The emotional appeal of an ad can make or break performance, more than budget alone. Once its message resonates with a target audience, a brand typically sees lower acquisition costs and a high return on advertising investment.
Emotions
“How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market” is a groundbreaking book from 2003 by Gerald Zaltman, professor at Harvard Business School. According to Zaltman, “…95% of our purchasing decision making takes place in the subconscious mind.”
Emotions determine purchasing behavior. Influential brands exploit these latent feelings, often substituting features or price. The best creatives not only show what a product does, but also the feelings it evokes. This arouses desire and sparks action through viewers’ subconscious needs.
Consider True Classic, a direct-to-consumer menswear brand. It has reportedly generated $250 million in revenue since its inception in 2019. The company’s secret is creative creations that transcend physical products to evoke compelling identity and lifestyle aspirations. True Classic’s marketing strategy is “down-to-earth, humorous, relevant and authentic.”
Co-founder Ryan Bartlett said in a LinkedIn post that “creativity is massively underestimated”, adding: “…we create humorous advertisements for paid media because it adds value to people’s lives when you can brighten their day and make them smile, even if just for a moment. People don’t forget it.
True Classic’s marketing strategy is “down-to-earth, humorous, relevant and authentic.”
Future pace
Future pace is the craft of painting a picture in the minds of prospects. It helps consumers visualize what their life could be, dream and aspire. For example, “Find your greatness“The campaign encourages the public to imagine taking action and achieving their goals: a dream career, a car, a body, a girl, a status, a lifestyle.
That’s why True Classic strives to help men look good so they feel good, with ad copy like “Girls will find you more attractive if you dress better” and “you look good around chest and arms and loose at the front.”
Ultimately, people are driven more by emotion than logic. Focus on your client’s desired outcome and the feelings attached to the outcome. Then argue that your product is the answer.
Authenticity
Combining future pace and creative authenticity is a proven winner. Cassey Ho, the founder of PopEx, a women’s activewear brand, does this on her YouTube channel. He has 9 million subscribers, contributing to PopEx’s $5 million in annual revenue.
In a YouTube short film Titled “These leggings are designed to fit you perfectly,” Ho quickly grabs viewers’ attention by saying, “80% of women wear leggings that don’t fit them.” It captures the needs, wants and emotions of the audience in the first three seconds.
She then dives into the product, demonstrating real body types and her leggings’ solutions.
To start
Run ad campaigns with static creatives to test messages and visuals. Use images, copy, and simple graphics to quickly experiment with variations. This is a quick and affordable way to assess response.
Sarah Levinger, creative consultant, suggests run three static ads, each with an emotional message, and track which ones resonate best. Only when you understand the message does she recommend going fully into “producing UGC, professional videos, founder videos, and other corresponding ad categories.”
Potential content includes:
- Product Testimonials,
- Unpacking,
- Compare your product to others,
- Advertising hooks (clips of 1 to 3 seconds).
