Having a thoughtful spokesperson to represent a company publicly is one way to create an emotional brand.
Emotional branding is a concerted effort to design advertising for a company or product in a way that emotionally engages consumers. Rather than purely intellectual factors like a product’s price or efficiency, consumers’ deep inner drives are driven by this type of advertising. As such, most campaigns are not simply about eliciting an emotional response, but about convincing the customer that the product will meet their emotional needs.
The emotional brand can satisfy the wishes of different age groups.
Often the first step in emotional branding is developing a brand personality. Consumers, in general, do not connect with a company logo or slogan. However, they respond to the representation of human personality traits. The use of a spokesperson, for example, can often personalize a company. If that representative is caring or empathetic, these characteristics are often attributed to the organization.
One form of emotional branding is to link a product’s profits to different types of research, such as cancer treatments.
Another way to develop emotional branding is through shared commitments to social causes. When a business demonstrates that it supports a cause, a potential consumer who also supports that cause is more likely to buy from that business. Generally, great care is taken with these types of marketing techniques to avoid the appearance of arrogance or insincerity. As such, charitable contributions are often accompanied by volunteer service by company employees. In cases where a business wants to appear more environmentally friendly, energy saving and recycling programs can be established within the organization.
Once an organization develops a likeable personality and creates shared interests with its customer base, it needs to create an emotional need for its product or service. This is usually done by inclusion. For example, if a company has developed its emotional brand to include the personality trait of generosity, it is assumed that a person who does business with that company is also charitable. As such, people who feel an emotional need for kindness are more likely to buy from this organization.
The need to be physically attractive is a common emotional desire that is often addressed through emotional branding. Using an attractive spokesperson is a powerful tool here. Advertisements for products such as weight-loss products and cosmetics often assume that the customer will attribute the spokesperson’s appeal to the use of the advertised product. In theory, these individuals will buy the product on the assumption that it will also make them more attractive.