Emotional Realism and Marketing

Emotional Realism – a messy range of real emotions that we all feel, but nobody wants to talk about.  

Marketing is a lot more about emotional associations than the products/services themselves. However, most companies, unfortunately, only understand a fraction of their customers’ emotions.

A study by NonFiction Research, explored Spotify Playlists of Americans, along with other data points. The Story of Playlists highlights something fundamental about Americans. We purposefully try to feel moods like sadness, frustration, loss, anger and regret. These insights will usher in an era of Emotional Realism – a messy range of real emotions that we all feel, but in a closeted way. The things nobody wants to talk about.  

However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Apple tap into this with its holiday ad for 2020, Magic of Mini. The ad shows rapper Tierra Whack searching for her holiday spirit, tapping into the darker emotions of loneliness and sadness that we all are feeling this year. The lyrics accompanying it go, “why would I lie & say I feel good when I don’t”. This is where Apple gets it right. Emotional. Raw. Connecting with how its customers are feeling this holiday season by truly representing their situations & emotions. The ad then goes on to bringing that holiday cheer in with technology.  

It is a joy to see advertising that is both, contemporary & relatable.