Evoking an emotion is the important takeaway here. Sex is just one tool we use to do that. Pity, shame, guilt, anger and other emotions also work. Don't believe me? Why do you think hunger commercials have a small child wandering barefoot with a swollen belly and flies around their eyes? It evokes guilt, and anger that we live in world where such things still exist. It is also their reality, and that is even more impactful. Why? Truth.
Truth is the powerful ally in all these emotions; it's that which resonates with some emotional construct in your body that has been societally programmed.
Look, people are intelligent beings. We often know we are being manipulated. The strange thing is, often, we don't care. Most of us live a life of repetitive tasks. Over and over. We are willing to be manipulated if that manipulation makes us feel a little better about ourselves. Prime example. Dove Soap. The Real Beauty campaign by Dove is one of the most powerful statements in advertising against the obsession our culture has with beauty. They have tapped into our cynicism. Now, what would really be nice is if Dove was not owned by the same company that markets Axe Body Spray. The reality is each of these campaigns is just as manipulative as the other. The are both designed to make people feel good about themselves. Empowered. Is either campaign better or worse? In my opinion, nope. Same thing. They are both objectifying women and using them -- just in different ways.
In the end, they're just designed to sell a product. That's all. Some products are more helpful than others. But all advertising is manipulation. Just because you have a great product doesn't absolve you from the fact that your ads are designed to manipulate people into buying your product. You may be manipulating them with truth, but it is never the whole truth now is it?
The emotional connection to your consumer is what truly sells, not the sex in and of itself. Start realizing what the advertising is doing to people and it won't matter whether or not you have a half-naked, tanned, oiled goddess in a bathing suit in your ad. It's the construct of that ad, the subtleties of its expression, where the emotional resonance often lies. It's why the creatives throw themselves on swords all the time to promote the slightest change. The account team and the client often just do not see the difference. They are too close to their product. The account person's job is to connect with the client. It's the creative person's job is to connect with the consumer.
Here are some tips to start you on your way to emotional tapping.
1. Start getting a little more uncomfortable about your online advertising. The permissiveness of singular consumption methods of advertising allows you to push boundaries once considered Taboo. The PR side may take a hit, but any chances you take likely won't be considered "risky" from the legal standpoint. Let your lawyers be concerned about potential lawsuits. You should be concerned about how the consumers connect with your product.
2. Tap into the emotional benefit of the product, not the product benefit you think you want to market. Those extra cup-holders that fit juice-boxes may sell more mini-vans than that extra 20 horsepower. Why? Sanity for that driver transporting urchins in back. Passing someone doing 120 is of little consequence to them.
3. Take the filters off your guerilla marketing and social networking efforts. Those media demand truth. If you do not give it to consumers there, your programs will never gain the emotional resonance, which is what drives those consumers to both pass on and defend that information.
4. Relax and test it. The speed of which things can go up online, and be pulled down is fast. Utilize that to see what resonates with your consumers emotions. Which ones are hitting. And develop a metric to measure it that
Look, this is not rocket science, and the dynamics of consumer intent are often complex and subtle. Tap into the consumers emotions. Sex sells, but only if you know how to use it.
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Sean X Cummings runs SXC Marketing, an advertising and marketing consultancy specializing in helping brands, agencies and vendors connect with their consumers more effectively.
