Company Blog

I Second That Emotion

by Adam Zack — December 9, 2015

What emotion do you feel when you see an ad?

OK, so I am generally not a very emotional guy. Death and tragedy are as much a part of life as birth and ecstasy. Things happen, and when the good things happen I feel great and when the bad things happen I feel sad. No huge swings in my emotional pendulum. So imagine my surprise, when the other night Linda says “You gotta hear this new Adele song ‘Hello’.” OK fine. I’m not a huge Adele fan, although I think she is an exceptional talent with a voice that is incredibly powerful. Her music seems to reach very widely, from punk rockers to old folks. Anyway, I have respect and admiration, but no CDs in my collection or albums in my iTunes. She puts it on, and without even really deciphering the lyrics the song just moves me to emotion like nothing I have ever heard before. I don’t know how she did it. It gets my eyes all watering and before you can say “Bambi’s mom’s dead” I’m brought to emotional tears bordering on sobs. And it happens every time I hear that song now! Good Lord, I sure hope it doesn’t come on when I’m at the gym or watching football with friends.

So the point of the story is how something you see, hear or experience can bring out an emotional connection. That is the ultimate goal of all marketing and branding – to connect emotionally to our customers. The emotion we are going for is definitely not tears, but one of admiration, need, comfort, love and belonging. Look at your marketing mediums and messages. Do they evoke any kind of emotion at all? Most don’t, so don’t feel bad (maybe it does bring an emotion after all! Feeling bad!). Next time you are designing an ad, or an eblast or your website, ask your team “What emotion do you feel when you look at this?” If the answer is “nothing”, or something negative, go back to the drawing board and start over. You want an answer like “happy”, or even better for grocers, “hungry!” Luckily for you, the incredible DW Green design team knows all about emotion. Concentration, determination, anticipation, cheerfulness and attentiveness all result in the joy of doing the best work in our industry. I second that emotion.