Wednesday, 24 January 2018 08:27 Written by

What can we learn from The Fall’s emotional connection?

The Falls emotional connection[3 minute read] I was saddened to hear of the death of Mark E Smith today. He formed the edgeland punk band The Fall after attending a Sex Pistols gig in Manchester in 1976...

I haven’t listened to any of his albums for over 20 years, but he definitely mixed-up in the making of me. Especially that track you might recognise ‘Hit The North’. Like so many other iconic front men and bands of that decade, The Fall made such and impression on me as a young person growing up (and still do nearly 40 years later). That made me think WOW – that’s real emotional connection.

So how did he do that as a personal brand – get all those ‘fans for life’? And how is it that all those loyal fans, (and I’d go as far to say 'customers’), can name all his albums, recall all those cryptic lyrics, and name all the members of his ever-changing band? How is it they can even remember today what they were wearing when they went to see him live at The Electric Ballroom, London in 1980?

Well it’s all back to emotional connection...

What is emotional connection?

Emotional connection is how we feel about something. How we react and act to how it looks and sounds (and even how it tastes and smells I guess). It’s the power of attraction and it’s in our DNA.

What’s that got to do with marketing?

As far as brand building and helping people buy from you is concerned, you can attribute emotional connection to a specific point in the decision-making process. I believe it’s a the ‘Adoption’ stage of the journey; just after a they’ve given you a test drive and cleared it with the boss (even if the boss is themselves or their partner), and just before they buy for life. It’s at this point you need to be helpful and put across the best you brand-wise.

So how do you create emotional connection?

Marketers talk about brands needing to resonate with customers’ wants and needs and communicating with empathy. That 'power of attraction' I spoke of is an age-old marketing must-have, and it’s also one of the key Touchpoints Leaks™ we talk about at Watertight Marketing where I am accredited – ‘What kind of people are you? AKA ‘image’.

There are three key areas that we can focus on when looking at a brand’s emotional connection:

  1. VISUAL IDENTITY – Your logo, colours, fonts, images, illustrations, graphics, infographics and video filming/production style.
  2. TONE OF VOICE – How you come across in the written and spoken word, Music too.
  3. THE PERSONAL TOUCH – Language, culture, ethos, ethics, values. Your people.

So what kind of people are YOU?

I have a mix of customers that come to me ‘brand-ready’ or not. Some have a great brand already and now need ‘some marketing’. They’re usually from a creative background so have found it easy to come up with a brand that already looks superb. But they just don’t know what to do next, or what to say to who and when. So we work on that.

Others come to me with a fabulous product, a fabulous sales team, and a fabulous leader steering the ship. But they feel they just look invisible and are simply not getting ‘out there’. That’s sometimes because they have a brand they brought off the internet for £50 - you get what you pay for I suppose.

If your brand does not have the right emotional connection your customers may make the wrong judgement about you. So how are you looking (and rest in peace Mark. I thank you for contributing and influencing my personal brand)?

If you want to find out how to make people fall in love and stay in love with your brand, one thing you could do is get a copy of Watertight Marketing (free digital book offer currently here for a limited period only).


You might also be interested how self storage RedSpot turned their marketing around with emotional connection [Watertight Marketing Case Study here >>].


Touchpoint Leaks™ © Watertight Marketing Ltd. The key Watertight Marketing concepts, frameworks, illustrations, and structure used by Solid Sources Ltd remain the intellectual property of Watertight Marketing and are used with permission and under license.

Cheryl Crichton

Helps small businesses stop wasting money on marketing

Watertight Marketing Certified Practitioner, MCIM Chartered Marketer and mentor

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