Brand Emotion
Brand Emotion – The power brand consideration, interest and loyalty
Build Emotional Connections
Branding is much more than just a brand name, logo or strap-line. Successful branding is far deeper than that. The best and strongest brands form an emotional relationship with their customers. We call this Emotional Branding, or Brand Love, a pivotal part of our BrandVision approach and our Brand Equity Wheel.
90% of buying decisions are thought to be subconscious. Emotion is highly influential in deciding which brands we buy. Benefits might appeal to the rational mind, but are rarely the real reason why we buy.
If you are in any doubt, read the book Alchemy by Rory Sutherland.
Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion Explained
The eight sectors of the Wheel of Emotion indicate eight primary emotions: anger, anticipation, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust.
The Wheel of Emotion is uniquely based on the psychological model developed by Robert Plutchik, a psychologist and colleague of Albert Einstein. In 1980, Robert Plutchik first proposed his cone-shaped model (3D) or the wheel model (2D) to describe how emotions were related. The model incorporates a number of emotions, including Trust, one of the most important factors associated with brand choice. Within the wheel, each emotion has a polar opposite, so that:
- Joy is the opposite of sadness.
- Fear is the opposite of anger.
- Anticipation is the opposite of surprise.
- Disgust is the opposite of trust.
Another smart feature of the wheel is that it highlights the combination of two emotions. For example, Optimism is a combination of Joy and Anticipation. Finally, the wheel shows the intensity of emotion reflected in the depth of colour. For example, Trust goes from Acceptance to Admiration.
Brand & Emotions Explained
Given the fact that emotion accounts for such a large part of our decision-making, it’s easy to understand how creating an emotional bond with customers can make a dramatic contribution to profitability.
Emotional branding, sometimes overly simplified by the term ‘Brand Love‘, is the process of developing a relationship between a consumer and a brand. This is achieved by creating products, services and communications that appeal to the consumer’s emotional state, needs and aspirations.
Furthermore, emotional branding is important as it clearly differentiates one company from another. So it goes without saying that relationships with an emotional dimension are far less likely to defect or stave off brands competing on price or convenience. Great examples of brands with high levels of emotion, including Apple, Google, Coca-Cola,
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Research case studies
A range of our brand market research case studies
Recent Case Studies
Essential Brand Metrics – part of our BrandVIsion framework
Running brand tracking surveys over time will allow you to spot trends and take action more quickly. But you’ll need to measure more than brand metrics if you want truly actionable research, so welcome to BrandVision.
Tab Contents
Welcome to BrandVision
Metrics to Turbo Charge any Brand Strategy
BrandVision is our flexible brand evaluation system that can be customised to your needs. From self-serve to fully managed, BrandVision offers tracking for brands of all shapes and sizes.
Brand Momentum
Discover the power of Brand Velocity.
Brand Velocity is part of Brand Momentum theory and refers to the growth potential for your brand and its likely future trajectory. Velocity measures the extent to which your brand is seen to be growing or declining.
Brand Momentum is a KPI driven by your marketing investment, product availability, brand image and your brand proposition and positioning.
Brand Momentum is a better indicator of growth than virtually any other consumer metric. Its role is far more important than the highly regarded Net Promoter Score because it is a better predictor of growth and growth potential than any other brand metric.
Brand Magnetism
Awareness alone is pointless if your brand doesn’t possess Brand Magnetism.
Part of the Brand Funnel, Magnetism refers to the attraction your brand has with the target market.
There are two aspects to brand Magnetism. Firstly, the strength of the brand’s appeal and interest. Secondly, it is about the segments and groups interested in the brand. Understanding who is and isn’t interested in your brand is the first step in creating a strong marketing and brand strategy.
Brand Magnetism is the holy grail for many brands, as it is often associated with some of the best and most iconic brands in history.
Brand Fame
What is Brand Fame?
Brand Fame (also known as brand leadership) is one of the key metrics that indicate whether or not your brand has a USP and is seen by consumers as a ‘Leader’, ‘Different’ or ‘Characterless’.
There are two very important aspects to Brand Fame: Uniqueness & Leadership. Brands that lack either of these attributes tend to struggle, with little to set them apart from competitors.
A great example of this is people’s desire to own the Apple brand. The high levels of Fame (Distinctiveness and Leadership) correlate strongly with Brand Love and Consumer Loyalty, which have ultimately helped drive Apple’s dominant position in the market.
