From time to time I'll be sitting across from a client making a case for putting emotion in a message, brand, or brand story, (and by emotion I mean something that goes beyond a proof point, that builds to an idea around a larger truth) and I'll hear something like:
"Well my audience is doctors/scientists/engineers/businessmen/legislators/lawyers (for instance), not consumers - so we don't need that."
And it always strikes me as odd. No matter how analytical, buttoned-up, bottom line you are, we all share one thing in common, we're all human beings.
Last time I looked scientists fell in love and got married. I know engineers cry at funerals. I know doctors kiss their kids goodnight at the end of the day.
My point is that emotion is a driver for everyone. Sure each audience has specific needs and attributes, but people take action based on their heads and hearts - every time.
For example, a habitual smoker may know all the good reasons on paper he/she should quit, but it's not until missing the birth of a grandchild for being laid up at the pulmonologist that quitting becomes a reality instead of an idea.
More to the point, the largest customer segment for Harley Davidson motorcycles is doctors and lawyers. Harley Davidson's brand is all about emotion, and it resonates hugely with these exacting, academic professionals.
Why? Because we all (humankind) love a good story. We all laugh, we all cry, we all dream.
Good brands tap into this human constant. They amplify it, exemplify it, give it graceful expression.
Marketers (or clients) who dismiss this are dismissing something that makes each of us who we are, our humanity, and it will blunt the effectiveness of their outreach.
Better to remember not what sets a specific audience apart, but what brings that audience together to drive engagement and results.
Jeff Caporizzo is Vice President/Creative Director at ZilYen. Follow us on twitter @zilyentweets.
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