You know who’s good at marketing? Pet food companies. They convince us their particular brand tastes better than the competition’s. Most of us have never tasted our pets' food, right? Nor do we line up the top five brands, blindfold our pet and see which bowl they are drawn to. Yet, we are convinced our pet prefers the food we choose for them.
Yes, health claims are abundant in this category and that figures in, too. I have not researched how many studies there are on pet food diets — plenty, I’m sure. But this taps into our emotions as well: Nobody wants to get scolded by their veterinarian for Fluffy’s chronic dermatitis.
But why are we really choosing the pet food we do? It’s an emotional decision. Chances are, our pets would eat almost any brand of food we set in front of them. But we feel better about our pet parenting when we believe we are making a better choice for them. And we are willing to pay a premium price to feel that way. It’s a large serving of emotion sprinkled with just a touch of rational thought.
We like to believe we are logical beings, but emotions drive 95% of our decisions (Deloitte). In a recent branding talk, I used Corona beer as an example of brands that use emotion to sell. Corona never talks about the taste of their beer or its thirst-quenching properties. Rather, they associate the brand with relaxing on the beach or by the pool. Corona sells us on the notion that they are the preferred brand for chilling out. They’re selling a vibe, not a great-tasting lager.
Successful branding is more difficult to track than other marketing metrics. But the experienced marketer realizes consumers buy brands that they can relate to. In a world of 5-star reviews, social shares and vanity KPIs, here’s a reminder to include human emotion in your brand strategy. Do it well and you’ll have them drooling over your product.
