A Samsung commercial, filmed in Turkey advertising Samsung’s Duyan Eller Video Conferencing system went viral. What made this video about a product so shareable across the world? The answer resides in two words: Emotional Connection.
Outperform your competitors
The emotion that a brand evokes in potential consumers has a big impact on the success (or failure) of your brand message and product. According to the Gallup Organisation: “If you do not make an emotional connection with customers, then satisfaction is worthless.” The research reported that customers don’t buy strictly for rational reasons; rather it is more important to engage customers on an emotional level.
Research suggests that businesses that optimise this emotional connection far outperform competitors by 26% in gross margin and 85% in sales growth. Additionally, emotionally engaged customers are:
- Three times more likely to recommend
- Three times more likely to re-purchase
- Less likely to shop around
- Much less price sensitive.
Here’s what Samsung got right, and what your business can learn from when promoting your product:
1. Captivated the Audience
Samsung roused the curiosity of their audience. Why were they setting up all those cameras? What next will happen? When you rouse the curiosity of your potential customers they will be more likely to pay attention to your message, and will tolerate sitting through the length of your video. But be careful not to disappoint them in the end! If your potential customer leaves feeling dissatisfied they may not return ever again.
2. Made a Connection
The most effective way of making that critical connection with your audience is to tell a story. It’s no longer about bombarding your customers with your brand, making sure they never forget it.
To make a real emotional connection your audience has to associate with the message, and the best way to do this is through telling a story that evokes a feeling, be it humour, joy or even inspiration. In Samsung’s video we are exposed to the world of being hearing impaired and how we take for granted that everyone speaks the same language that we do. But imagine not being able to call a call centre to solve your problem?
3. A Poignant Message
Samsung’s video leaves us with a poignant reminder of everything that we take for granted in our own lives and invites us to understand someone else’s life. Think of your video as a 30- or 60-second film rather than an advertisement. At the end of it you want your audience to be captivated by the story and become invested in its final outcome. If you can leave your customer with something to think about at the end, that’s even better and will make your video both memorable and shareable.