Imagine yourself at a departmental store buying snacks. As you look through all the available options, you notice a label on a particular package that says, “1% of our monthly profit will go to charity to help disabled children”. Unknowingly, you will find yourself drawn to that specific snack and very naturally, you will end up buying it. This whole process of compelling a consumer to pay for a certain product based on their emotions is called Emotional Branding.
Emotional branding is a marketing strategy that seeks to build a deep and emotional connection between a brand and its customers. This brilliant strategy comes with a powerful tool: showing gratitude, which makes marketing much more convenient for brands.
Let us dive in and explore the world of marketing where emotional engagement can be utilised to shape the future of brands.

Emotion, Gratitude and Commerce
The purpose of emotions in business is a lot more than we can imagine. It is a way to build a bridge between brands and consumers through a psychological connection that is profitable for both sides. This emotional association further brings in customer loyalty. This loyalty helps businesses to show gratitude toward their consumers by incorporating their experiences in branding. When brands are able to maintain emotional affiliation, a few minor drawbacks are often easily ignored by consumers. In the world of competitive commerce, it is a huge advantage that can take your business to the next level.

The Logic Behind Emotional Branding
Unlike other marketing methods, emotional branding is a lot more convenient for both customers and businesses because it works as an abstract medium. Emotions play an important role when associating with a brand. It often shapes our behavior, response, preference, and compliance as consumers. When brands make an effort to resonate with consumer emotions, it acts as a trusting ground, which strengthens loyalty towards marketers. DOVE’s REAL BEAUTY campaign is the perfect example of emotional branding. It started in 2004 and is still ongoing because it brought in a huge positive response among consumers.. The main purpose of the campaign was to highlight the inner beauty of women regardless of the negative stereotypes. In fact, not just DOVE, other brands like Nike and Coca-Cola have also used similar marketing strategies to revitalize their brand image several times.

Marketing Through Storytelling and Customer Experiences
An effective way to connect to a wide range of audience is through storytelling. Build narratives that appeal to consumers. It is a great way to highlight the brand’s journey and to be conceived in a more human way rather than being a stiff transactional endeavor. Compelling narratives or real-life encounters will always work as a driving force for consumers that leads them to brands that are more appealing.

It is also a great way to bring out the public’s personal experiences. With the help of storytelling, users can express themselves in a way that is both empathetic and authentic, allowing them to connect with others on a deeper emotional level while staying true to brands and businesses. For example, COCA-COLA’s “Share a Coke” campaign was a huge success as it was associated with the public’s real-life experiences.

Visual Representation of Emotions
The best representation of a brand is its logo and designs. The colour palette of products reflects the emotional connection of a brand with its consumers. Instead of using tiresome long paragraphs to establish an emotional connection, powerful illustrations or images of the physical world to depict what the brand stands for are far more compelling. At present, almost every other business has its own website to reach the public all over the world. These websites incorporate elements of human emotions like- soothing colours, pictures and videos that not only represent their brand but also resonate with their respective audience.

Expression Of Gratitude
The importance of showing gratitude toward customers is a key tool that navigates further affiliation. It helps to build a bond that is based on trust and loyalty. Customers are often seen to associate with companies that take their experiences into account and further promotions are regulated based on those personal feedbacks. It makes them feel heard and valued that resulting in clients who are loyal advocates for the future. It can highly influence a positive brand image, which is quite significant in the world of competitive markets.

Consistency Is A Must
In order to maintain customer loyalty, it is very important to be consistent when dealing with their emotions. Especially when campaigns are solely based on those emotions. Customers tend to be more supportive of brands that not only reflect their sentiments but also go above and beyond to make reasonable changes based on client requirements.

In conclusion, we can say emotional branding is a very brilliant marketing tactic. It builds a bond that comprises customer values and brand gratitude. In the world of competitive marketplace, gratitude and emotional branding have become powerful tools for fostering lasting connections between brands and consumers.

Aurthor: Jarin Subah Turaba