While answering whether or not emotional advertising has a competitive edge in terms of impact, marketers cannot ignore the simple fact that the base of every ad campaign is emotional.
This was the moot issue at CII's session on 'Share of Heart into Share of Wallet' on Thursday.
Although observing that all advertising was emotional in a way and tried to capture something that was present in the human mind but did not happen in the real world, R Balakrishnan, national creative director, Lowe Lintas said that it needed be used when a marketer were trying to differentiate his offering. The efforts of an emotional campaign were likely to go waste if a competitor had a superior product, he said.
He also noted that gossip could be a key tool for conveying the message as it could drive emotion well.
"Nobody wants to be told about himself or herself. If an emotion is created around a third character, and a story is built around it, it sets the audience thinking," he observed in the context of a case study analysis.
It could be gauged from the mood of the audience that this session turned out to be more interesting than the other sessions of the day.
The proceedings of the discussion, which was also the first of the day, on - how important an aspect emotion was -- meant that two presentations revolved around familiar television commercials that were analysed and understood which captured the attention of the participants.
Madhukar Kamath, CEO, Mudra Communications, stressed the need for emotional connection for a brand to succeed. "It is like the evolution from being acquaintances to a friends to lovers," he said.
He also said that the marketers needed to avoid using emotional advertising to merely push products. It was likely to fail when the ad had nothing to do with the product.
In her address, writer and columnist, Shobha De said that emotion was the same whether in the west or in India.
"A consumer's buying decision is usually irrational, and driven mostly by the heart. Sometimes, there tends to be an overlap between the head and the heart, but this doesn't happen all that often," she observed.
The session however ended with a sidelight that although emotional advertising worked, it was just one way of creating brand loyalty. Brands like Body Shop and Barista, which were never advertised, were instances of that.
Packaging sentiments
- All advertising is emotional in a way and tries to capture something that is present in the human mind but does not happen in the real world.
- Gossip can be a key tool for conveying the message because it drives emotion well.
- If an emotion is created around a third character, and a story is built around it, it sets the audience thinking.
- A consumer's buying decision is usually irrational, and driven mostly by the heart.
- The efforts of an emotional campaign may go waste if a competitor has a superior product.
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