Brand Love
The Power of Love
The concept of Love in brand relationships has been receiving immense and escalating attention. It is considered by many experts as the essential ingredient for capitalising in today’s new order.
Brand Love underpins the consumer-brand relationship. It’s not an emotional or fluffy metric, but rather the holy trinity of brand metrics, combining three powerful metrics: Relevance, Need, and Trust.
Evaluation of brand tracking data has taught us, time and time again, that Relevance is arguably the most important metric of all – and is highly correlated with consumer behaviour.
Net Promoter Score
The Recommended Metric
Net Promoter Score was initially developed in 2003 by Bain & Co to help companies earn customer loyalty and inspire employees.
NPS is an important part of consumer research for many companies, as it is a measure used to gauge customer loyalty, satisfaction, and enthusiasm for a company
Further research by Nielsen has supported the metric, confirming that word of mouth is the most influential factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions.
Awareness & Mindshare
The Battle for the Mind
Many marketers believe Brand Awareness is a single metric – in truth, it’s a lot more complex than that! As experts in brand awareness measurement, we’d like to explain why.
Behavioural Economics has shown the importance of Availability Bias and that winning customers’ choices means being front of mind. Brand Awareness metrics include: Prompted Brand Awareness, Brand Recognition and Brand Recall. Together, we call it Mindshare.
Brand Health
8 Secrets to a Healthy Brand
- The 8 Essential brand image metrics are:
2. Ethical – Are you seen to be doing the right things?
3. Brand Identity -Does your Brand identity have Clarity?
4. Brand Noise – Is your brand grabbing people’s Attention?
5. Newsworthy – Is your brand worth talking about?
6. Outstanding – Do you offer exceptional Quality or Value?
7. Variety – Is your brand flexible and has multiple uses or benefits?
8. Accessible – Is your brand Readily Available and Convenient?
On Trend – Is your brand Topical & Current?
Q&A Vision One’s brand research solutions
Brand market research specifically examines how customers perceive, experience, and connect with a particular brand and its competitors. It’s focused on brand equity, positioning, awareness, loyalty, and emotional resonance.
Brand research companies typically answer questions like: How many people are aware of my brand? What does our brand stand for in customers’ minds? How do we compare to competitors on brand attributes? What drives brand preference and loyalty? How strong is our brand awareness? Which brands to watch out for and have momentum.
Branding market research dives deep into the intangible assets that differentiate one company from another beyond product features and pricing. It measures brand health through metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), brand recall, consideration rates, and emotional associations.
We deliver a comprehensive suite of market research solutions designed to drive strategic growth. Our top market research company services include
- Advertising research and Ad testing
- Brand research (identity and brand equity)
- Brand tracking studies
- Business-to-business research
- Customer satisfaction and CX
- Ethnography and observation
- Idea generation and Co-creation
- International & global research
- Market segmentation and personas
- Messaging and Copy testing
- Online research and online surveys
- Pricing Research
- Proposition and Concept testing
- NPD and Product research
- Research training & Consultancy
- Shopper insights and Retail research
- Usage & Attitude surveys
We combine qualitative insight, workshops, and strategic analysis to uncover the core value your brand offers customers. Through techniques such as focus groups, stakeholder interviews, and competitor mapping, we help identify the positioning that will resonate most strongly with your audience and set you apart from competitors.
Effective brand strategy must be built on real customer insight. Our research helps businesses understand how customers perceive the category, what drives choice, and where opportunities exist for differentiation. This ensures your brand strategy is rooted in evidence rather than assumptions.
Kantar
Known for brand equity frameworks such as Meaningful, Different and Salient.
System1 Group
Focuses on emotional response and System 1 advertising effectiveness.
Vision One
Know for BrandVision and its brand wheel and the 8 brand equity metrics (including Brand Momentum).
Vision One offers extensive brand marketing research solutions, spanning qualitative and quantitative methods. Key benefits include:
- Pioneering techniques to uncover new insights and a deeper understanding of customers
- Latest advanced technology for enhanced data analysis and coding
- MRS Company Partners for the highest ethical standards of research
Here’s our top 5 resources for brands:
WARC and Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) offer excellent range of case studies, research and insights into advertiing and marketing effectiveness
If you’re passionate about the history of brands – why not checkout the museum of brands.
START YOUR JOURNEY TODAY
If you are curious to learn more about how we could work together, please give us a call to find out how our Emotional Branding and Brand Love metrics can transform your business.
Please call 0203 693 3150 or use the contact button below.
