Ron Burgundy is at it, again . . . but no, his latest escapades don’t involve pandas or Veronica Corningstone. This time, the hilarious (but oh-so-dopey) news anchorman created by comedian Will Ferrell, is helping 
sell Dodge Durangos.
Dodge launched a series of Ron Burgundy ads on October 5, and according to AdAge, Durango sales climbed a whopping 59 percent that month. They’re now up 50 percent for the year.
What is it that makes the Ron Burgundy spots so effective – and so popular (several have racked up more than one million views on YouTube)?
In addition to the obvious play to attract younger drivers and the integration of other innovative, interactive elements, Dodge is leveraging the one ingredient that’s at the center of so many great ads: emotion. Moviegoers catapulted Ron Burgundy to fame as a funny character, and clearly, Dodge is using that humor to engage its target audience.
Of course, if there’s ever a time of the year to be writing about the topic of ads and emotion, it’s now. Holiday ads designed specifically to make emotional connections have evolved into a tradition all of their own. In fact, last year, when Forbes asked industry insiders to choose the best holiday ad campaigns of all time, the overwhelming favorites were:
- the M&M’s “Christmas Faint,”
- the Coca-Cola Polar Bears and
- Folgers’ “Peter Comes Home For Christmas.”
Something tells me you remember each of those three classics – and odds are, you probably have one or two personal favorites you’d add to the list, as well. (One of my top picks is the 2007 Christmas commercial with the Clydesdales – an ad that, in my book, was topped only when Budweiser scored this “emotional touchdown” during the 2013 Super Bowl.)
But why are these ads so memorable? What makes marketers actually debate which ones are “the best?”
Like the Dodge Durango ads, each one of our favorite holiday commercials use broad emotional appeal to humanize the brand and connect with customers/prospects in a way that is real and relevant. As Chip and Dan Heath explain in Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, emotion is one of the five key components of a “sticky” idea. In their book the Heath brothers point out that ideas thrive if they are:
- Simple
- Unexpected
- Concrete
- Credible
- Emotional
Layer on a little nostalgia – as the classic holiday ads (and even the Durango ads) do – and you have more than enough ingredients for a successful ad.
But how can you know what will strike an emotional chord with your audience? How can you determine what your audience considers real and relevant?
You have to use technology. In today’s complex marketplace, where your customers and prospects are fragmented across a variety of different platforms and channels, you need technology to help you collect, integrate and analyze all the available customer information. Then, you’ll get insights into what kind of messaging truly resonates with your audience.
Those insights are essential because, as I’ve said before, even the smartest, most compelling –and funniest! – ideas will fall flat if they’re not meaningful to your audience.
At first, the idea of linking technology with emotion may seem a bit counterintuitive. But I assure you, it’s not. The better you know your audience, the better you can deliver messages that truly matter to them. The days of “cool” ads that resonated (mostly) with marketers or the ad agency that created them are over. Today, consumers want ads they understand and enjoy. And on top of that, the CEO wants to see results. When you put data-driven insights to work, you can enhance the customer experience, achieve business goals and prove the value of your marketing efforts.
I’m certain that simple-minded Ron Burgundy would not be able to comprehend all this talk of data and technology. That doesn’t matter, though. What matters is that marketers like you DO understand it . . . and that you start using it to your advantage.