Think about an ad that you can remember from your childhood. Perhaps it’s one that still runs to this day.
What can you remember from it? Maybe the details escape you (we’re with you there).
But you can probably remember a little about how it made you feel. You can remember the context: Saturday morning cartoons, the car ride to school, the holiday shopping season.
When products and experiences connect emotionally, they build concrete ties with their audience. The best brands define the feeling they want to own and then build systems to deliver it again and again.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely thinking about how to do the same thing. We’re here to say that we believe in you. Here is how to get started.
At PETERMAYER, our Brand Joy Lab research shows that 63% of purchase intent is driven by the joy people experience from a brand’s communications. And joy isn’t just one feeling. It’s a rich composite built from trust, nostalgia, awe, belonging, surprise, empathy and inspiration.
According to Harvard Business Review, emotionally connected customers are more than 50% more valuable than merely satisfied ones. They spend more. They stay longer. They forgive faster. And they talk.
But these connections don’t happen just because you “sound human.” It takes intention. And it starts with knowing what kind of truth you can uniquely tell.
Every brand has the potential to make someone feel. The real question is: What feeling do you want to be known for?
Once a relic of the past, Polaroid reemerged as a symbol of analog charm in the digital world. Its modern marketing leans into nostalgia, positioning instant photography as a tactile antidote to screen life.
LEGO builds emotional connection around belonging, making people feel part of something bigger. The brick-maker has evolved from a toy company into a cultural ecosystem, with fandoms, co-created products and stores designed for exploration.
Patagonia doesn’t just market sustainability; it lives it. From repairing old jackets to donating its entire company ownership to environmental causes, the outfitter proves its ethos through action. Emotion can be uncovered in any brand.
Start by asking:
Use the answers to these questions to understand your core promise, and once you do, go all in on threading that promise through your entire customer journey. If it sounds simple, it is. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy.
Once you understand your brand’s emotional pull, the work becomes about activating it across your entire ecosystem. Not just in what you say, but in how you behave, who you show up for and where you choose to show up.
Take Dove, for example. The company has long centered itself around a core truth: real beauty should feel inclusive, empathetic and affirming. That insight touches everything it does.
Dove’s storytelling has always been focused on real people, not idealized models. Campaigns like “Real Beauty” and the “Self-Esteem Project” confront toxic beauty standards head-on, reinforcing its position: You are enough, exactly as you are.
It’s not just ads. The packaging features diverse body shapes. Dove’s Real Beauty Pledge promises to never digitally distort images. Even the product language (like “body love” instead of “firming”) reflects care.
Dove doesn't just talk about values. It funds programs for self-esteem education, pushes for legal policy changes (like the Crown Act) and regularly chooses not to airbrush reality. These choices tell you what the brand believes without saying it outright.
Dove’s tone of voice—gentle, empowering, never condescending—shows up in its emails, social posts and web copy. It trains its global teams to protect that voice, so customers around the world get the same feeling, even in different languages.
Dove doesn’t just run emotional campaigns. It layers its message consistency into the system. And it’s why people come back again and again.
Consistency builds trust. Emotional clarity builds joy that makes people feel something.
You don’t need a new campaign to start. You just need to define the space you can own and make that feeling show up with purpose, over time, across every interaction.
The best brands don’t just aim for recognition.
They aim for resonance. They aim for feeling. And they lead with heart.
Brand Consistency Can Be a Superpower—If You Can Get It.
It’s not about matching colors. It’s about aligning humans, systems and expectations.
Brand Consistency Can Be a Superpower—If You Can Get It.
It’s not about matching colors. It’s about aligning humans, systems and expectations.
