Symrise Reveals Hidden Emotions: The 4th Symrise Beverage Inspiration Day was Devoted to Brands and Emotions

The emotions that these products generate play an important role in this reaction – after all, we often cannot explain why we buy what we do solely in rational terms.

4 Dec 2009 --- Emotions constitute one of the most important factors in a brand's success. As such, the major topics at the 2009 Symrise Beverage Inspiration Day were brands and emotions. Roughly 100 guests came to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart on November 11 to hear high-profile speakers from the worlds of advertising, science and business.

Some products are more than just bought – they’re loved. Some brands manage to turn their customers into fans. The emotions that these products generate play an important role in this reaction – after all, we often cannot explain why we buy what we do solely in rational terms. But how does one link a brand with emotions that are so positive that the consumer’s heart beats a little faster? That very question was explored at this year’s Beverage Inspiration Day, which was aptly themed “Brands and Emotions.”

Large numbers of beverage industry representatives accepted our invitation to the conference, which was appropriately held at the Porsche Museum – those sleek sports cars from Stuttgart would warm anyone’s heart, after all. “Porsche is a brand that symbolizes pure emotion,” said host Frank von Keutz (Symrise Vice President BU Beverages EAME), summing up the reason for his choice in venue.

Memories of the 1970s
To illustrate how emotions are formed in early childhood, Frank von Keutz took his audience on an olfactory trip down memory lane to the 1970s. “The smell of a certain brand of shampoo was part of the bathtub experience in those days and nearly everyone recognized the fragrance of ‘Green Apple’ shampoo. We would also celebrate a successful afternoon on the soccer field with Tri Top fruit syrup.

Emotions are triggered by one or more of the five senses and serve as a basis for comparing what one has just experienced with memories from the past. These memories may be anchored so firmly that they remain positive for an entire lifetime,” Keutz explained, citing his own personal experience. He then summed up what that meant in terms of the day-to-day ‘emotional branding’ work performed at Symrise: “Our objective is to work with our clients to tailor their brands to the precise needs of their target markets. While our clients are primarily responsible for managing external brand characteristics, such as packaging and overall communication, Symrise can provide support for the success of internal brand characteristics (taste, smell, color, etc.). Controlling how a product smells, tastes, feels and looks – and especially how consumers respond to that product – that’s our business.”

How are emotions generated in our minds?
Dr. Bernd Schubert, Science Director for the isi Institute of Göttingen, Germany, shed light on the topic of brands and emotions from a scientific perspective. This was Professor Schubert’s second time speaking at Beverage Inspiration Day. In an entertaining presentation, he explained how emotions are processed in the brain and how advertising can make use of that mechanism. His best example for successful emotional marketing was the well-known Deutsche Telekom commercial featuring singer Paul Potts – the ad actually moved television viewers to tears. The commercial significantly improved consumer sympathy ratings for the Telekom brand. Of course, Schubert warned, the product would have to live up to the promise of the ad. “Otherwise, even the most wonderful marketing concept in the world will quickly crash and burn in the face of reality,” said the professor.

The power of emotion
Another guest speaker was Jürgen Knauss, one of Germany’s most high-profile advertising specialists and chairman of the Heye Group, who emphasized the enormous influence that language has on our emotions: the title of his talk, for instance, was originally to be in German – “Die Macht der Gefühle”. Then, however, he decided to translate the title as “The Power of Emotion.” “It just sounds better in English,” he said.

His central premise, he explained, was that “rational thinking is what interests people in a product. But it’s emotion that sells.” Using emotional advertising today, however, is a very complex process, Knauss went on to say. A single TV commercial is no longer enough now that consumers use a variety of media simultaneously. The Internet and its wide variety of offerings must always be taken into account, he said, especially when targeting individuals under the age of thirty.

Other speakers included Peter Claussen, Marketing Director of Rottkäppchen-Mumm sparkling wines, who spoke about managing one of the most successful brands on the German wine and sparkling wine market – a job in which he relies heavily on the power of emotions to win over consumers. “Emotions are what we use for imprinting a product in the minds of consumers,” says Claussen.

Trend researcher Tom Groth of London explained why the road from a good idea to a successful product is often so difficult. According to Groth, the most important ingredient in innovation is the courage to be provocative: “Novelties can only succeed, after all, if they lie outside of the mainstream.”

Tour through the Porsche Museum
Dieter Landenberger ended the event on an appropriate note, given the venue: the head of the Porsche historical archive cited the 911 as a powerful example of how a car like Porsche is not simply a mode of transportation on four wheels – it is instead a legend that triggers a broad range of emotions in buyers and non-buyers alike. Participants were then able to experience the design of the 911 up close and personal with a tour through the Porsche Museum – a relaxed conclusion to Beverage Inspiration Day that brought satisfaction to the faces of everyone participating.

Frank von Keutz summed up the event by saying, “The aim of Symrise Beverage Inspiration Day is to meet with our partners outside of a regular business environment and support them in one of their most important tasks: using innovation and creativity to add value to their products and services. As a partner for our clients, we want to be true to our company’s motto of ‘Symrise always inspiring more...’. I’m happy that, thanks to first-class speakers and an outstanding topic, we have once again managed to inspire our clients.”