Tracksuit Research Reveals the "Seven Deadly Sins of Emotionless Advertising"

Tracksuit, the leading brand tracking company for challenger brands, today released a whitepaper titled "The Emotion Effect: How to Avoid the Seven Deadly Sins of Emotionless Advertising." 

The new report that explores the impact of emotionless advertising on brand growth includes collated insights and research from Tracksuit’s platform, Google, IPSOS, and The Institute for Practitioners in Advertising. It concludes that ads that elicit a positive emotional reaction are significantly more effective, with emotional campaigns more likely to increase profitability and significantly reduce customer price sensitivity. Campaigns unlocking the ‘Emotion Effect’ are nearly three times as effective at generating "fame" (earned media and impressions) and increase the likelihood of ads being shared by 27%. Additionally, emotional ads boost brand pricing power by 40%, making customers more willing to pay a premium. 

James Hurman, Co-Founder of Tracksuit and globally recognised advertising effectiveness expert, comments: "For a long time, marketers have grappled with the tension between short-term sales spikes and long-term brand building. Most cave under pressure to show quick returns, leading to an over-reliance on rational, promotional, activation-driven campaigns. Our data shows that they’re missing out, with emotional campaigns three times more effective in driving brand awareness and engagement." 

Tracksuit's research identifies seven common mistakes in emotionless advertising—termed the "Seven Deadly Sins"—that prevent brands from realising their full potential. From the dangers of simply imitating the market leader (Envy) to using a single ad to achieve multiple objectives across the entire marketing funnel (Gluttony), and from neglecting to foster the brand’s pricing power (Sloth) to falling prey to the belief that you only need to talk about your product’s features for it to be successful (Pride), the report provides compelling evidence that emotional advertising significantly outperforms rational approaches. 

Ariane Pol, Global Head of Research at Google, adds: “If you're trying to build your brand long term and people might not be in the market for it right now, it's about taking them on a journey and sharing why you're different, taking a new spin in the category and being perceived as a different brand that aligns with what they need, with what they want. ”

The report explores how major brands like Airbnb, Heineken 0.0, and Volvo Trucks have successfully leveraged emotional campaigns to boost brand metrics and increase profitability. 

Tracksuit's "The Emotion Effect" whitepaper is now available for download here.