The majority of consumers across the U.S., China, and the UK just want to feel something, to feel alive. A recent survey revealed that 65 percent of respondents want brands to wow them with spectacular advertising, and 61 percent want brands to help them feel intense emotions, and 63 percent want companies and brands to provide multi-sensory experiences.
A new report “The Age of Re-enchantment” by Wunderman Thompson Intelligence established that consumers are craving experiences that deliver feelings of joy, wonder, magic, and awe. Some consumers are even looking for darker thrills like uncanny, surreal, and dystopian. The report said twice as many respondents, around 49 percent, are likely to buy from brands that bring them a sense of joy, or those, around 45 percent, that surprise and delight them. And more than half of the respondents want to live in a world where brands think giving customers goosebumps, is an important metric.
“The Age of Re-enchantment” report highlighted that brands have an opportunity to help people transcend tough times and jolt them from malaise by celebrating the thrilling, the uplifting, the awe-inspiring, and the magical, and can do more to deliver inspiration. But only a few brands are tapping into this because 7 in 10 respondents cannot remember the last time a brand did anything that excited them. 61 percent of respondents said companies and brands aren’t doing anything original, with more than half saying they feel tired and burned out all the time and over two-thirds agreeing that technology is making them feel more detached from the real world.
Marie Stafford, Global Director, Wunderman Thompson Intelligence, believes uncertain times might imply a shift to a more practical attitude. “But instead people are yearning for emotion-inducing experiences that deliver feelings of joy and wonder, craving the spectacular, the surreal, and the otherworldly. The new brand metrics are jaw drops, heart swells, and goosebumps.” Stafford said brands can help people transcend tough times and jolt them from long-standing malaise by celebrating the thrilling, the uplifting, the awe-inspiring, and the magical – welcome to the age of re-enchantment.
The report also offers a number of key brand takeaways and rich creative territory, from promoting full spectrum emotion, escaping the rationale, and even going dark.
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