Product vs Emotions Debate

In the late 90s, Apple took inspiration from Nike to come up with advertisements that didn't list down product features and benefits. In fact, such advertisements don't talk about the product at all. At the end of advertisement, the brand is just flashed on the screen for a couple of seconds.

Through such ads, Nike honoured athletes and serious athletics, and Apple communicated that their products will change the world, and are used by people who want to change the world.

All in all, it was an attempt to show consumers that the brand's values aligned with theirs, so that they relate to it, and in turn choose it over competition.

You see, emotions play a huge role in driving our decisions. In fact, it is rightly said that human beings are not thinking machines; they are emotional machines that also think.

That, however, doesn't mean that we can ignore the rational side, especially during purchases of electronics, automobiles, or houses. The emotional side of a person might shortlist some smartphones at the first level, but still the consumer needs some rational arguments to validate those beliefs, and then finally make a purchase.

Now the things about living in 2022 is that consumers are smart enough to know how marketing works, and they can see through those huge promises and other lofty message by brands. They know that your product or App is not going to change the world, and you need to make peace with that fact.

So instead of completely rational or emotional approach, brands can aim to become the subconscious habit of their consumers. You see, people really don't have the time, attention, and energy to consider every purchase they make. The just trust their subconscious gut feeling to classify a brand as positive or negative for them. And those positive or negative feelings get attached to a brand subconsciously through every customer interaction.

The design, availability, placement in stores, pricing, how the sales person talks: Everything plays a role. The game, hence, is not just about what you say in advertisements. It is about carefully crafting every customer touchpoint.

Advertising (rational or emotional) is a tiny subset of what marketing really is.

So how does a brand become a subconscious habit? I'll talk about it in the coming articles. For now, just realise that consumers today are more immune to emotional ads, and the completely rational approach also fails to move them.

Marketing, therefore, is about taking care of everything your brand does, for it all adds up to the positive or negative perception people have of you, subconsciously.