Mad. . .Emotions

In October of 2005 in Toronto I attended one of the most phenomenal conferences ever. It was called Creative Places + Spaces - Risk Revolution.

Forty eight hours that I still reminisce about almost 5 years later.

I could easily write a book about the event but in the interest of time I'll give you the abbreviated version. Actually, let me focus on one particular thing.

I was in one of the workshops when a gentlemen who did product development and business innovation said this - "Want people to pay attention to you - appeal to two things: their emotions and their economics."

Now the notion of appealing to people's economics I got. Show them how they could save money or show how their money will be 'well spent' and you were good. We've been doing this for the past 50 years. Showing how to get more 'bang for the buck.' Now the emotional part of that statement was a trickier one to look at.

When's the last time you ever heard anyone say 'give more emotions get more dollars'. Never. The kicker is that if you can make a real connection between human emotions and your product or service then you're golden.

In today's market people mostly want to jump on the 'shiny new objects' train. They feel like they need to stay up on technology or technology will pass them by (i.e. everyone under the sun wants to jump into the 'social media' drag race). The problem isn't wanting to get down with social media. The problem is that many people are just taking their same old products and slapping a Facbook, Linkedin, or Twitter label on them. Their product is offering no real value and isn't creating any real connection to their customers.

Ladies and gentlemen its not about the tools or technology that we use (they change all the time). Its about the emotional connection that the customer has with the product. Its about knowing and understanding what people need, want or desire. If you're not quite sure how to put your finger on it, Don Draper might be able to give you a hand. . .

The Carousel . . .