You might think this is an obvious question or simply rudimentary to the concept of a brand and a business. But, right now with our economy not turning over just quite yet, it is an important concept to touch on again. The concept of emotion in a brand has long been active since advertisers have been convincing us to smoke cigarettes. The difference we face besides over saturation is our culture reverting to minimalism in a world that sustainability and globalization is taking the forefront.

Emotion is simply an experience. The experience is split between out cognitive and emotional assessment of the brand. And your brand must have the right combination of cognitive and emotional appeal. The cognitive portion of brand appeals to the consumer’s processing of the brand or product with common functionality. We establish this as a consumer when we decided what the brand itself could do to solve the problem we are currently having. The question you as a business or as an employee of a business is how do you control the emotion of your audience’s (This is not easy!) There is nothing rational about emotions towards a brand because we have thousands of reasons why emotions connect us to a brand.

Some concepts…

1. Put a person behind your brand. This might sound obvious but there is a reason why this is important. So many times I have come to a brand and noticed right away it is stale or I cannot establish a physical connection with it. Putting a person behind your brand adds emotion (a human element). Nobody likes to talk to automated services or have an automated response because there is always a level of disconnect. If your brand can consume or inhabit some form of human emotion you’re giving yourself an edge when it comes to customer loyalty and your brand’s image.

2. Be personal. Brands are personal. Think of how sports fans interact with their team. Notice the use of “their,” which is expressing ownership of that specific team. Products from businesses create the same emotion. If you can create a reason for your consumers to have a personal experience around your brand, they will connect to your business. Being personal taps into your involvement. Such as community involvement, sustainability, and donating time or service; activities people can interact with. Localization is a huge concept for customers. People want to see how your business is giving back to its surrounding culture more than it takes away.

3. Be active. I know this is obvious but it has to be said. We are in a competitive market where the brand that is active will win. Social media is a platform that personalizes your business and allows transparency into how your business’s processes work. Activeness denotes business transparency. Being active to induce transparency can allow your consumer to do a lot of the marketing for you and create a buzz that is near impossible to create from a business perspective.

We have experienced a paradigm shift of who controls the flow and control of information. Emotion has become more apparent to controlling brand loyalty. You as a business may not be able to control the emotions of your customers, but can greatly influence them. An emotion is simply an experience. You have to create the experience around your brand and for the public.