Last night the Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl. And naturally the only thing I could think of after the game at 12:30 am was marketing.
For weeks I have been hearing how Alabama was a 9 point favorite. The oddsmakers analyzed both teams - strengths and weaknesses - and Alabama looked like a sure lock. The smart Crimson Tide followers have already bought tickets to next week's "2015 DI Football Championship Game". "Beat the rush. Book now!"
But a funny thing happened. The nine point underdogs, under the leadership of Urban Myer and company, showed up and played for the entire 60 minutes the game was scheduled. And they prevailed. Emotion seemed to fly in the face of facts. The pre-game analytics were clear. Alabama should have won the game.
If you watched the game at least half of the stadium was wearing the scarlet and grey of Ohio State. Didn't they know that OSU had no chance of prevailing? Didn't they have access to the same media (TV, radio, online, print) that had already given the victory to Alabama? Were they that ignorant of the facts?
Facts versus emotion. No fact or set of facts, could convince an individual swaddled in scarlet and grey that Ohio State didn't have a chance. Anymore than a fresh set of facts could have convinced the Crimson Tide that their team could not prevail.
Which brings us back to marketing. All to often we marketers lean on facts, when we should be focusing on emotion. Consumers rarely make up their minds based on being overwhelmed by facts. But wrap them in emotion and their hearts, minds and wallets will follow.
The Ohio State fans that "knew" their team would win were not ignorant. They saw the facts. They simply choose to follow their hearts.
"People don’t ask for facts in making up their minds. They would rather have one good, soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts." – Robert Keith Leavit
Consumers want to believe. They want to hear an emotional filled story on why they should believe what you are trying to sell them.
Not facts. Not a David Letterman "Top 10 List of the Reasons Campbell Chicken Noodle Soup is better than Brand X...." Not another "Anniversary Sale!" Not another "We Pay the Sales Tax" promotion. Tell me a story.
So the next time you are preparing a campaign for a client, remember how 50,000 members of the Buckeye Nation showed up, in the face of facts, for a game that no one thought they could win. And nothing you could tell them would convince them otherwise.
Tell me a story.
"The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism." Brian May
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