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Marketing and Sales

Emotional Marketing Done Right:

10 Examples of How to Strike a
Chord with Customers
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11 minutes

marketing strategies

All successful brands are great storytellers. They

inspire, encourage, or even provoke their audience —
and remain on the front pages. And they also use an
impressive variety of tools and platforms to deliver their
messages and cut through the noise.

We invite you to learn from the best emotional

marketing examples and explore ways to tap into your
audience’s emotions. We’ll also explain why feelings
will always affect people’s decision-making processes,
even when they are trying to think rationally. It’s not
about manipulation — it’s about a deeper connection
and understanding of human psychology. Read on to
find out more!

Content:

What is emotional
marketing?
Emotional marketing or emotional advertising is based
on psychological triggers that make customers feel a
certain way, help them remember a certain brand or
product, and motivate them to act. The desired action
may be a click, purchase, visit, call, or any other activity
that implies closer contact with a brand.

As such, emotional marketing requires the use of

mediums that are immersive and captivating:

videos;
podcasts;
billboards;
social media;
packaging;
merchandise, and other tangible items.

Usually, emotional marketing takes the form of a

creative campaign that revolves around one strong
brand message. But you can apply the principles of
emotional advertising to literally anything, from the
images you choose for your landing page to the
language your chatbot speaks.

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The importance of
emotions in marketing
Why do we need to target emotions? Why can’t we just
explain how good our product or service is? Because
emotions come first.

It works like this. Stimuli from the outside world hit our
thalamus and go straight to the amygdala, an ancient
emotion center of the brain, and only then travel to our
neocortex where all the rational thinking actually
happens.

The emotional center processes information

milliseconds earlier than the neocortex. That’s why
sometimes we act irrationally — because our neocortex
didn’t have enough time to intervene.

How the amygdala is connected to emotions

A strong emotional trigger creates a so-called amygdala

hijack, during which we experience intense joy, stress,
excitement, anger, or anxiety, depending on the type of
the trigger. In emotional marketing, we can use “positive
hijacking” to drive people to try new products or
services and dissolve their fear of leaving their comfort
zone.

Before you dive into emotional marketing,

make sure your brand reputation is
immaculate. Learn how to manage your
online reputation from our blog!

Knowing this, you can create a strong emotional

experience and connect with your customers on a deep
level. The stronger emotional arousal following the
experience, the brighter the memory for that
experience. This is how you create brand impressions
that last.

How to use emotional

appeals in advertising?
Now that you know why emotions are crucial for any
marketing campaign, let’s discuss how to leverage them
without becoming too pushy or manipulative.

To use emotional appeals effectively, you need to know

what kind of response you want to trigger and why.
Here is the wheel of emotions that illustrates basic
psychological states:

Primary emotions in the emotion wheel; source:

Career Contessa

Push multiple buttons and create a complex experience

that will make even indifferent observers come out of
their shells. But, before you start, you need to study
your audience. Know their fears, joys, pain points,
concerns, and anticipations to predict how they’re going
to react to your messaging.

The do’s of emotional marketing are based on

established psychological patterns:

Make it relatable. People are attracted to those who

think and speak like them. Speak your audience’s
language and make sure your audience gets your
brand message in the right place at the right time.
Spark curiosity. Surprising experiences are recalled
more accurately. Channel your creative efforts and
try to develop an idea or concept your audience has
never considered before.
Invite people to pause and reflect. Emotional
marketing often means tapping into deep topics
such as the importance of family bonding, risk-
taking, mental well-being, the meaning of success,
etc.
Tease and provoke. Don’t be afraid to go to the
extremes — bold statements, uncommon
characters, controversial stories — to create an
outstanding campaign that will make people
question their choices and pay attention to your
brand.
Reimagine mundane things. Try to create a “wow”
effect even if you market another type of milk or a
pair of shoes. Present it in the most visually
captivating way because people are far better at
remembering what they see than what they hear.
Invite your audience to become part of the group.
Create a community of like-minded people on your
social media and cultivate a sense of belonging for
everyone who joins it — it makes people feel
happier.
Make people laugh. Having fun is a proven way to
relieve stress and sharpen memory. When you
make your audience smile, you create an emotional
connection with them and help them remember
your brand better.

Trying to impact the consumer mindset is walking on

thin ice. There are a few explicit don’ts of emotional
marketing:

1. Don’t pick random influencers for your campaign.

Carefully choose who represents your brand. For
example, don’t hire a blogger with surgically
enhanced beauty and no sports background to
promote sportswear for athletes. Your audience will
be quick to point out the mismatch and walk away.
2. Don’t cross the line. Trying to play on stereotypes
or appeal to a certain group by excluding others is a
sure way to face some pushback. Try to include
everyone in a conversation.
3. Don’t mentor your audience. Remember Gilette?
After years of cultivating a typical masculine image,
they suddenly created an emotional campaign
tackling masculinity stereotypes. Some people
considered its tone fake and have lost trust in the
brand. But the campaign still has gone viral, so no
one knows for sure if it was a conscious
provocation.

The main marketing lesson here: try to leave a positive

impression on everyone who is going to see your ad or
message. Avoid emotion-laden clickbait or murky tricks
that make people purchase a product and regret it
immediately after. Instead, strive to create a real
emotional bond with consumers.

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Emotional marketing
examples — 10 brands
doing it right
Let’s see how prominent companies use emotional
appeals advertising to spark customer sentiment and
generate buzz. Don’t be intimidated by the size and
budgets of these brands. It’s all about the language you
use and the stories you tell, and it can be done on any
scale.

