We are emotional fools! Is emotional advertising a sustainable strategy, or a house of cards built on fleeting feelings?

In today’s saturated advertising landscape, emotional appeals have become a cornerstone strategy for brands looking to forge deeper connections with consumers. According to a Kantar report, ads that evoke stronger emotions are more likely to drive 3.3 times long-term brand equity, 2.75 times increase in saliency, and 1.8 times likelihood to go viral. While the power of emotion in advertising is well-documented, the effectiveness and sustainability of this approach remain subjects of debate. “Emotions are often triggered to generate top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) during the consumer decision-making process. In the times when consumers walked into a physical store to buy a product or cut to present times, when the click of an App does the job, the marketer’s challenge is to keep the brand in the awareness and consideration set. Second, it helps to establish the brand proposition or the ‘why buy me’. Perhaps this is why most classic brands usually do not touch their brand proposition for a long time, as it helps to establish and connect with the customer better,” Pinaki Dasgupta, professor- marketing, International Management Institute New Delhi (IMI New Delhi), told BrandWagon Online.

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From heartwarming narratives to humour-laden spots, it is understood that some advertisers have successfully employed emotional triggers to captivate audiences. For instance, the Cadbury Dairy Milk campaign is regarded as a memorable ad, particularly after its revival in 2023. Its recent iteration featured a gender-reversal twist on the original campaign from 1994, capturing attention. Recently, the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other sports-based events have attracted numerous new advertisers, including Cred, Zomato, Swiggy, and various fintech apps. These brands typically leverage emotions like fun and happiness in their marketing strategies. Notably, Cred’s ads have become especially popular, achieving a high level of instant recall among consumers. Similarly, Google’s ‘Dear Sophie’ ad, which showcased a father documenting his daughter’s childhood via Gmail, resonated with viewers due to the feeling of nostalgia.

However, emotional advertising is not without its pitfalls. The Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner, which attempted to address social justice issues, serves as a stark reminder of how cultural insensitivity can lead to a global backlash. The ad’s failure to authentically connect with its intended message resulted in widespread criticism and highlighted the risks of misusing emotional appeals.

Cry now, buy later?

It is believed that emotions often override logic and are instrumental in driving a majority of purchase decisions by tapping into fundamental human needs. Experts believe that ads that evoke strong emotions such as pride, contentment, joy, and trust, demonstrate higher sales in contrast to those that are based solely on rational content. Experts assert that ad campaigns that can elicit positive emotions drive brand loyalty and increase repeat purchases. Emotional marketing drives impulse buying by making products feel indispensable. A study by Neilsen reveals that ads that evoked positive emotional responses from consumers drove 23% higher sales contrary to the ones that didn’t. “While emotional advertising can evoke strong feelings and create brand recall, people tend to rely on rationale when it comes to spending money. For instance, if someone enjoys Zomato’s campaign but finds better deals on Swiggy, they are likely to choose Swiggy. This decision also depends on individual preferences, as logic can be subjective. Advertising serves as the hook to capture customer attention, but the final purchase decision is often driven by practical considerations,” Mitul Shah, founder and CCO, Calculated Chaos, opined.

Industry experts believe that emotional advertising is often not intended to generate immediate sales but to capture consumer attention and secure a lasting place in their hearts. “Emotional storytelling is most effective when it resonates deeply with the audience and aligns seamlessly with the brand’s core values. A key practice is to identify universal emotions and connect them to the brand message. For our Mother’s Day campaign, ‘Maa Ki Udaan, Bandhan Se’, we highlighted the nurturing role of mothers, paralleling their instinctive protection with the security provided by life insurance. This narrative not only celebrates mothers but also strengthens our brand philosophy of empowering individuals through security. Ensuring authenticity in the stories we tell is crucial; it helps create a genuine connection, making the brand message more memorable and impactful,” Akhil Almeida, head of marketing, Bandhan Life, said.

According to industry experts, positive emotions like joy, trust, surprise, pride and contentment are highly effective in driving long-term brand equity. Also, emotions like humour and positivity help brands build deep, enduring connections with consumers and foster brand loyalty. “Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign elicited joy by incorporating the element of personalisation which helped create memorable experiences and boosted sales by two percent in the US. Also, Copernicus giant Apple leverages the element of surprise in its product launches that keep consumers eagerly anticipating new releases and has been a major contributor to the brand’s current valuation of $3.5 trillion,” Delphin Varghese, co-founder and chief revenue officer, AdCounty Media, said.

Metrics that matter!

Metrics like emotional engagement, brand recall, conversion rates, loyalty and churn seem to provide a quantitative measure of emotional appeals in ad campaigns. “The spontaneous reactions of viewers to certain ads can be measured by tools like facial coding software which help gauge their emotional responses. Additionally, techniques like eye-tracking, heart-rate monitoring and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) help capture real-time emotional responses,” Varghese said.

Qualitative data can be gathered through surveys and focus groups, which can then be quantified using psychometric valuations like the Likert scale. Experts also highlight the use of neuro-marketing techniques, such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Electroencephalography (EEG), to understand brain activity in response to ad campaigns and assess their effectiveness. Additionally, social media, reviews, and other platforms can be leveraged for sentiment analysis to measure the emotional tone that viewers associate with a brand.

“To assess the impact of emotional storytelling, we use a mix of qualitative and quantitative metrics. Engagement rates, such as shares, comments, and likes on social platforms, give us immediate feedback on how resonant our message is. Additionally, we track brand sentiment through social listening tools to understand the emotional response from the audience. Conversion metrics, like an increase in policy inquiries post-campaign, can also provide insight into the direct influence of our emotional messaging on consumer behaviour. Additionally, we can complement these with consumer surveys to gauge emotional impact and recall, ensuring our campaigns not only attract attention but also foster deeper brand connections,” Almeida said.

Emotional ad triumphs and fails!

Experts believe that the challenge for advertisers lies in striking the right balance between evoking emotion and maintaining authenticity. Consumers are increasingly cynical and quick to detect and reject manipulative attempts to exploit their feelings. “Emotions are always hard to balance. The 80’s Hindi cinema resplendent with emotion somehow backfired in the long run. All that excesses left the audience high and dry and they moved away from the theatres to the VCR’s/VCP’s. The same works for ads too when the excess somewhere backfires and the core message gets lost in the trapeze. The EdTech space has seen a slew of brands being launched, especially post-Covid but very few (negligible actually) ads worked in their favour,” Dasgupta said.

For instance, ads such as Layer’r Shot’s deodorant commercial received a backlash for glorifying eve-teasing and vulgar comments towards women in an attempt to be funny. The ad depicted 2-3 men watching a girl and discussing, ‘Shot kon lega?’ This ad was subsequently banned by the government. Similarly, Amul Macho’s sensual ad, which showcased a woman getting aroused by washing a man’s underwear, faced severe criticism for its inappropriate content.

“A very popular car manufacturing brand Tata Motors launched their well-intentioned Tata Nano. The car, however, was marketed as a ‘cheap car’ that did not resonate well with the Indian audience. The word ‘cheap’ has a negative connotation to it and is often associated with bad quality even though the Tata Nano promised good quality but at a lower price tag. The car was marketed heavily as the ‘people’s car’ with too much of the wrong emotion which backfired for the brand,” Hariom Seth, founder, Tagglabs, said.