It’s only fitting that on Inauguration Day, when much of America looks toward the future for new ideas, a man who bills himself as head of an ideas company says that not only is there room for love during a recession, there’s an “urgent” need.
I first heard of Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi, watching the PBS Frontline Persuaders documentary. As someone who studies emotion, I was immediately captivated by his ideas. “This guy gets it,” I thought.
I’ve shown that video and talked about his book in every advertising class that I’ve taught since.
We’ve brought his ideas into our psychophysiology lab, and the body says he’s right.
In the book, Roberts says, “I’m looking for research that counts the beats of your heart rather than the fingers of your hand.”
We’ve counted those beats, and we’ve shown that your heart does beat differently when you’re looking at a brand that you love.
His book is, well, a personal Lovemark of mine. And I greatly appreciate Mr. Roberts taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my questions.
Kevin Roberts has had an illustrious career that has spanned the globe. He has fallen in love with China, walked among bazaars in the Middle East, and gunned down a Pepsi machine in Canada.
1) What is your opinion of the state of advertising today?
Kevin Roberts: It’s becoming more and more a 2 way conversation; it’s moved from directing to connecting … and it’s the most fun it’s ever been.
2) Does our propensity to emotionally attach to inanimate goods mean we’re missing something interpersonally?
Kevin Roberts: No – it’s and/and. Let emotions rip ‘n rule whatever the situation.
3) Is there room for love during a recession?
Kevin Roberts: Not only room, there’s an urgent need. What the world needs now is love sweet love!! (Oh yeah – and hope, change, and dreams.)
4) How does the social networking phenomenon affect Lovemarks?
Kevin Roberts: It creates real intimacy.
5) In Lovemarks, you tell a great story about gaining a promotion by offering to work for half the salary for 6 months. What can we do to instill this kind of hunger and drive among young people?
Kevin Roberts: Inspire them to follow their hearts and believe that their dreams can come true – if they take responsibility for their own happiness.
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I'm a cognitive scientist and communication scholar who manages a psychophysiology lab at Texas Tech. I teach courses about the cognitive processing of media messages and research methods.
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“Let emotions rip ‘n rule whatever the situation.”
Directly, Roberts is saying not to feel bad about the fact that people connect emotionally with inanimate objects. But my interpretation is that if advertising does not set the stage for an emotional connection, it has not done its job.
Good stuff.
Tim Laubacher’s last blog post..Trent Reznor Leading the Way Online
This is an interesting point, Tim. I think you are right, although I am pretty sure Mr. Roberts would concede distinctions for business-to-business and direct response ads.
But I have seen and experienced that heart always shows the wrong way. We are in big trouble if we follow our heart. And Mind thinks logically and chooses the correct decision. No doubt one should follow the dreams and should keep faith in yourself that they have to come true. But to achieve them don’t use heart. Go with mind.
Thanks for the comment, “Online Home Schooling.”
As an emotion scientist, please allow me to clarify a couple of things about your response. First, the metaphor of head and heart stretches only so far. Obviously both of these phenomena originate within the central nervous system.
The Ancient Greeks did us a great disservice when they tried to separate emotion and cognition. They did an even greater disservice when they advanced the notion that we were perfectly rational cognitive agents who were led astray by emotion.
In truth, there is no separation of emotion and cognition. The cognitive processes that give rise to both are initiated mere milliseconds after stimulus perception. There is no cognition without emotion. Any attempt to divide them is likely an artificial dichotomization. If anyone wants to read more about this, I suggest Cacioppo & Gardner’s review titled Emotion.
For the crux of your argument, extensive research has refuted your position. In fact the entire purpose of emotion seems to be to guide decision making. Human beings make terrible decisions when emotional responses are eliminated due to brain damage, etc.
It seems as if we could make perfect cost-benefit analyses without out “hearts” getting in the way, but the data simply do not support this. For perhaps the easiest-to-read introduction to these data, I suggest Antonio Damasio’s Descartes’ Error.
To return to the admittedly stretched metaphor, all of the data say to go with your heart.