An example of the brand used as a stigma can be found in the novel "The Scarlet Letter" with the use of the "A" as a brand of adultry. It wasnt until well into the twentieth century that business' started using branding as a standard business practice for their marketing their business and products. Product branding, which can be defined as the creation of a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers" was first used with watermarks on paper. During this time, the idea of branding was quite literal, with the use of images, logos and insignia to create familiarity with a product. With the beginning of Mass marketing in the 1900’s companies started to use Brand identity in attempt to associate an idea or lifestyle with a brand. This can be attributed to the “Father of modern advertising”, Thomas J. Barrett, the ideaman behind Pears Soap advertising. Barrett used the association of high culture and quality to brand his product to a mass audience. This marks the beginning of modern emotional branding,through the use of manipulation of human emotion to sell a product. During this time, we begin to see an emergence of more psychological theories in relation to branding and marketing, which leads to new uses of the brand itself. Marketing professionals during this time learn that in order for humans to create a relationship between themselves and a brand, the brand needs to portray a particular personality with specific values and symbols attached to it. This way, based on human emotions, a consumer can develop a closer connection with the brand.

From here, many companies began to catch on to the trend of brand identity to distinguish their products from others in a growing market. The play on emotion in branding became revolutionized with Sigmund Freud’s popularization of the “unconscious mind” from 1912. According to Freud, the unconscious mind consists of the processes in the mind that occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought processes, memory, affect, and motivation. In advertising, this became relevant through the use of hidden messages and symbols to trigger an emotional response, without literally making a claim about a product. During the early 1900’s Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays published works concerning both propaganda and the idea of public relations, a term he coined, in relation to persuasion through human emotion. Bernays promoted the idea of engineering psychology, or manipulation of the public opinion, to persuade. An example of one of Bernays' branding experiments is the phrase "Torches of Freedom" in reference to cigarettes smoked by women in 1928. Bernays applied the values of women's rights to the brand image of cigarettes, causing a spike in female interest in smoking. This is one of the first examples of evidence during the early 1900's that emotion and values tied to a brand can increase sales.

Motivation

The motivation behind emotional branding is to create a bond between the consumer and the product by provoking the consumer's emotion. Today's most successful companies are said to have built relationships with consumers by engaging them in a personal dialogue that responds to their needs. Marketers who've broken through the clutter have done so by connecting with consumers and, thereby, creating strong emotional bonds with their brands. Author Barbara Green states “You have to have a love affair with the consumer--flirt with them, provide that titillating buzz. When that flirtatious relationship becomes a deep relationship, then you have a major brand.”

Emotional branding creates a personality for the brand. In an article published in Brandweek, the difference between identity and personality is stated: “Identity is recognition. Personality is about character and charisma! Brand identities express a point of difference in the competitive landscape--but that's just the first step. Brand personalities are special: They evoke an emotional response. American Airlines has a strong identity but Virgin Airlines has personality.” The brand personality is crucial in emotional branding.

Techniques

Emotional branding uses the consumer's ability to process messages, to promote a significant feeling associated with the brand.

The two types of processing that a person can use to comprehend branding are Active Processing, which is learning that happens when deep, attentive processing is being applied, or, though Implicit processing, which is when meaning can be processed without awareness. Emotional branding is quite complex, in that a person can interpret a brand image through attentive processing, but once their emotions are provoked, the meaning that they take from the brand image can be implicitly processed, or in other words, subconsciously created. “We are more vulnerable when we are only vagely aware that our emotions are being influenced, and most vulnerable when we have no idea at all that our emotions are being influenced.” An example of this could be music playing in a store to create a subconscious mood.

There are multiple techniques for achieving an emotional response to a brand. The first, and perhaps the most complicated method is by attaching the brand to a certain set of ideological values.This works best when the advertiser has done substantial amounts of research on the demographic audience, knowing what values and ideas will trigger an emotional response and connection to the brand. The values can be embedded into the brand through images and language. An example of this would be the family values and essence of childhood and bonding portrayed in Walt Disney World Ads.

A second method is through making a literal statement about a product and its association to emotion. An example of this can be seen in a 1966 Hamlet Cigar ad that states “Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.” This associates the brand with a particular emotion in the most literal way possible.

A third method of association to emotion is giving the consumer an emotional reaction to an ad. An example of this in advertising could be calming music playing simultaneously with images of people enjoying the product. This method works best when irrational emotions are evoked. Using the same example, playing sad music with images of people struggling without the product would create an irrational connection to the product by playing on the consumer’s sadness. In one way, the brand creates a positive connotation with itself, in another, the brand creates a negative connotation with its competitors. These are both examples of emotional branding.

Many times, emotional branding is something that comes with time and long standing presence. For example, attachment of the specific emotion of “nostalgia” to the Kodak brand of film, “bonding” to the Jim Beam bourbon brand, and “love” to the McDonald’s brand are built over time. Through repetition of values and images, these brand names have reached brand euphoria, where meaning no longer needs to be created, as enough branding has been done to solidify a certain brand image.

Criticism

One of the more obvious criticisms of emotional branding is concerning the morality of manipulating human emotion, which is often an extremely vulnerable and irrational element of human thinking. Ethicist Richard Lippke notes that certain messages portrayed through branding should be criticized. These messages are:

1. Encouragement to accept emotional appeals, oversimplification, superficiality and shoddy standards of proof for claims
2. An emphasis on ease and gratification rather than on austerity and restraint
3. The notion that advertisers should allow people to show them how to live the good life
4. A constant encouragement to consume lest one miss out on something new; 5)the false belief that products will deliver the non-market good with which they are associated.

A similar criticism of emotional branding concerns it's very origin as the use of propaganda. Many criticisms have been formed concerning advertising's relation to propaganda, as the very first ideas about public relations and many ideas about advertising and branding came from the same man, Edward Bernays, who also perfected the art of propaganda.

References

Rossiter, John, and Steve Bellman.(2012) Emotional Branding Pays Off. Journal Of Advertising Research 52.3 (2012): 291-296. Communication & Mass Media Complete.

American Marketing Association Dictionary.

Westen, Drew (1999).The Scientific Status of Unconscious Processes: Is Freud Really Dead?. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 47 (4): 1061–1106. doi:10.1177/000306519904700404.

Making the Emotional Connection.(2001) Brandweek. General OneFile.

Green, Barbara.(2003) Product is no longer enough; smart marketers know the way to the wallet is through the heart. National Jeweler: 40+. General OneFile.

James,W.(1890) Principles of Psychology. Dover, New York.

Heath,Robert.(2012)Seducing the Subconscious. Wiley Publishing

Dimasio, A.R.(2000)The Feeling of What Happens. Heinemann, London.

Meenaghan, T. (1995), "The role of advertising in brand image development", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 4 No.4, pp.23-34.

Phillips, Michael. (1997) "Ethics & Manipulation in Advertising : Answering a Flawed Indictment." Greenwood Press. (page 6)