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Why Brands Must Have A Deeper Understanding About The Nuance Of Emotions

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According to the Consumer Emotional Index 82% of people believe that Covid-19 has interrupted their lifestyle, the findings also showed that 45% of respondents indicated that they feel depressed. Moments of crisis like this are transforming mindsets, core values, and the way individuals interact with brands. With change at this scale, it’s now more essential than ever for companies to explore an approach that authentically engages and connects with communities beyond traditional marketing tactics.

As the world struggles to cope during this unprecedented time, the value of understanding the nuance of the emotions, individuals are experiencing is critical. Sleeping Giant’s CEI, Consumer Emotional Index, is hard at work to understand and surface consumer feelings, attitudes, and behaviors to empower brands to utilize insights, and to connect on a deeper level. We are experiencing a societal level trauma, which is transforming the way audiences want to interact with brands.

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Gary Moskoff, Founder / ECD, and Leah Friedman, Art Psychotherapist / VP of Research at Sleeping Giant, a research-driven creative agency. One year ago, they launched the Consumer Emotional index (CEI) as a direct response to the rapid changes unfolding around the world to explore consumer feelings, attitudes, and behaviors, segmented by lifestyle. During our chat, they offered a compelling perspective about how emotionally based research is fueling the future of brand-community relationships.

Gary Drenik: How are people feeling as we face one of the most unprecedented years in our lifetime?

Gary Moskoff and Leah Friedman: Research overwhelmingly points to major upheaval in personal, professional and consumer lives. We find ourselves in the same storm, but on widely varied boats. Now more than ever we must begin authentic conversations with diverse people comprising communities we serve. Communication strategies must be driven by research and emotional insight, not assumptions.

One of the most striking data points in the recent Prosper Insights & Analytics Survey and the CEI, is folks are self-reporting significant change in their mental health. According to Prosper Insights & Analytics, 30.5% of people feel anxious, 23.1% felt depressed, while others felt disconnected (24.7%) and lonely (20.7%). According to CEI findings, 43% of people reported having trouble falling and/or staying asleep. These findings demonstrate societal level acute stress and point to why 39% of people believe returning to normal is not possible.

Brands must acknowledge high emotions are impacting consumer behaviors and the response must be driven by lifestyle and community values. Creating campaigns for clients based on emotional research, Sleeping Giant yields, on average, video completion rates of 87% and 98% increase in website traffic for clients.

Drenik: Why is it important for executives and brands to understand these emotions?

Moskoff and Friedman: Most of us are fundamentally changed by recent experiences, therefore, marketers cannot market the way they did prior to the pandemic. Facing loss, overwhelm, and even despair, many feel they have control only over their immediate surroundings. 74% of our respondents feel as though they were engaging in basic activities such as eating and sleeping, but not much else. This staggering number is up from 67% in Q1, 2020. While, Prosper Analytics & Insights have uncovered that 24.7% have become more disconnected from friends and family. To combat such feelings, people are selecting brands that align with their personal choice and voice. Brands must recognize personal identities and differences to foster reciprocal relationships. Speaking directly to consumers by lifestyle has seen our clients experience a 23% increase in year-over-year brand awareness.

Digging into the CEI’s lifestyle-based research, of those who live an Outdoor Adventurer lifestyle, 39% feel cheerful and 43% feel energetic, however, 0% of Technologists feel cheerful or energetic. 68% of consumers identified as comfortable and content, while 0% of Technologists feel content. We do not believe this means Technologists are miserable, but rather, this illuminates how differently folks are experiencing present circumstances.

Drenik: Are customers displaying a greater interest in socially responsible companies?

Moskoff and Friedman: The past year has brought new awareness of racial and social injustice, forcing brands to make personal ideological values public. At the peak of summer 2020, 46% of CEI respondents wanted brands to address racial inequality within companies and 39% wanted brands to participate in addressing inequality within communities. This aligns with data from Prosper Insights & Analytics suggesting 13.8% of people have become angry in 2020. Demonstrable social responsibility has become a key data point for examining how consumers are selecting brands to support. 74% of our respondents stated brands should help others and 55% want to see brands supporting essential workers. Neilson recently reported that 66% of people are willing to pay a premium for brands supporting social commitment.

Drenik: How should brands approach communities during this societal level trauma that we are collectively experiencing?

Moskoff and Friedman: Based on current social, political and economic climates, it is clear we have not yet arrived at a new normal. Brands face a pivotal moment and should approach their community with a trauma-informed perspective. The trauma-informed brand understands consumers need to feel safe, trusted, supported, collaborated with, and empowered. Approached with this in mind, authentic brand-consumer conversation begins, allowing for a loyal relationship to develop. 46% of CEI respondents want brands they love to support their own values and needs. Choosing to ignore research based on emotions, and trauma-informed strategies will lead to marketing driven dead ends and consumer attrition.

Drenik: How is the future hopeful?

Moskoff and Friedman: It’s easy to go to a negative place by absorbing so many disconcerting statistics, yet we do see evidence of hope. Even though many are having a hard time as 93% of people are social distancing, according to the CEI, 30% of people feel hopeful, and 78% are planning for the future. It has also been a generative time as 68% of people say they’ve discovered their creative side. Folks have used technology in new ways, learned new skills, and found comfort in connecting with loved ones from afar.

Drenik: Gary and Leah, it’s been great diving in a bit. Your work seems to complement the work we do at Prosper Insights & Analytics. I’m seeing how understanding emotional insight based on lifestyle, creates brand loyalty and community.


To see how a quality and accurate data set can be applied to target marketing models and time series forecasting Prosper has partnered with AWS to make their data available via the AWS DataExchange. Included in the data are a series of US signals, leading indicators, predictive analytics and advance privacy compliant marketing models for the US and China:

To read my previous Forbes articles on changing consumer behavior, predictive analytics, machine learning, data privacy and more, please click here.

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