🧠 If You’re Still Selling Products, You’re Doing It Wrong

Hey there,

Welcome back to the 54th edition of Brandish,

Your guide to crafting an iconic brand.

We have a very serious topic to discuss.

In today’s newsletter, we’re talking about a Kid’s Movie..?

Yup.

That’s right, a Disney Kids Movie…

Specifically Inside Out 2.

But we’re not here to talk about how it’s an absolute fire movie.

(highly recommend - but not until you finish reading the newsletter)

We’re here to talk about how this movie displays some of the best psychology tactics out there.

So kick back,

Grab your Brez,

And let’s get into it.

How does Inside Out 2 have anything to do with psychology/branding?

Before we get into the how we need to know the what.

So for those who haven’t seen the movie.

Spoiler Alert: The plot of Inside Out 2 in short is basically a story about the emotions going through a teenage kid’s mind as she starts high school.

Simple enough story right ✔️

I think you know where I’m headed with this.

What we’re going to do is break down the emotions in the movie and discuss how brands are using some of these same emotions to sell to YOU and how YOU can also implement them into your marketing strategy.

“Emotional marketing” is one of the most powerful strategies and probably has been even before the concept of “marketing” existed.

And whether you realize it or not, all mega-brands are owning the battlefield with “emotional marketing”

And it isn’t because they have better products.

They're not even selling products…

They’re selling EMOTIONS.

In my opinion, there’s no better way to learn than through real-life examples.

So for every emotion, I’ll be breaking down real brands and explaining exactly how they implement it.

So let’s kick it off with the first one here 👇

Joy

Making meaningful connections with your audience is arguably the MOST important thing you can do for your brand.

And there’s no better way to connect than through spreading positivity and JOY.

A brand that I’ve seen that’s done a great job with this is - none other than The BIG M

In the early 2000s, McDonald’s was facing the worst declining sales in the history of the brand.

To fight this they launched the iconic “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign in 2003.

The campaign aimed to shift the focus from just the products (like Big Macs and fries) to the overall experience of visiting McDonald's.

And the slogan "I'm Lovin' It" emphasized the positive feelings customers could associate with McDonald's, rather than just the food itself.

Not only did this campaign save the sinking ship, but it also made people associate feelings of happiness with the McDonald’s brand, creating an emotional connection built on joy.

Putting the Big Macs aside, here's something that will also make you smile.

Let’s say that there was a way that you could increase AOV while quite literally doing nothing.

Tool of the Week

Picture yourself…

Piping hot summer day…

Boat out on the lake…

Drink in hand…

Vibing to some fire beats on the boombox 🎶

Then BAMM 💥

Midway through your peaceful day out you get interrupted by a message sent from Mr. Shopify himself saying — (Your AOV has increased by over 15%)

You stand up in utter shock at the unbelievable news.

You pause the music and ask yourself:

How?? Why??

“My AOV just went up by 15% while literally doing nothing”

But then you remember…

The other day you started using AfterSell’s post-purchase network offers.

With a sigh of relief, you go back to chill mode and get back to vibing to some music.

The story you just read above is exactly how it went down at Obvi after we started using AfterSell (definitely not made up 100% true story, you can ask Ron & Ash, they were there)

Okay…

I might have been exaggerating just a little bit…

But the part about our AOV increasing by over 15% is 110% true.

And the best part is, we didn’t even have to lift a finger or even spend a single penny.

Here’s how it works:

Aftersell uses Network Offers, which allow you to create a new revenue stream at absolutely NO COST by showcasing premium offers from blue-chip companies like Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

All you have to do is sit back and wait for a customer to click “yes please” and you earn a profit.

Simple as that.

So if you’re a fan of sitting back and relaxing while those dollars just roll into your pockets.

You should definitely check them out HERE.

Fear

This one is by far the easiest to evoke.

But it’s also the easiest to screw up…

Scaring someone into buying someone isn’t exactly the most ethical thing to do.

But if your product has proof of eliminating the fear-causing factor, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

A brand that’s killing fear is a brand you’ve definitely heard of if you don’t already have one by your front door.

Ring notoriously relies on fear as their marketing bait – highlighting break-ins, burglars, and other house-related crimes.

And what better way to prevent all the above than having your own ring doorbell?

Envy

Envy is an extreme word.

But you can’t tell me you haven’t seen a nice car drive by and imagined yourself taking one just like that out for a spin.

Or saw a fitness influencer with your dream physique and thought to yourself what are they doing that I’m not?

Or thought to yourself, what supplements could they be taking?

This is something that everyone, I mean EVERYONE can relate to

And it’s been this way forever.

But ESPECIALLY now due to the rise of social media and the internet.

(If you want to learn more I did an entire newsletter breaking down the whole topic HERE)

My point is…

If you can show your audience genuine stories of others who have found success with your product…

Your GOLDEN.

We’ve been able to do this with Obvi in the form of UGC.

How this works is, an influencer that’s found success with our product will post on social media about how they were able to reach a goal and their overall results.

Once we started doing this it turned our brand into a literal customer magnet.

And if you do this the right way, I’m sure lots of people will ENVY your brand.

Wrapping Up

I realize that today’s newsletter was about “emotional marketing”.

But there’s an even better lesson that you’ve picked up…

And that’s the ability to SEE marketing from ANYWHERE and CREATE marketing from ANYTHING.

Think about it…

A simple kids movie that surface level has absolutely nothing to do with marketing but we were able to pull some of the most powerful marketing strategies from it.

So next time you’re out and about,

On a nice walk,

Or even watching an animated kid’s movie.

There’s always room to CREATE.

That’s all for this week.

And until next time,

Ankit