“Who has two credit cards?” asked Nick Black, Vice President at Concerto Marketing Group to a group of excited marketing students at the recent #KMAID speaker event. Quite a few hands went up and then the question was asked, “Do you use one just for shopping or when you are with your friends?” a student responded with “Yes” and then he asked, “Is it pink?” and as soon as the students face lit up everyone knew he was on to something.
Nick Talked about the emotions behind digital marketing, focusing in on the fact that people use goods not just for their practical use but because of how they make them feel. Continuing our credit card example he went on to talk about how credit card companies could not figure out why their cards which provided a lot more benefits and had an interest rate of 15% were getting beat by others with interest rates almost double. Nick went out to study the problem and it was quite apparent, the competitor’s cards were better looking. Respondents felt an emotional response when they would present their pink card at stores as it represented their fun personality. People were willing to give up logic for emotions.
Jon Fox talks about this topic and identifies the first two steps necessary, getting to know your audience and highlighting brand awareness through connections. The IPA actually proved that emotional ads were significantly more successful at 94% more so than rational ones.
As Guy Reason put it, “brands that start off with the heart of the Golden Circle and talk about why they do what they do, are capable of striking a chord with the limbic brain and establishing an emotional connection”. There is a lot of science behind the topic that I encourage you all to explore as it is rather amazing.
It is important to note as Nick mentions though that these emotions appeal differently to youth and adults. The six key digital emotions Nick had identified were:
- Excite
- Express
- Connect/ Safe
- Manage
- Support
- Explore Change
Youth as you can imagine were attracted to brands that were exciting, such as Red Bull, whereas adults preferred brands that promoted management. You can see the implications in Red Bull’s advertising already with Felix Baumgartner’s space jump from 128k above earth.
Even as an accounting student, this was an amazing topic to learn more about and then observe around me to see its effects. I hope all the attendees had a great time as I did and thank you again Nick Black for the amazing talk!
– Gabby Gill, Vice President
