…to this delightful Tom Fishburne cartoon that lampoons the pretension behind so much mainstream marketing drivel.
More about the marketing idea…
“‘Brand Laddering’ is one of the most common marketing tools. To drive growth and loyalty, marketers frequently work to elevate benefits of the brand from technical to functional to emotional.
But there’s a risk of over-reaching, particularly when brands aim for abstract emotional benefits not really supported by the product story.”
Indeed. Full post at “brand laddering”.
People buy primarily for emotional reasons (but justify logically).
Sure, there are some products that are fill a simple need and are bought purely on the basis of utility and price. But they are fewer in number than you might think.
So, in copywriting our aim is to connect emotionally with the prospect and get across how they will feel better as a result of investing in our product or service.
It’s called “Emotional direct response copywriting” for a reason!
BUT…
…like all good copywriting and marketing it needs to make sense and be grounded in reality.
People might be driven by emotion, but they’re not generally stupid.
So, for example, it might work fine linking Coca Cola to the idea and feeling of sharing good times with friends.
World Peace…probably not so much, although I recall they did try one time with the “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke” concept.
(Contrast that pretension with the recent campaign of buying a Coke for someone with their name on the bottle. Great idea and I understand the campaign went well.)
Always look for the right emotional benefit when copywriting…
…but that benefit MUST be supported by the product.