Emotional attachments

One of the most wasteful uses of advertising dollars is to try to create emotional attachments to your brand. First of all, most ads that try to use emotion are transparently pandering, usually generic, and rarely hit the mark.

Second, contrary to all the bull you hear, most consumers have little or no emotional attachment to most of the brands they use (see "Salesmen & Sociologists.") When they do have an emotional attachment, it usually comes from experience with a product, not advertising.

There is even research that indicates that spots that just stick to the facts create as much emotional reaction as those that self-consciously shoot for an emotional response.

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