The emotional response
DAN HILLexamines the role of the visual in the
ad message and how it affects consumer behaviour.
set-up for your offer), or A co-ordinated colour
dramatic climax and resolution scheme that makes the eye
People want to
of the problem with your offer traverse from one key detail to
look at the faces
as salvation, or else the happy another, linking detail that puts
outcome (but be careful here of together the story of your offer
of those with
being too contrived for today’s as advertised is another ploy
whom they can
jaded audience). that really works.
After all, creating stopping
empathise and
Vital finding power followed by emotional
find credible.
The visual has to grab the eye engagement leads to these twin
and take it further. In testing we opportunities: consideration and
did for a newspaper publisher in persuasion.
Canada – an entire industry as
challenged as direct mailers are What else is important?
– the single most vital finding As we learned from testing for a
was that readers are extremely, magazine company that sought
intuitively adept at avoiding to lift news-stand sales because
advertising messages: the they’re more lucrative, faces Dan Hillis the founder and
banner ads sat on a given matter.
president of Sensory Logic. His
website page had seemingly an People want to look at the
new book, Emotionomics, is
anti-magic line drawn next to it, faces of those who are beautiful,
published by Kogan Page
which the viewer’s gaze wouldn’t yes, but also those with whom
(www.koganpage.com).
cross to take in the ads. they can empathise and find
How to overcome that credible.
problem? The visual had to be The visual matters because
compelling, meaningful and as Groucho Marx said to
convey its meaning readily. Margaret Dumont in an old
Then, if the visual is good, it movie: “Who are you going to
involves a person’s extended believe –me or your own eyes?”
arm, for instance, the angle of Visuals can’t lie as easily as
which draws the eye and the words, and faces are what we
mind’s eye toward some vital look at as much as anything else
piece of copy that will help make to determine the old line
the sale. between friend or foe.
www.dmi-news.com January/February 2009 31
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