3 ways to trigger emotion in your customers (just like Christmas ads do)
3 Ways To Trigger Emotion In Your Customers
(just like Christmas ads do)
How can the Elton John effect help you build your brand and get you more customers?
Let me explain.
At the beginning of December every year, I start looking to see if the new John Lewis Christmas ad has landed. Because even though I haven’t lived in England for almost two decades, when I think of Christmas, I think of John Lewis.
Apparently, they have a mega team, complete with psychologists, writers and creatives that start working on their ad in February of the year before. They put their collective brains together to work out exactly how they can tap into the right emotions and inextricably link John Lewis with the idea of Christmas.
So, let’s talk about how you can do the same without blowing millions on ads or hiring creative masterminds.
How to Create Emotion
The first thing they do to create emotion is to use story.
For instance, when they use a child in the video, it makes us think of …
memories of ourselves as a child
a child that we know
the innocence of Christmas
Christmas is a time of year that often makes us feel nostalgic and think of family. So they use a traditional story arc that takes us on an emotional rollercoaster.
The Power of Story
The reason story is so powerful is because it activates two parts of our brain. Powerful mood-altering chemicals are activated when we listen to, watch, or read a story.
#1 Dopamine
At the initial phase of a story, we get a dopamine hit. Dopamine is an arousal chemical and it makes us want to know what’s going to happen next.
So we get sucked in and we want to know - what will the end of the story be? How will it unfold? What is the story about?
#2 Oxytocin
Next up, oxytocin is released, which floods our limbic system with feelings of empathy.
The story pattern connects with us on a subconscious heart level and bypasses the conscious part of our brains.
For Example ...
The 2018 John Lewis ad featuring Elton John. If you haven’t seen it, take a moment to check it out. It depicts the life story of Elton John from his first piano to his sell-out tours.
In these ads, there is always an iconic song that transcends the ages. Something we can all identify with whether we’re old or young. And they most often use a piano.
Why is that?
First of all, the piano calls upon the archetype of innocence. It makes us think of an innocent time. Christmas is a time of joy and innocence and using the piano and that type of music helps get into that mindset.
Then, using the story of Elton John’s life, cleverly shown in sync with him playing ‘Your Song’ as the backdrop, we zoom back to his early years and we start to feel nostalgic.
Immediately, you may conjure up memories of a gift you were given as a child. Or maybe you have children yourself and it makes you think, “Wow! That was a gift that changed the trajectory of his whole life.”
So you’re in this story and you identify with it, even though you’re not a famous pop singer (or maybe you are. I don’t know!).
But you’re going along the journey of this story with them and your brain is firing up the dopamine and oxytocin and you’re suddenly filled with emotion. It might trigger a thought such as “That gift I give to my daughter this year (that recorder, clarinet, or tennis racket) might be the start of their career!”
So, they're using archetypes and story.
Being Known For One Thing
Have you noticed that John Lewis ads are never focused on products? It’s never about, “buy this latest toy or gift.” It’s all about creating that singular focus.
What they are very cleverly doing is getting you to associate Christmas with John Lewis.
I talk about this a lot when it comes to marketing and branding - being known for one thing and owning that.
For John Lewis, they want to become synonymous with Christmas. They want to ‘own’ Christmas so when you feel Christmassy, you think of John Lewis. And when you see John Lewis, you think of Christmas.
I have been away from England (my home country) for over 15 years. But at Christmas time, I still wonder what that John Lewis ad will be this year.
They’ve created a connection between themselves and Christmas on a subconscious level.
What Do You Want To Be Known For?
So, when it comes to your brand, think about how you can:
use stories to evoke emotion
create archetypes or personalities your customer can readily identify with
become synonymous with the one thing you want to be known for
When it comes to your business, your brand, your products, or your service - what is the one thing you want to be known for?
Get Really Focused
Make that as narrow as possible. Bring it all the way down to one word, if you can.
For instance, I know a coach and her one word is Performance. So whether you want to perform in sport or business, you go to this one person.
Whatever that word, category, or thing might be for you, focus your message around it so much that you become synonymous with it.
You become known for that.
That means not cluttering the marketplace with loads and loads of different offerings.
3 Ways To Trigger Emotion (like Christmas Ads do)
Let’s recap. There are three things you can do to trigger these psychological effects that Christmas advertising does, for your own brand:
Use story to activate dopamine and oxytocin
Be known for one thing
Get really clear on the emotion you want people to feel when they see your message
None of these cost any money, so get really clear on those three things. They don’t rely on Facebook advertising or anything like that. They’re all free.
All you need to do is use your mind and a bit of research but they are things that can make a big difference in your business.
So when you do publish an ad or you do send out an email sequence - it makes an impact because it has triggered the right emotions in your ideal customer to make them want to:
💗 connect with you
💗 buy from you
💗 stay loyal to your business
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