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Emotive Branding

Meaningful Brand Strategies: The Consumers Perspective

October 31, 2013 —

Meaningful Brand Strategies: The Consumers Perspective

Consumers are expecting a lot from businesses, according to the 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study. Consider these findings relative to the role of a business’s social responsibility: “As global citizens become increasingly aware of businesses’ behaviors and CSR initiatives – in part because of social 
media, they are also becoming more astute about both corporate and consumer impacts. Around the world, the majority 
of consumers feel both individuals and corporations are having some degree of positive influence on social and environmental issues; however, just one-quarter feels...
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Good Leadership Character Leads to Good Brand Strategy

September 26, 2013 —

Good Leadership Character Leads to Good Brand Strategy

An excellent post at IMD.org speaks to two attributes that the writers, Professors Stewart Black and Allen Morrison, believe are necessary for leaders of global organizations today: emotional connections and integrity. I think this advice is great for any business leader, not only those operating at the “global” level. Here’s the section on emotional connections that talks about being sincerely interested in others, genuinely listening to others, and understanding different viewpoints. Emotional connections Global leaders need to establish personal, empathetic relationships...
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The Future Is Now – Humanize Your Product Or Service Or It Simply Won’t Sell!

August 14, 2013 —

The Future Is Now – Humanize Your Product Or Service Or It Simply Won’t Sell!

Brands often look to the future for clues on how to adapt to changing technology and culture. But much of what futurists say is coming can be acted upon today (e.g. human-centric branding). To learn about what the future may bring to digital marketing, Dana Rousmaniere spoke with Gerd Leonhard, “one of the leading media-futurists in the world.” What this futurist envisions Here are a few salient points from the discussion on the HBR blog: “You’re going to stop buying things from companies that don’t fit your values, just because you can’t see giving them the money.” “All of the companies of...
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New Emotions Invented By The Internet…And By Emotionally Meaningful Brands

July 24, 2013 —

New Emotions Invented By The Internet…And By Emotionally Meaningful Brands

As technology evolves, and touches on more of our lives, new and more complex emotions are being triggered. Pei Ying Lin studied Interaction Design at the Royal College of Art. As part of her project “Unspeakableness”, she took W. Gerrod Parrot’s graphic, “Emotions in Social Psychology” and identified new – and, as yet, unnamed – emotional states resulting from the experience of using the Internet. Have you ever experienced these unnamed feelings? Between surprise and anger – a sudden and irrational rage in response to reading a Twitter reply? Between torment and anxiety – a vague and...
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Making Meaning Evident vs. Claiming It

May 4, 2013 —

Making Meaning Evident vs. Claiming It

An emotive brand can’t simply advertise its way into being meaningful. It has to exude meaning at every opportunity. All too often brands seeking to appear more meaningful rely purely on tactical communications like an ad campaign. We are as likely as anyone to say, “that’s nice” after viewing an emotional commercial or a touching bit of Flash on a webpage. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? Well, there can be. Sadly, these brands often come off as being superficial. They wear their feelings on their sleeves. And they use advertising to claim to be something...
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Employee Engagement: Turn Low Morale Into Purposeful Behavior

April 1, 2013 —

Employee Engagement: Turn Low Morale Into Purposeful Behavior

High morale. High energy. High interest. High collaboration. High innovation. Why not? Just ask, “What is standing between what our company needs and what our people really want?” You’ll see there’s a lack of balance. Your company needs your employees’ blood and sweat. Whereas, your people need better reasons than you now provide to invest their energy in helping your business succeed. The way to create a purposeful workplace balance is to evolve your brand’s intent, attitude and behavior: Make it your brand’s intent to matter to the people you...
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Capitalizing on the Human Dimension of Professional Services

March 24, 2013 —

Capitalizing on the Human Dimension of Professional Services

I find it ironic that many of the most people-driven enterprises in our economy – law, architecture, consulting, and engineering firms – are often the most superficial with branding. For most professional service firms, “branding” is only about logos and color palettes. It seems branding’s only goal is to project a serious, professional, and trustworthy identity. Unfortunately, this limited view of branding leads most professional service firms to the same bland destination. Indeed, the Internet is littered with the drab, me-too, institutional websites of professional...
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March 14, 2013 —

Emotive Branding: The Path to Meaning (and Kick-Ass Creative)

At Emotive Brand our goal is to make brands truly meaningful through emotive branding. Emotive branding is about transforming the way a brand reaches out to people and the way people respond back to that brand. The key is meaning. As we add meaning to the things a brand does, the people vital to that brand’s success start to care, think, talk and do more for the brand. As a result, emotive brands thrive across all business measures. But what is meaning? And, perhaps more important, how do we add meaning to brands through emotive branding? We focus on meaning because we noticed the remarkable...
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Rational vs Emotional: With Brands, It’s Not “Either/Or” It’s “Both/And”

March 4, 2013 —

Rational vs Emotional: With Brands, It’s Not “Either/Or” It’s “Both/And”

Neuroscience is telling us that every “rational” decision is surrounded and influenced by emotions. As such, brand decisions are neither rational or emotional – they are invariably both. But how do you work with an insight like this? How do you bring an emotional dimension to your brand, especially if today it is emotionally neutral? How do you change the behavior of your brand – and the people behind it – so that every interaction is either striking, or responding to, a relevant emotional chord? How do you do this in a way that isn’t seen as exploitative,...
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When People See Their “Best Selves” Reflected in Your Business

February 10, 2013 —

When People See Their “Best Selves” Reflected in Your Business

I recently had the opportunity to interview Gianpiero Petriglieri, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, Europe’s top business school. Following our fruitful talk, I reflected on a thought from our interview. We were talking about how people identify with leaders, when Professor Petriglieri said: “Leadership happens when you attract others through your thinking, your beliefs, and your behavior. Or more precisely, when others come to see their best self reflected in your thoughts, beliefs, and actions.” I related Gianpiero’s observation to the...
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