Successful Brands Tap Into Unconscious Human Emotions
Why do some brands feel immediately right, while others struggle to create meaning despite strong products and compelling rational claims?
In this article originally published by O-I, Dr. Constantinos Pantidos explores the biological foundations of brand choice and explains why emotion is not the opposite of reason, but a prerequisite for it. Much of what consumers encounter is processed unconsciously, allowing the brain to make rapid judgments about what deserves attention, what feels relevant and ultimately what to choose.
The challenge for brands, therefore, is not simply to “be emotional.” It is to understand which fundamental human motive the brand should activate and how that motive can become a coherent strategic direction.
Drawing on Living Brands and THE WHEEL OF MOTIVES®, the article introduces the 12 fundamental motives underlying human desire and shows how brands such as Red Bull, Harley-Davidson and LEGO build distinctive meaning by connecting with motives such as Seek, Defy and Create.
Crucially, that emotional meaning cannot remain at the level of an abstract brand idea. Once identified, it needs to shape strategy and positioning and then be translated consistently into communications, experiences and physical brand expressions. Packaging is particularly powerful because it operates at the moment of choice: its materials, forms, textures and other sensory cues can either reinforce the brand’s emotional meaning or contradict it.
The article illustrates an early expression of the thinking that THE WHEEL OF MOTIVES® turns into a systematic methodology: moving from the biology of human motivation to brand meaning, and from brand meaning to the tangible signals consumers see, touch and experience.