Brand Valued: How socially valued brands hold the key to a sustainable future and business success

Chapter 6

IT’S BEEN EMOTIONAL

In the closing moments of British film director Guy Ritchie’s breakout hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, ex-professional-footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones turns to the ensemble cast of misfits and delivers what became the tagline for the film’s marketing efforts, ‘… thanks boys, it’s been emotional’. It was a great way to sum up the experience of watching the film – a raucous, brash but unashamedly good-fun, modern-day Ealing comedy. But if we are to believe most traditional and still dominant marketing and advertising texts, this would not be the best or most effective way to get us to experience and remember the film. It seems the school of rational thought still has a firm grip on how brands are encouraged to connect with their audiences: engage on rational, cognitive grounds for best results.

An exploration of this continuing grip and emerging alternatives is important, as it throws more light on how brands do and should interact with their audiences, and further shapes the recommendations we can make in terms of how brands transition to being Social Equity Brands.

Back in Part I we touched on how ‘scientific advertising’⁶⁴ emerged as a consequence of the broader school of scientific management. Both approaches subscribed to the argument that our ‘higher’ calling was to master our apparently inefficient emotional side, and emerge rational, efficient decision makers, giving rise to what are still the dominant consumer behaviour models, ...