Striking a Chord- Emotional appeal

Hi again! Here's a new post on emotional appeals in advertising with examples. This is a very popular format of making advertisements in many products.

• Affection/ Love appeal- This ad of Saffola Life connects the love for our mothers with the need for the product using a compelling tag line of "Jis dil ne sabka khayal rakha hai, kaun rakhega us dil ka khayal?" The offering of free cholesterol checkup also moves towards societal advertising.

• Inspirational Appeal- This ad is of Thai Life Insurance and really makes a connect with the viewer. But the drawback is that the connection with the product offering is pretty low.

• Fear Appeal- This a social advertisement against speeding and sends across the message perfectly!

• Humor Appeal- John West Salmon has made an entertaining and funny advertisement to communicate its quality.

• Happiness, Joy, Excitement, Adventure- Coco-Cola has done a great emotional integration with this ad.

• Status/ Snob Appeal- These are ads based on social-based feelings where the customer connects with the brand as a part of an elite segment of society. The first is an advertisement by Tiffany & Co. showing various top celebrities as customers of this diamond brand. The second is a print ad of Starbucks.

• Sex Appeal- This is a common appeal used for products like deodorants, soaps, clothes, perfumes, leather, etc. The following is a subtle example but sex appeal can be used in a far more explicit way.

Tackling your brains- Informational/ Rational appeal

In this post we deal with a deeper understanding of Informational or Rational appeals along with some examples!

• Feature appeal- This is an accurate example of using the product features as a form of communication and engagement with the customer.

• Competitive Advantage appeal- Duracell has been known to produce ads showing a competitive advantage appeal over other batteries.

• Favourable Price appeal- To increase customers and sales in India McDonald's had made a series of ads depicting their "Happy Price Menu".

• News appeal- This is either an advertisement proclaiming the launch of a new product or a print ad in the format of a news. The following is a news appeal for Perk.

• Product/ Service Popularity appeal- Amway's popularity is emphasized as a hook for the customer.

 This is another example of Product Popularity mixed with Informational appeal by The Guardian.

How do ads generate resonance?

All ads need some type of an appeal.

An appeal is a psychological basis that motivates the viewer towards the advertiser's goal.

Informational/ Rational appeals

These ads focus on the consumer’s practical, functional, or utilitarian need for the product or service and emphasize features of a product or service and/or the benefits or reasons for owning or using a particular brand. The content of these messages emphasizes facts, learning, and the logic of persuasion.

Rational-based appeals tend to be informative, and advertisers using them generally attempt to convince consumers that their product or service has a particular attribute(s) or provides a specific benefit that satisfies their needs. Their objective is to persuade the target audience to buy the brand because it is the best available or does a better job of meeting consumers’ needs.

Some sub-categories among these are:

·       Feature appeal

·       Competitive Advantage appeal

·       Favourable Price appeal

·       News appeal

·       Product/ Service Popularity appeal

Emotional appeals

Emotional appeals relate to the customers’ social and/or psychological needs for purchasing a product or service. Many consumers’ motives for their purchase decisions are emotional, and their feelings about a brand can be more important than knowledge of its features or attributes. Advertisers for many products and services view rational, information-based appeals as dull.

Many advertisers believe appeals to consumers’ emotions work better at selling brands that do not differ markedly from competing brands, since rational differentiation of them is difficult.

Other appeals

Some other types of advertising based on appeals are:

·       Transformational appeal

·       Reminder advertising

·       Teaser advertising