All the feels
Want to create an effective ad campaign?
Get emotional, advises Kane Stanford...
Kiwi ad/brand/innovation guru James Hurman wrote a brilliant book called The Case for Creativity. Hurman proves that creativity leads to effectiveness – whether it’s an agency, brand or an ad – if it’s more creative, it’ll be more effective. Three decades of data back him up.
Andrew Tindall from ad tester System1 does a power of work on effective advertising and proves that work awarded for its creativity gained market share 12x more easily than non-awarded work. 12 times! So it works, and it’s worth it. (You should follow both these guys on LinkedIn - linked above.)
Emotions are the shortcut to creativity. If you can find a creative way to get someone FEELING SOMETHING, you’re onto a winner.
Emotion in action
Cadbury Roses do this brilliantly by tapping into the emotion of gratitude. They don’t just sell chocolates; they sell a chance to say ‘thank you’ to that nice neighbour who found your kitten in their shed.
Volvo don’t sell safe cars, they sell the security of protecting your loved ones
if you crash, thanks to their powerful brakes, great tyres and fancy seatbelts.
Tequila brand Patrón has aggressively played on rebellion with its new campaign around additives in tequila – and the fact they have none, but aren’t allowed to claim that. So, with careful help from their legal team, they definitely didn’t tell people that they have no additives. This cheeky bit of rebellion on a few billboards has been picked up by traditional, digital and social media to spread around the globe.
“If you can find a creative way to get someone feeling something, you’re onto a winner.”
But how does this emotional creativity play out in the New Zealand liquor market?
I may be exposing my age (and questionable music taste) but easily my favourite campaign in years was Export Gold’s beautiful play on nostalgia with Vanilla Ice, which won two awards at Cannes Lions recently. Using a 90’s icon like Vanilla Ice brings so much positive emotion – combined with the obvious play on words, his self-deprecating humour and a quirky use of technology, they had a runaway hit. Not to mention tapping into the fear of loss when your beer explodes in the fridge! Oh, and they grew 38% YOY during the campaign.
In Steinlager’s new campaign, some great writing from the Tuesday Club, a gravelly voice-over from Sir Sam Neill and uplifting music create a perfect dose of Kiwi pride. “If we could bottle it... we would” still gives me tingles.
Gratitude, protecting one’s family, nostalgia, rebellion, pride – they all help ads become more effective at hooking into our brains. They lead to better recall and better positive feelings for a brand. And if it’s interesting enough it’ll get shared on socials, spreading your reach even further.
So what?
Creativity is crucial. It’s effective at getting your brand/ad/idea to be sticky and emotion is a great shortcut. Most of the examples I’ve given above are closely linked to a real-life moment: driving, thanking someone, chilling a beer. Real-life occasions are situations to which punters can easily relate. They know the feelings involved; they remember the emotions.
If you’re a liquor store wanting to push your service credentials, for example, you could focus on the occasion where a customer is struggling to choose a gift. That feeling of relief when someone helps you, or when the recipient loves your choice are all rich territories to explore in your ads, emails, and social posts.
If you’re one of the 300+ gins in New Zealand, stop focusing on the features (e.g. your water source) and focus on the benefits of your brand and the emotions you can tap into. Hendrick’s does this well – asking for Hendrick’s helps tell people that I’m a bit quirky, “Look at me with a cucumber!” It’s not much, but it’s super effective.
If you’re a distributor, focus on the tough economic times retailers are facing and how you can help to alleviate their stress with better terms, faster delivery times, smaller MOQs. Tap into that stress your customers are feeling, because relief is a strong emotion.
So that’s your homework kids...
Get creative by focusing on emotions and occasions. It works, it’s worth it and a little goes a long way.
Thanks for reading. It’s been emotional.
Kane Stanford has worked for 13+ years in liquor marketing in New Zealand at Independent Liquor, Bacardi and now Besos Margarita, where he is GM. He is also Head Strategy Judge at the 2 Degrees Auckland Chamber Business Awards. Kane has nominated himself for several marketing awards, but never won.
