The backbone of every great piece of advertising is a clear messaging strategy. While the heart of every great piece of advertising is emotion. Great advertising makes you feel something. Be it anger, sadness, joy, fear, excitement – whatever the emotion, the best advertising makes you feel. And this feeling is what motivates you to take action.
It’s science. Natural human behavior. Action and emotion are deeply intertwined. The word emotion is derived from the French word émouvoir which is based on the Latin emovere in which movere literally means to move. Not surprisingly, motivation is also derived from the word movere. So when an emotion is triggered in your brain, you’re instinctively moved and certain thoughts enter your mind. As much as we want to believe that we are thinking people that feel, we are, in all actuality, feeling people that think. I believe it was Daniel Kahneman that once said, “We think much less than we think we think.” Most of the time our decisions are informed by our emotional response. Not the other way around. Emotion is almost always the driving force behind motivation.
So in this season of giving, here are a few ads that not only have a clear messaging strategy but also have the power to make you feel — and thus the power to move.
Procter & Gamble, Thank You, Mom
Nike, Find Your Greatness
Crisis Relief Singapore, Liking Isn’t Helping
