In general, most people switch off (literally or metaphorically) when the adverts come on, on TV. Unfortunately, I don’t – I watch them with the same intensity that I watch programmes or films (sad but true).
A couple of nights ago, I saw – within the same ad break – two adverts which, I thought, tugged on the heart strings in all the right ways.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard ‘people buy based on emotion’ or ’emotion sells’… but it’s true.
I wish I could find a clip of the first ad, but – try as I might – I cannot find it anywhere online. It shows children sat at school desks, trying to pronounce really difficult medical conditions, such as ‘kar-dee-o-vasc-oooo-lar disease’.
It’s got that ‘cute factor’ about it, and is quite charming. At the end of the ad, the line ‘heart disease – hard to say, harder to live with’ flashes up (or is said) and the British Heart Foundation logo is shown.
I like this ad, because – considering what it’s about – it’s not too mercenary, it doesn’t ‘lay it on thick’, and it gets the point across. It’s emotive, charming, and even funny.
Next up, is this ad from Thomson Holidays:
Yes, it’s cheesy, but the ad has done something clever: it’s taken the emotion behind a nice, relaxing holiday (and what that can do for people) one lateral leap further out, and placed it upon the teddy bear rather than any of the human members of the family.
Anyone who’s got a child ( or anyone who was a child), will know the emotional attachment that child has to their teddy bear, so if teddy has a good time, then child/children will have a good time and, all in, the whole family will get the break that they need.
The worn out teddy, and everything that it goes through, is clearly a metaphor for your average worn out family (mum and dad in particular) – as indicated by the tired voice singing the song. It’s all neatly wrapped up by ‘Discover your smile’.
It’s emotive, it’s targeted, it works.
Emotion sells. Always.