Everything We Buy is an Emotional Decision.

Rick Stanton, Creative Director / Managing Partner, Stanton & Everybody Advertising + Design

The importance of an authentic brand is well established.
But as certain approaches in developing a brand are reviewed, the overwhelming practice seems to be to make it as convoluted and expensive as possible.
It doesn’t have to be either of those things.
What it needs to be is honest, rooted in things discovered about the consumer, the competition and you, the client. And it has to be about the consumer first.
If they can’t see themselves in your brand you won’t attract them no matter what.
How does someone see themselves in your brand? It’s personal.
Every brand needs one big organizing idea that creates an emotional bridge between them and the customer. Why? In the end, that’s how we all make buying decisions.
There are certain things that most clients believe to be brand features and benefits that are nothing more than the expected; the cost of entry.
Positions like our doctors care for medical clients is as vapid as my favorite from Delta Airlines back in the ‘80’s … We’ll get you there.
I’m kind of counting on that when I fly. Not to mention my doctor caring. I’d like to think they all do, more or less.
A real and lasting emotional bridge is that magic moment when the truth told well and in a engagingly, disruptive manner moves people to choose you.
That is not a bi-product of me-too, category sameness. It results from finding a human connection that goes beyond the obvious and gets to the heart of a brand and the brand zealots. This is the story, the big idea, the place where “sticky” advertising comes from.
Why do people choose Skippy over Jif peanut butter?
Jack In The Box over McDonalds?
Stanton & Everybody over slow and expensive Publicis?
They love their personally chosen brands. It’s personal.
I tried to explain this process to the guys who made up the Washington State Potato Commission using Ford and Chevy trucks. Those two brands made up their entire parking lot whenever I’d show up for meetings.
The discussion was not getting any traction until I asked them why they chose Chevy over Ford and visa versa.
In a matter of minutes, it nearly broke into a melee, until I shouted over the top of them, “See? This is exactly what I mean by emotional decision making.” The lights went on.
Your brand’s position has to belong to you and you alone. It can’t be based on basic consumer expectations. It has to demonstrate to consumers you know better than anyone else what matters most to them. And it better go right to the heart.
We pick brands the same way we choose friends, mates and enemies.
And if you don’t believe it try taking my Skippy away from me.

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