- $42 for a dozen red roses.
- $13 for a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
- $5 for a singing Valentine’s Day card.
- $19 for a teddy bear clutching an “I love you!” balloon.
But can you really put a price tag on love?
As it turns out, marketers do it every day. That’s not to say we don’t love a good rom-com with a sappy, happy ending … we just understand that love inspires more than tear-jerking declarations of love. And heroic rescues of damsels in distress.
Love is a powerful motivator in the marketplace. This extends far beyond the aforementioned Valentine’s Day gifts to nearly every industry. We’ve seen this theory played out across our television screens time and time again, with commercials that tug at our heart strings – and our wallets. If the advertising agency does its job well, these emotion-packed ads can successfully sell even the least romantic items, from electronics to cars to appliances.
Based on psychological findings, advertisers have realized that consumers use their hearts AND their heads when making a purchase. The left-brain approach that focuses solely on logic and reason has been replaced with a more creative method that invites the brain’s right hemisphere into the mix.
Like this brilliant Extra commercial, for instance. Chewing gum doesn’t typically evoke feelings of passion, but this ad makes spearmint feel sentimental in a way that has viewers craving a gum wrapper-inspired love story of their own.
Or this HP printer ad, that beautifully portrays an evolving daddy-daughter relationship before closing with the call to action, “Reinvent memories.”
These advertisements prove that love, among other emotions, influences the way we buy. Ignoring this simple fact results in an ad that’s little more than a sales pitch – one consumers can’t relate to and one that’s bound to fall flat.
While some projects require a little more of our right brains than others, the M2 team has learned that the beauty is in the balance. That’s the philosophy we use to combine storytelling and sales strategy – and to create one-of-a-kind advertising that our clients fall head over heels in love with.
After all, the heart wants what it wants.