What is more important, the message or the emotion?
Creatives from across the creative industry speak to Mumbrella’s Abigail Dawson about the tension between staying on message and tugging at those all-important heart strings.
In June, Think TV released a study which found adland and Australians agreed “TV was by far the most likely place to find trusted advertising, advertising that would make them feel emotional and advertising that would stick in the memory”.
Defined as a “strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others”, emotional advertising has made many a successful campaign.
And with Ehrenberg Bass research showing 95% of purchasing decisions are made emotionally, is it any wonder that agencies are prone to stray off message when constructing their latest tearjerker?
As the debate continues to rage, the following collection of adlanders reveal just how divisive this topic can be. So which is more important: the emotion, or the message?
You buy on emotion and justify with logic.
Thanks for all the interesting perspectives. All I need is a big idea that connects rationally and emotionally, preferably for brands like Apple that make beautifully designed, useful and easy-to-use products. Too easy.
The most (only) important thing is to sell shit/change behaviour/whatever the desired outcome is. How you do that most effectively isn’t a question of message over emotion, it’s a question of the best idea, executed brilliantly.