8 Awesome Commercials That Employ Emotional Appeal
Does your business use emotional appeal to win the hearts of your customers? Have you ever given it a try?
Feelings have a critical role in the way customers are influenced.
David Freemantle
Like David Freemantle says, feelings have a critical role in this regard. Yet few ads will make an emotional appeal. They will try to amuse and dazzle more than touch the heart. Which factor do you feel is most effective in drawing attention to your advertisements? There are many to choose from, aren’t they?
This is a critical missed opportunity in our view. We have studied and evaluated commercials for more than 5 years. Our focus is somewhat unique; we aren’t interested in entertainment value, we are interested in business impact. We study each spot and evaluate its power to build the business and to build the brand.
While emotional spots are not common, they are some of the most effective we have seen. Consider these emotional spots:
Jeep
Last year Jeep ran a remarkable commercial saluting the troops fighting overseas. The ad was serious and emotional. It noted, “There will be a seat left open, a light left on, a favorite dinner waiting, a warm bed made…because in your home, in our hearts, you’ve been missed. You’ve been needed, you’ve been cried for, prayed for. You are the reason we push on.” Jeep touched deep emotions about loss and longing. And the spot worked to build the brand; it made people feel proud of Jeep and its values.
Budweiser
Perhaps more than any other advertiser, Budweiser knows the power of emotion. Over the years the brand has run a series of emotional spots featuring the iconic Clydesdales. The 2013 spot, for example, highlighted the emotional bond between a horse and its trainer. It was one of the top spots of the year.
It isn’t easy to create an emotional spot for any commercial. Many environments are fun and energetic and people aren’t primed for serious themes. And, in many ways, the safe approach that many brands will take is to air funny and lively commercials.
But, if we are lucky, some brands will tap into our emotions. And if they do it well they will emerge as some of the most effective spots. Here are eight great examples we have reviewed recently that certainly touched and won our hearts.
In this commercial, Guinness uses an inspiring story to convey its emotional influence. Like great stories, it has a beginning where sympathetic characters encounter a complicated situation, a middle where the characters confront and attempt to resolve the situation, and an end where the outcome is revealed. It does not interpret or explain the action in the story to the audience.
Guinness
Instead, a good story allows each member of the audience to interpret the story and its emotion as he or she understands the action. This is why people find good, emotional stories so appealing and why they find advertising that simply conveys facts and information boring.
Here is the Guinness ad video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au8Y98Rgxbk
Guinness’s marketing story based on emotion has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template and telling a story – a real emotional story – that connects with people. The responses were overwhelmingly positive … customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories. The emotion in this marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.
Zillow
The family in this ad is looking for a new home using the real estate company Zillow. It eventually is able to find exactly what they are looking for. What the mother and children don’t expect is what is waiting for them on moving day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3bZz_JHyyA
Some of the best emotional stories effectively use the element of surprise like Zillow has done here.
Bell
Have you seen the remarkable branding video design from this South African business? The Bell’s TV commercial features a father whose intrepid spirit demonstrates just what it takes to be a true man of character. The video was created to market and build the brand. It is a very simple story. It advocates learning to read no matter your age or status in society. To us, it creates pure magic with the story, the visuals, the music, and the emotion. It certainly finds emotional triggers
Not a real secret here. The story and music that are created, while familiar, are as distinctive as they are heartwarming. Watch the faces, actions, and passions of the people in the story and listen to the music. They draw you into the emotion. Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the experiences are important to remember. Certainly, that kind of emotion in this story, isn’t there?
If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 2 minutes and it will inspire you. It is certainly easier in our top 5 of all time.
Apple makes the messages as clean and simple as possible in this ad. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message. A message that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Have you seen the Apple iPhone5 TV ad? If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will grab you with the simplicity of the emotional influence.
The Budweiser puppy love commercial was, by most accounts, the biggest winner from the 2014 Super Bowl. There are no better means of influence or the power of persuasion than emotion for animals. Hands down the best, in our opinion. Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the experiences are important to remember. Check out this ad here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4
There are eight basic, universal emotions – joy, surprise, anticipation, acceptance, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust. Successful appeals to these basic emotions consolidate stories and the desired calls to action in the lasting memories of audiences.
Remarkable isn’t always the same. Getting in the habit of doing the “unsafe” thing every time you have the opportunity is the best way to see what’s working and what’s not.
The key to being remembered is being remarkable. Don’t let your marketing take the back seat; stand out like Budweiser does in this commercial.
This puppy love commercial focuses on emotional appeal in a grand fashion. It is the secret of this commercial’s success.
Samsung
In this great commercial Samsung uses pictures/visuals to convey the message much better than words. “Seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words” are two common sayings that reflect a bias and preference for visual presentation.
Here is a four-minute Samsung ad with 15-20 new features shown for their iPhone. No talking. And so simple that you quickly grasp the features and don’t lose interest. And the coordinated music has a way to keep you tied in emotionally. Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet entertaining design, don’t you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LHv1FPd1Ec
Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler yet still emotional based on the music, does it? A great ad design’s emotional element is to match what viewers see with what they hear.
People expect and prefer coordinated audio and visual messages because those messages are easier to process, feel, and understand.
A very simple, yet entertaining design, don’t you think?
Dawn
We recently viewed a Dawn Liquid Detergent advertisement that caught our eye for several reasons. An effective TV ad that combined traditional advertising with advocacy advertising. Something you don’t see very often.
Interesting information, well presented, showing emotion, always holds attention, yes? Keep in mind that people don’t watch ads … they watch what interests them. Your ad messages must be interesting to your target communities.
This message certainly grabs and holds attention based on emotion, superb visuals, and great issue advocacy. Letting the visuals be the best influencer. People will watch, remember and most likely talk about it, won’t they?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFStdNtTkNI
The recent Dawn TV commercials started as YouTube videos and grew out of the success shown on that platform.
Zillow
The family in this ad is looking for a new home using the real estate company Zillow. It eventually is able to find exactly what they are looking for. What the mother and children don’t expect is what is waiting for them on moving day. Some of the best emotional stories effectively use the element of surprise like Zillow has done here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3bZz_JHyyA
Chrysler Dodge
“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God made a farmer,” preached Paul Harvey in the advertisement’s opening lines.
The message delivered by Harvey’s oratory became immediately clear: It was a celebration of the hard work of America’s farmers.
The two-minute advertisement for Dodge Ram, which paid tribute to America’s farmers and was composed entirely of still photographs depicting the farming industry, won the hearts and minds of viewers by evoking strong emotion.
Harvey’s narration, patterned on the Biblical account of the creation, was taken from a 1978 speech, “So God made a farmer,” which Harvey gave to a national convention of the Future Farmers of America. It was set to a collection of stark, still photographs — both color and black and white — of farmers at work.
As the advertisement concludes with the still image of a brand new Dodge Ram against the backdrop of a U.S. farm, we are reminded of one final message: “To the farmer in all of us.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpZ0TGjbWE
Key takeaways
The higher degree of emotion creates more differentiation and makes it easier for your brand to project uniqueness and its word-of-mouth messages.
Emotion is the secret language of the brain … work on emotion if you want to improve your persuasion or influence.
