Emotion based advertising

Theorists have argued that we are all born into the world as irrational human beings. We respond to non-verbal communication. It is not until we have been through years of schooling, which revolves around rational thinking, that we become robotically rational. Consequently, we are using that rationality to influence our behaviour and decision making. It's all about instinct and what we believe to be right, for example we make some of our most important decisions on our gut feeling.

Emotion based advertising is in the primal language (design and colour, motion and music). While our mind is trying to rationalise visual communications, our primal mind is searching for the symbolic overtones in visual language. Symbols are extremely important in emotional marketing and that is why agencies will tend to stick with what works. People feel safe with something they recognise and can relate to.

This is a struggle between the art directors and the copywriters in advertising agencies. This is mainly due to the fact that art directors rely on symbols to communicate their ideas, whereas copywriters rely on verbal language:

"Great authors use their pen, as an artist uses his brush, to invite us to read between the lines."

http://www.orwig.net/articles/rational_emotl/rational_emotl.html 6/11/2011

"Advertisers can achieve success with both rational and emotional appeals. Each has its place in the marketing toolbox. The challenge is to know which is right for your product or service."