Where’s the magic?

In the neuro-science world it is widely accepted that the generation of emotion is one of the most effective ways of gaining attention and establishing long-term memory encoding which is the brain’s way of being able to store and recall information.

We in marketing tend to call this “top of mind”. So for marketing to be successful there is a clear need that we establish an emotional connection between our brand and our customers.

I think a great example of this is the Cadbury’s advertising campaign that was aired in the UK several years ago. In reality it was not based on a typical logical approach about trying to convey your key values, differentiators or offering in an honest, credible way.

You have to ask yourself what does a gorilla playing a set of drums have to do with the Cadbury’s brand? Take a look.

When I watch this, I always think of the marketing team presenting this concept to the leadership team and just wondering what they said. Every objective and logical rule of marketing would say that this campaign would not work. There was real courage here to run this.

The end result was that this was one of the most successful campaigns that Cadburys has ever run and had a very real and measurable impact on commercial performance.

And why? Well at the recent Econsultancy JUMP event, Pranav Yadav from Neuro-Insight explained how this advertisement created some of the highest levels of memory encoding across their test groups that they have seen. This is what magic is all about, creating an emotional connection or bond with the customer.

Another great example for me on a personal basis is the “Think Differently” campaign by Apple. Here is the unaired version that is actually voiced by Steve Jobs himself. This certainly pulls the emotional strings for me and is the basis for a lot of how I think about Apple.

So how important is Logic?

Logic is increasingly important to a brand as it strives to be consistent and successful in delivering to the needs and expectations of its customers at every point of interaction.

This requires a strong understanding of the customer and application of the resulting insights to ensure that every communication is relevant and delivered based on the preferences of the customer. This ensures that a successful customer experience is delivered and the customer is satisfied and happy with the brand and with the product and or service that they are consuming. 

So here are some recommendations for how to harness the value of Magic and Logic:

  • Don’t limit your creativity. Be willing to explore innovative ideas and take risks. It takes courage to deliver brilliant marketing. 
  • Don’t underestimate the value that your agency can bring. They key is that you have to be able to create and deliver this emotional connection through a strong understanding of your customer base. You need to bring the Magic and Logic together.
  • Understand that the format and context of the customer can make a big difference to the success of the interaction. For instance a consumer watching the same video on TV versus online can have markedly different end results.

Magic has the power to create and maintain brand loyalty whereas Logic is focused more on creating satisfaction. These are two different things. You can have a satisfied customer who would achieve a Net Promoter Score of 10 but who is not brand loyal.

A loyal customer is someone who will stay with you through good times and bad and will stay with the brand based on the emotional connection that has been established. As a marketer we need to create both.