The Nursery Blog

A drunken respondent story

I had a totally paraletic respondent last Thursday night. Not just a few beers but a bottle of wine in an hour. And I didn’t kick her out which perhaps I should have but I thought she’d make a scene and it would disrupt everything and it would take too much time etc etc. Also she’d started off being the annoying loud one but the wine was making her sleepy so I was quite happy with that. However, when clearing up I found the note she’d written describing in detail what she wanted to do to the bloke on her right and I think I may have got that one wrong.

Anyway, it happens, but it got me thinking that we never seem to have drunken respondents any more. A few years ago you’d often have people turning up at 8.30pm in a bit of a state or knocking back the beers and making fifty trips to the toilet in the last five minutes. We used to even encourage a couple of drinks to loosen tongues. It seems that we present groups as more of a work than a social occasion to respondents nowadays. We’ve stripped off the old-fashioned floral wallpaper and relocated to sleek viewing facilities. It’s good for business but somehow sad too. A bit like banning smoking in pubs. You can’t argue with it but it still feels sterile. Or perhaps it’s just that people don’t get excited about the prospect of a few free drinks anymore.

Talking To Their Hearts Not Their Heads

The latest Honda ad, VW Golf ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, Orange ‘Relationships’ and the Lynx ‘Couple in the Supermarket’ - all great ads, but what’s the common link beyond that? The use of music? Movement? Little to no voice over? Yes, yes and yes, and these similarities are all part of their ability to engage us on an emotional level. We suspend our rational thoughts and are drawn in by our heart not our head.

These advertisers have clearly recognised that ads do not need to try and convince us on a rational level. Pressing the emotional buttons can in fact be far more effective.

With a rational or literal approach, we are almost invited to question and critique - But how can they prove that? I don’t believe that could happen? We feel we are being persuaded, so our rational self won’t go down without a struggle or at least a little whimper of doubt. And many will simply switch channels or make that cup of tea after all. Evidence, it appears, is more easily refuted than faith…

The emotional universe with its lack of logic, offers so much more freedom for advertisers. We, the viewer, take off our rational hats and suspend disbelief. We want to engage on this level, we don’t need to be persuaded to do so. And being universal in nature, these emotions can resonate with a broader audience – crossing cultural, age and gender divides.

Think of the typical mindset of the TV viewer. So much of the time, we turn on the telly and hope to be entertained - we want to sit back, ‘switch off’ and lose ourselves in a programme. Advertisers seem all too aware of this when it comes to the cinema. Here it is easy to grasp that the viewer is waiting to engage on this emotional level and the ads shown reflect this – not many mortgage ads to be seen here.

We should waste no time in applying the same rules to the TV viewer because the mindset is fast becoming interchangeable. A TV is no longer simply a TV, it’s a home entertainment system - bigger and bigger screens, more movies and more digital channels than we know what to do with.
Now more than ever, we expect to be entertained and our emotions captured.

The recent developments in the understanding of the human brain add further impetus. It has now been proved that the part of the brain which controls our emotional responses (the limbic brain) naturally takes priority over the rational/logical side of our brain (the neo cortex). In a battle between the two, the emotional response will always triumph. So advertising which works on an emotional level is simply pushing on an open door.

Furthermore, an emotional cue can trigger a wealth of positive, unconscious associations which this part of the brain has stored up over time. A brand’s advertising can therefore tap into this archive and engage the viewer on a much deeper and more powerful level.

Yet more evidence then that advertising needs to get pushing those emotional buttons, or risk us reaching for our remotes.

Kids and ads

As a qualitative researcher you spend many an evening with a bunch of strangers, talking to 30-something housewives in Southgate or big burly lads in Stockport, but what about the little league? What about our 10 year old terrors in Kingston? Or are 6 year old sweeties in Sheffield?

The little folk aren’t really that different from the big folk. We all like an ad if it shows a product we’re interested in. Be it XBOX games or Fashion Fever Barbies to 3G handsets or anti-wrinkle creams. So like adults there are big differences between the ads boys rave about and the ones girls mention.

San Andreas and the Adidas footballers offer boys the fast and furious action they crave. Funny how the excitement that appeals to 9 year boy can still appeal to a 27 year old man.

But what captures a girl’s heart is the idea of making friends and building relationships. The emotional bond between a doll and child is what they relate to in ads like Baby Anabel and Princess Alexa.

But even with these differences, like adults, boys and girls love a chuckle. Slapstick is easier to interpret than the more verbal comedy and whether they understand the story or not, to them the joke is the focal point of the ad.

6 year olds will giggle at the “silly” toddlers in Kandoo and Pampers whereas 10 year olds refer to Pimms, Marmite, Bisto and Daz as examples of funny (adult) ads. The mere mention of Pimms reflects how advertising (even with tough restrictions in place) can reach to those outside of the target audience. Even adults will see ads that aren’t directly targeted at them.

And finally, a kids’ perspective on ads wouldn’t be complete without the mention of animation. Familiar from cartoons and computer games; ‘Madagascar’ trailers, Coco Pops and that Crazy Frog make for fun viewing, but animation isn’t just restricted to child-oriented products. Just as you thought you had heard the last of that grooving robot, the C4 and Sainsbury’s Little Bill have attracted the eyes of our 11 year olds. Sophisticated animation aside, the funky music and catchy jingle will undoubtedly have added to the appeal of these ads, as it has done so for the adults. After all, kids and adults alike know an engaging ad when they see one.

Why do they love ‘em?

Ok, so what is it about those car ads – Citroen, VW, Renault Megane have been coming up trumps with our respondents for weeks now. Surely it’s not just that they’re all secret petrol heads….

What’s striking about all of them is the strength of the emotional response they get. So how do they do it…what buttons are they pressing?

The music is often the first thing that respondents talk about - positive, energetic, toe tapping stuff which immediately puts a smile on their faces

Then throw in some movement and dance. Be it robots, Gene Kelly or rear ends, they’re all getting down to that music. It’s infectious stuff - our respondents’ feet can start tapping just talking about it.

Of course let’s not forget the role of nostalgia in all of this, particularly in the VW and Citroen ads…

It’s on two levels for VW – the movie clip seems to transport them back to that bye gone era, full of innocence and happy ever afters. Whilst for some, there’s also the even more powerful experience of being reminded of a time in your life when you sat and watched that movie yourself – conjuring up yet more positive vibes.

Then it’s Citroen and those Transformers – you can see some respondents’ eyes light up as they find themselves back in their childhoods happily playing for hours with their best loved gadget. Once there, all those other fond early eighties memories so easily flood back.

A heady sensory cocktail then – music and dance topped off with lashings of nostalgia. One which seems guaranteed to turn on that feel good factor.

Not to mention yet more evidence that when it comes to TV ads, heart usually rules head and trying to cram in yet another rational product message perhaps isn’t always necessary…