Image – MidJourney A.I.

In this series, we have shown how emotional branding can increase ROI by streamlining decision making and amplifying impact at tactical levels, like communication or innovation. But all of it pales in comparison to the large-scale impact of emotional branding throughout the organization and across indications / product lines.  

Driving Trial 

Harvard Business Review found that customers who are ‘fully connected’, through means of emotional branding, were 52% more valuable over their life span to an organization. There are multiple factors at play here. The first the range of triggers available to nudge the customer toward a purchase. Right from the first brand contact, adverts with an above-average emotional response drive 23% more sales volume across all industries.   

Driving Word of Mouth 

The full power of this emotional connection becomes even more obvious when considering “brand evangelists”. Word of mouth is an incredibly important part of the marketing toolkit, with 88% of consumers placing the highest level of trust in word of mouth recommendations from people they know. Like you wouldn’t introduce a new friend to your family unless you already feel you know and trust them well, consumers are 3 times more likely to recommend a brand with which they have an emotional connection to a friend. This vital communication channel is effectively free – provided your brand has established a personally relevant connection to your customers.  

Driving loyalty and resilience 

Above all, emotional connections are more enduring than rational thinking, which is why organizations first leaned towards it as the rate of innovation and advertising reached saturation. This resilience was demonstrated through spending during the pandemic, where emotional brands saw an average revenue growth of 1.6%, compared with -0.6% for non-emotional brands. Deep connections built on trust inspire long-term loyalty, making it difficult for the next market entrant to tempt your customer away, even with better efficacy or features. In addition, customers are less likely to give up brands that they have an emotional connection with, even if personal circumstances change. 

The impact these deep ties create cannot be overstated. Challenger brands increasingly use purpose to differentiate against dominant market players oblivious to this shift in consumer mindset. To achieve safe, sustainable growth through constant market changes, correctly calibrated emotional branding is absolutely necessary.