Advertisements that trigger an emotional response can grab an audience by the heart, hold their attention, and leave them with a warm and cozy feeling about the company, product or service.

Warm feelings can translate into cold cash. To get there, wrap your ad in emotionally evocative visuals, music and themes.

Show what people love.

Almost everyone loves country, family, and children. And we all respond to the bond of love between mother and child. Patriotic themes work as well in China as they do in America or Russia.

In some countries, people react emotionally to animals, such as dogs or cats or tiger cubs -- especially babies of the species.

McDonald's, the beef burger king, frequently uses kids in their ads, in part to transfer the positive feeling people have about children to the restaurant. Cows find these ads absolutely disgusting, but who cares how cows feel? They don't have any money.

Use music that elicits an emotional response.

An excellent example was a television commercial for HongKong Telecom produced by J. Walter Thompson shortly before the hand-over from Britain to China. The visual track cut back and forth between things that were once only imagined and then finally achieved. One such sequence showed a grainy old black and white shot of a guy with homemade bird wings strapped to his back. Looks like the 1920s. He jumps off a rock and falls flat on his face. Next you see the space shuttle lift off.

What made the spot great was the sound track, "Imagine" by John Lennon. It was voted best television commercial that year in Hong Kong.

Use stories that have emotional impact.

Every society, every community has experienced triumphs and tragedies. These shared experiences can be powerful emotional triggers.

An athlete weeps on the victory stand at the Olympics while her national anthem is played. Or a successful businessman reflects on the sacrifices and hardships his father endured to build the company.

On a more general level, we all share a similar response to emotionally charged situations. The birth of a child. War. Weddings. Political or religious conflict.

Look for inspiration in the news, or historical events.

A black man speaking before a huge crowed in Washington DC proclaims, "I have a dream."

A Chinese student stands in front of a tank in Tienamen Square.

And a 1964 political commercial in the United States ends with a nuclear explosion, which the ad implies might be the result should you vote for the wrong person.

Tip: If you use a general situation, such as a wedding, you should devise a remarkably original story-line, something completely unexpected. And get very specific, very "close-up" on the emotion.

Use emotional themes, style and mood.

You can effectively employ emotional elements in ads for everything from banking services to personal computers, fashion to fragrances, soup to soap suds.

The Calvin Klein Obsession TVC, "Beyond reason is obsession," is a portrayal of a man obsessed with a woman. The art direction, music and story work together to trigger feelings - perhaps stir recollections - of passionate love.

This approach relies more on style and mood to break through the clutter, to grab attention. More on the visual. Less on the story line.

Notes:

Emotional selling propositions. As product categories have become crowded, and differences diminish between services, some marketing folks are looking at emotional selling propositions for their client’s products. The ever-popular USP, Unique Selling Proposition, has evolved into the ESP.

- A bank might build its brand on safety and security, to appeal to an older market.

- A campaign for an automobile might put forth the proposition, "people will be envious." That proposition could be brought to life with exaggerated examples of what those envious people might do. Like scrape the paint on your new Jaguar.

- A noodle maker could advertise "your family will love you."

You can see, that instead of persuading with a feature or benefit, ESPs persuade with a feeling, with emotion.

Tip: The use of an ESP is usually a strategic rather than tactical decision. So think it trough carefully. And make sure your client is committed to the campaign.

This crazy little thing called love is like dust in the wind. Feelings are transitory. They come, then go. So sure, you can use an emotional visual or headline or storyline to grab an audience, to break through the clutter. But see if you can achieve a transfer of good feelings to the client's product. One way is to get the company or service or product into the story, as the focus of the feeling, as the hero.

How about using fear, or "scare tactics"? Negative feelings can create disharmony or tension, thus compelling people to act, to do something to relieve the tension. Feelings of guilt or fear can trigger immediate action. Imagine a headline:

World Bank Warns,
Leading Economist Agree:
Asian currencies to crash.
Invest in U.S. Bonds now!

The use of negative emotions, such as fear, can work 1) when there is an immediate and believable threat. And 2) your ad offers a clear and immediate course of action to avoid that danger.

Consider radio. While TV is the best medium to trigger emotion, radio can also be used effectively to communicate an emotional storyline. And support that storyline with emotionally evocative music. Radio is a little bit of a specialty, and off the radar screen at many ad agencies.

Consider an emotional approach:

1) When the product or service has an inherently emotional dimension: perfume, fashion, cosmetics.

2) When the product category is crowded, and especially when there are no practical or functional differences with your product and competitors: shampoo, soap, banking services.

3) When you can afford to build the brand. Like McDonalds, Coke, or Sony.

4) When you want to achieve a creative breakthrough in a product category that typically does not use this approach: financial services, computer software, business to business.