Part of the brilliance of Star Trek was the juxtaposition of two characters, Dr. McCoy and Spock. The interplay of these two characters provides a valuable marketing lesson as well.

In one corner, you have Spock, the completely logical Vulcan. In the other corner, you have the overly emotional Dr. McCoy. Witness this exchange:

Spock: "Random chance seems to have operated in our favor."

McCoy: "In plain, non-Vulcan English, we've been lucky."

Spock: "I believe I said that, Doctor."

Spock is the epitome of left-brain skills, which process things logically, rationally, sequentially, etc. McCoy epitomizes right-brain skills, which focus on the emotional, intuitive, holistic, etc. Capt. Kirk often used the extremes of McCoy and Spock to explore a middle ground and then make a gut decision.

In marketing, striking a balance between the right (emotional) and left (logical) brains is an important goal for any company.

Researchers now believe that emotions influence about 80 percent of our decision-making, while logic makes up the rest. Emotions dominate for several reasons.

  • The brain uses emotions as a marker. A quick test: Remember a time when you worked just four hours in a day? Think of a time you felt very happy? Which came to mind faster?
  • Emotions dictate preference. Our minds use emotions to determine valence, whether or not we like something, and salience, whether or not to pay attention to something.
  • Emotions improve retention. States of arousal increase our memory, and our mind stores memories with their associated feelings.
  • Emotions reinforce learning. Our minds mark lessons with associated good/bad feelings to encourage or discourage future behavior.

Most companies are still more comfortable focusing on left-brain ideas. They promote things like cost of service, number of transactions processed, how many homes built in a year, etc. These companies are truly missing an opportunity to connect with current and prospective customers.

A recent Forrester research report about customer preference said that general satisfaction is no longer a good measure of brand loyalty. "Consumers have to be proud or thrilled about you or your brand," the report said. Pride and thrill are not logical responses; they are emotional reactions to the experience of a product or service.

BMW is one company making the shift to a more emotional approach in its marketing.

For many years, BMW used the slogan "ultimate driving machine." This approach focused on the car itself, horsepower, features, top speed, etc. It is very left-brained.

The company evolved to its current tagline, "sheer driving pleasure." This approach is much more right-brained and focuses on the owner's driving experience.

In 2004, marketing firm Emergence surveyed 500 adults about slogans. The two slogans that received the highest recognition were Allstate's "You're in good hands" and State Farm's "Like a good neighbor." Each of these taglines speaks strongly to emotions and the experience of working with these companies. Would the recognition have been the same if they used slogans like "We settle more claims than anyone" or "We're the biggest insurance company in the world?"