Marketing Empathy
Everywhere you look or turn, you're sure to find yourself smack dab in the face of dire economic news. You can't escape it. This downturn shows no signs of abating anytime soon. The numbers keep growing increasingly worse - be they retail sales figures for the recent holiday shopping season or the staggering number of layoffs. Given all the daily negativity, what's a marketer to do?
It seems as though marketing empathy is the new mantra. Brands are jumping on the "we understand your situation and we feel for you" communications strategy. The messaging is very inclusionary and makes the emotional connection that the brands are in it with their customers. The question is, can the empathetic approach be rendered in a meaningful and believable way? A lot depends on the product and the category.
Empathy is being played out in the financial and insurance categories in a big way. Bank of America, "The Bank of Opportunity", is reaching out with ads that proclaim - "We're working to help people stay in their homes, not just buy them." The body copy talks of "offering to modify over $100 billion in mortgages to help keep up to 630,000 borrowers in their homes." Very noble of them.
Citi is using the same playbook with a new ad campaign that promotes their Citi Homeowner Assistance Program. The headline is filled with empathy - "You worked hard to have a place called home. Call us and we'll work hard to help keep you keep it." It's all about keeping customers current on their mortgages. Citi surely doesn't want to deal with any more foreclosed properties. For both Bank of America and Citi, employing empathy is good business.
Family is the ultimate empathy lever and it is everywhere, most notably in the insurance category. Life insurance might be seen as a luxury for struggling families. Prudential cuts straight to the heart with ads featuring a close up of a young child holding hands with a parent. The headline - "A lot has changed in recent months. But the importance of life insurance hasn't." The sub-head payoff is the emotional killer - "Some ideas are smart, no matter the times."
Allstate Insurance brand campaign is all about getting back to basics - what is important in life - family and time spent with friends and family. Of course, one essential basic is having multiple Allstate insurance policies in the family. You have to give kudos to All State for the casting of Dennis Haysbert as the ultimate spokesperson. He is a consummate father figure who cares. He exudes empathy with every word. Close your eyes and listen to him - he sounds eerily similar to President-elect Barack Obama. Haysbert after all was once President on 24!
Even the venerable diamond brand Debeers is into making due with less. Their holiday ad "Here's To Less" was brilliant in its ability to reposition all other brands as being frivolous. The copy speaks volumes in its ability to make people think deeper about conspicuous consumption:
"Our lives are filled with things. We're overwhelmed by possessions we own but do not treasure. Stuff we buy but never love. To be thrown away in weeks rather than passed down for generations."
"Perhaps it will be different now. Perhaps now is an opportunity to reassess what really matters. After all, if everything you ever bought her disappeared overnight, what would she truly miss?"
Marketers want and need more than ever for people to continue to buy and consume. Empathy works - better for some brands than others. Can brands truly care about us? It remains for all of us to decide individually.
