Doing Good Feels Good – Is Your Brand on Board?
Doing Good Feels Good – Is Your Brand on Board?
Action for Happiness is a movement for positive social change. We’re bringing together people from all walks of life who want to play a part in creating a happier society for everyone. This video from Action for Happiness spurred some thinking on brands and what people are looking for today.
Let’s start by defining “happy”.
It can be superficial – like what you feel as you watch a TV ad that makes you laugh or brings a tear to your eye.
It can be profound – as in what you feel when you know that what you’re doing is doing good for others.
We’ve written before about brands that push short-lasting, superficial feelings through advertising, and then drop the ball when it comes to delivering their product or service (any banks or airlines come to mind?).
This “emotional” approach backfires because the negative feelings far outweigh – and last far longer – than the positive bump created by something that makes us laugh or come close to crying.
People tend to feel used and abused when their feelings are exploited this way.
On the other hand, an “emotive” approach to branding is built around working to make people feel good, positive, and happy because what they’re doing is good for others – and through that, good for themselves.
Emotive branding works to a simple formula: Why + Emotions = Meaning
Emotive branding focuses a brand on its purpose.
Purpose-led brands define, and then live by, their “why”.
It’s a “why” that propels the brand forward because it is personally relevant to the people vital to the brand’s success – employees, customer, prospect, partners, etc.
Purpose-led brands also consistently evoke specific positive feelings.
They work hard to make people feel “good” and “happy” about being associated with the brand.
They do this by injecting every brand interaction with actions and messages that “why” and reinforce the good feelings the brand seeks to own.
Emotive branding is a response to the change in values
People are moving on.
They are looking beyond the “me” to the “we”.
They are seeking more meaning in their personal lives, in the brand they choose to support, and the companies they work for.
This dramatically changes how they evaluate what they buy, whom they buy from, and where they choose to work.
Whether you manage a B2C or a B2B brand, these changes are important considerations as you think about how your brand will thrive over time.
Brands and businesses that seek to more meaningfully and emotionally connect with people must know the answer to the following two questions.
- Why does your brand matter?
- How does your brand want to make people feel?
For additional information on transforming your brand, please download our white paper.
Emotive Brand is a brand strategy firm.
