R2 - Responsible for Results

Feelings You Can Count On

What is “the soft stuff” of marketing doing here in a column we call “R2 – Responsible for Results?” We deal with it here because emotion continues to make a difference in customers’ response to your communications. Some would say it makes THE difference.

Direct marketing practitioners have long concluded that the two most powerful factors determining response rate are (1) the list and (2) the offer. The essence of a destination or attraction’s offer is an experience. And that experience has emotion all over it – before, during and after the visit.

The Center for Media Research mentioned that an emotional connection is still the difference between the top-performing brands and the "also-rans" who struggle for profitability.

Ranking the top brands in today’s customer dialog – the ones with the most mentions and the most positive mentions in social media – a study observed that emotional connection was what the leaders had in common. It is not enough to satisfy, successful brands must gratify.

The words might rhyme, but the difference is vast. You can satisfy with reasons but to gratify you need emotions.

A neurologist, Donald Calne, said it like this, “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.”

Since action is what rings the cash register, it is clear where we need to aim.

Many visitor brands in the Southeast are progressing in the right direction but all of us haven’t arrived at the state-of-the-art with emotion. One difficulty that is built-in, particularly for DMOs, is the pressure to cover all the bases. DMOs have members and constituents all over the community, from the main attraction to the miniature golf course. And DMO funding comes from taxes and committees that are driven by the politics of pleasing everybody.

These pressures often result in what we might call “cataloging” — developing ads about everything and Web sites that posess no unifying feel. There are valid places for covering everything – the visitors guide might be one – but all our communications could benefit from deciding to own a particular feeling. Once we choose that emotional focus, it is surprising how many varied attractions and values can be supported by it.

Trust an artist. It’s easier to trust an accountant, but frankly most ads are more truthful than most spreadsheets. (Recent financial history at last endorses this radical view.) “Facts” and figures can be reassuring, and they do supply the needed permission that buyers look for somewhere in the sale. But desire comes first. Desire isn’t the conclusion of a logical argument; it is the cause that starts the fact-finding.

So find a creative resource and listen with an open mind; it could come from a staffer, a free-lancer or an ad agency. Experience with a portfolio of proven success stories is one way to go. Distinctive creative work will look unfamiliar, so it requires a leap of faith. A consistent emotional connection with the customer is worth it on the balance sheet.