Have you ever hesitated to make a decision that outwardly seems logical, only because it ‘doesn’t feel right’? As it turns out, the Neo Limbic System of our brain - the region responsible for emotions - is actually also responsible for all of our decision-making, which is why it’s not surprising why so many advertisements today try to appeal to the emotions of their consumers, instead of engaging their logical side with statistics and numbers.

“Emotions are a very powerful force that can determine the way we act and behave,” said Pongrit (Win) Tansuwannond who attended Techsauce Summit 2016’s Gaming Stage to speak about emotional marketing, and how businesses can use the emotions and values of their brand to build loyalty with consumers.

The Rise of Emotional Marketing

• Emotional marketing is by no means a new concept, though it is more prevalent today, as the rise of social media forces marketers to find new means of staying relevant.
  • Brand colonization: As significant portions of consumers are on social media, so too must the brands follow suit. Today, almost all businesses big and small are expected to operate social media accounts.
  • Advertisement Immunity: Consumers, who have been exposed to the “new” social media marketing methods begin to become desensitized to them.
  • Emotional Marketing: Using emotions instead of just facts gives brands the ability to build personal connections with like-minded consumers, which can increase loyalty and organic growth.
• People will more often buy products from brands that they ‘like’ better, in many cases going out of their way to do so.
• Whether a consumer ‘likes’ a brand can be based on the brand’s communicated values and identity, which the consumer could find to speak to their own.
  • Builds the consumer’s trust, admiration and loyalty to the brand.
• There is no set formula as to which emotions a brand should appeal to. It depends entirely on what your brand stands for; it’s self-image, personality, beliefs, values and visions.
• Ask these questions:
  • What kind of person would your brand be?
  • What would that person look like?
  • What words would you use to describe your brand?
• Garena Is:
  • Competitive/Athletic/Motivated: Refers to the company’s commitment to E-sports and competition.
  • Youthful/Energetic/Bold: Refers to the gamers, who tend to be young children and adolescents.
  • Garena would be a sociable, outgoing person, as gaming is a team activity. It is something that requires teamwork and collaboration in order to form communities or even professional teams.
• There are many tools that can be used to appeal to players’ emotions, with varying levels of involvement and emotional appeal.
  • Events: Active involvement, Intense emotions; Gamers and casual go-ers alike can hear the music and feel the atmosphere, or even participate in the activities themselves.
  • Videos: Moderate Involvement, Intense emotions; While normal videos may be more passive, the popularization of live-streaming has increased involvement for consumers watching at home.
  • Print ads (magazines, posters, etc.): Low involvement, Moderate emotions; Low involvement as consumers can just look at them, though the right message could still appeal.
  • Articles: Low involvement, Low emotions; Articles can be long-winded, causing consumers to get bored or indifferent by the time they reach the end.

Examples of Emotional Marketing in Garena

• GSL 2015 Video - Showing the high-lights of last year’s Garena Star League event.
  • E-sports enthusiasts will feel thrilled and entertained by the spectacles, while also feeling a sense of pride and belonging to see the thing they love being celebrated
  • Gives people the chance to see and appreciate the staff at work in the video, making them feel a common bond with Garena, create relationships, etc. >
  • Results of video: 120k event visitors over two days, 185k live-strea, views over 1 week
• Fifa Online 3 - Michael Own Video
  • When the consumers watch the video and see Owen playing soccer with Thai kids, soccer lovers will feel surprised to see owen, an athlete they admire.
  • This will give them a feeling of inspiration as they watch Owen play soccer with their peers.
  • Results of video: 2.4m views, 25k shares, 5k comments
  • The video didn’t even show any screen-shots or footage of the game, just the brand’s values
• HoN Siam Warrior - Added a character to the Heroes of Newerth MOBA game based on a famous Thai warrior
  • The Thai consumers will feel patriotic and empowered, even heroic, as they have a character that is representative of them in the game
  • Results: 1m units of the character were sold, with the teaser video receiving 100k views over three days and 3k shares on FB, which is remarkable.        

Emotional Marketing Framework

• Understanding and Insight
  • Truly know who the consumer is, not just demographics information like age-range.
  • Most businesses already know their target’s demographics, but it is also important to learn who they are as a person, a friend or a family member.
  • For Garena, we could ask the consumers directly, or we could just trust our own instincts as gamers and do things that appeal to people like us.
• Implementation and Execution
  • Once an understanding of the consumer is developed, businesses must also act upon that knowledge instead of just sticking to conventional or tried-and-true methods.
  • An idea alone is not enough; good ideas must also be capable of being executed in a real environment.
• Assessment and Improvement
  • It is also important to look for our own weaknesses. Close examination of the various aspects of an execution can lead to improvement.

• “We don’t do business with people who need what we offer; we do business with people who believe what we believe. Build trust and loyalty in your consumers, who will work to organically bring in more.”