TSB Bank

The company’s latest video features a bakery owner

proudly going through her workday and “owning it.”
Customers observe her in awe as she goes. The video
captures the confidence an entrepreneur gains once
they open a TSB business account and secure their
growing business.

A screenshot from the TBS Bank promo video

charging their clients with confidence; video source:
Adweek

It’s a simple yet relatable campaign that conveys the

exact emotion people want to experience when they
start an independent business.

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TSB Bank doesn’t overwhelm their potential clients with

figures and legalese terms — they just demonstrate
how easy it is to do what you love and earn money from
it.

Coca-Cola

The most recognizable beverage company in the world

decided to replace its logo with inspirational messages
to share with loved ones. Online customization allowed
users to write custom messages on the cans and send
them to their friends or family as a little mood-booster.

Ipromiseto You'reright, I'mnotthe

smilemore it'stimefor bestat
justforyou. meto compliments
takemorebreaks butI'lltry.
ToJulie ToFred
ТоВесса
From,
love,
Felipe Nuno Миш

Coca-Cola #OpenToBetter
TheCoca-ColaCompany*AllRightsreserved.Coca-ColaisaregisteredtrademarkoftheCoca-ColaCompany*2020

Custom Coke cans with positive messages; source:

Adweek

In times of the pandemic, brands rushed to create more

meaningful, heart-warming, and upbringing
experiences for consumers, and Coca-Cola certainly did
it right. This experiment also showed that the company
is even ready to give up its logo to inspire its customers
and give them a reason to smile.

World Vision Finland

This organization focuses on protecting children in

developing countries and defending their rights. To
inform more people about their mission and encourage
donations, World Vision Finland came up with creative
billboards with texts purposefully made illegible — and
triggered tons of discussions, especially on social media.

In fact, the clever billboards were illustrating the

problem of illiteracy that many kids and adults all over
the globe are still struggling with.

These street ads in gibberish are illustrating a serious

problem; source: LBBOnline

The campaign successfully raised awareness and public

interest in the topic because it was both unusual and
bold — pedestrians were curious to learn what those
enigmatic ads could mean. The element of surprise and
novelty made this campaign stand out.

Volvo

Car safety is the number one priority for many

customers, and car manufacturers go the extra mile to
prove that their cars are the safest on the market. But
not many brands use emotional marketing as
successfully as Volvo does when demonstrating that
their car “looks after you like you look after others.”

A screenshot from the Volvo video Volvo

using emotional advertising to emphasize
the safety of its cars; video source: YouTube

They pull at the customers’ heartstrings by showing a

typical busy day that could easily turn into a disaster.
The situation is too relatable and familiar to many, and
that’s what makes the video work perfectly. Yet there is
no fear-mongering — the brand just offers a smart and
reliable solution that will keep all family members safe
and sound.

Sheba

All cat owners know too well how active and noisy their
pets can be in the early morning hours. Sheba, a brand
of canned cat food, offered a neat solution — 4-am
lullabies that would quickly put exhausted cat owners
back to sleep. Lullabies include soothing ASMR
podcasts on Spotify and YouTube videos with calming
cat-themed visuals.

As of the time of writing, the video has over 600k

views. This soul-warming storytelling is another
elegant, non-manipulative emotional marketing
example. The idea behind the campaign is easy to relate
to, and the solution is fresh, amusing, and unique. As a
result, cat lovers remember the brand and pay more
attention to it in the future.

Heinz

This ketchup brand embarked on a mission to save its

customers from getting bored to death while stuck in
traffic. They bought ads in the navigation app Waze
and targeted users traveling at the same speed as their
ketchup when pouring from the bottle. Lucky drivers got
an Impossible Whopper at Burger King for free, topped
with Heinz Ketchup.

Heinz uses geolocation targeting to attract

drivers’ attention without distracting them;
source: Media in Canada

This emotional advertising is funny yet effective. Of

course, bored drivers will remember the name of the
ketchup brand that kept them entertained while they
were struggling to get home. And, of course, they will
develop new, positive associations with the name
Heinz.

Cadbury

This confectionery company created a touching digital

experience with the aim to help people go through the
pandemic and surprise their close ones from a distance.
The brand launched a virtual Easter egg hunt — users
could hide a shiny Cadbury egg anywhere in the world
using Google Maps and an augmented-reality app.

Cadbury organized a virtual egg hunt; source: Mobile

Marketing

As brand representatives explained, the main goal of

the campaign was “to help people feel close, even when
they can’t be together.” They created a little adventure
for their customers and boosted brand loyalty by
helping people unite and connect in a new way.

Vanquis Bank

The “Walk Tall” campaign is pretty informal and

mischievous for a bank, yet it perfectly reflects how it
feels to start a journey to a better credit score and
regain confidence in your future. The cat in the Vanquis
video is walking through a crowd on its hind legs and
obviously enjoys being the center of everyone’s
attention.

A screenshot from the Vanquis bank ad

featuring a cat and translating a feel-good
vibe; video source: YouTube

The campaign creates an emotional response — it’s

hard not to smile when you see a cat strolling through
the streets on all twos. This type of ad also allows the
company to stand out and differentiate itself from its
competitors with their monotonous videos about
financial products.

Tim Hortons

This fast-food chain approached Mother’s Day

creatively and offered limited-edition packaging for
mothers to hide their donuts from curious family
members. The boxes resemble books, but a close
inspection reveals that they are to be stuffed with
sweet treats. Tim Hortons also offers do-it-yourself
Mother’s Day DIY donut kits featuring flower-shaped
donuts that can be decorated by mom or anyone else in
the family.

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