Isn’t it time for a little reality check about all the talk about Big Data? I think what has been missing is Big Emotion from the story.
Companies can now capture infinite amounts of data on consumer behavior. They can merge, purge and cross tab until they are blue in the face. But what is missing is an understanding of how consumers behave and approach life. Do you get your customer on an emotional level? Is that factored into your marketing? What emotions are drivers of life in your category? Are your consumers so stressed that you can map every single actions from their day but not be empathetic toward the stresses from their life?
When you listen to people talking about their day, they often come back to how little time they have, the pressures coming toward them and the emotional draining elements of their life. Products and services that go beyond data points to empathize with emotional moments can become heroes.
Being emphathic may be the new killer app.
Instead of Big data, think about Big Emotion as a Brand Filter
- What if you could make your product or service relieve the stress of certain parts of the day?
- Can you position your brand as the white knight riding in to make life easier?
- Do you have language and words to articulate the peace of mind or emotional benefit you offer?
- How could your brand breakthrough the clutter if your customers told their friends how helpful your product was in removing worries.
- Does your brand satisfy a deep emotional need or is it simply transactional?
- What is the emotional change that a consumer/customer has after they use your product or service?
Bathing in emotion
If an outcome from using a product is that you shift emotions, you are on a powerful path toward success. Do you deeply understand your consumer’s emotional state of mind and where they would like to be?
A wonderful example is a commodity product that was branded and marketed as the relief for the daily stresses of life. Calgon is a product that softens the water, but their 50 year old tagline still remains valuable. There brand is the antidote for the daily stresses of life. They focus on how you will feel using their product NOT what the product itself.
What emotion problem does your product solve?
Calgon, take me away.
If you feel soaked by the competition and need a little help connecting the emotional dots, give me a call.
