Can an ad be both emotional AND rational?

This is a debate we actually have. All the time. 

Is this a product ad OR a brand ad?

Is this rational OR emotional?

Is this about features OR about lifestyle?

Well, while this is a familiar and logical dichotomy, it’s actually getting in the way of you making great ads.

Take, f’rinstance, this Dyson ad. Is it rational OR emotional?

Right: it’s actually both.

It shows the product. But it does it in a sexy, styly way.

It’s clearly featuring its main, uh, feature: the ball that allows it to pivot & swivel. But it looks like a race car ad. And the copy is almost poetic. “Designed to move.” 

It barely says its brand (the logo is in the corner). But it exudes its brand with all that yellow & black & minimalist style.

Yes, you can make a product ad that is ALSO a brand ad.

You can make an ad that’s emotional AND talks about features.

You can make an ad that gives people feels AND also gives them thinks. (Sorry about that. I’m not trying to make thinks a thing.)

Some LESSONS:

🍊 Reject the dichotomy! More often than not, you can have it all.
🍊Use words AND imagery AND design to express multiple things, or to say things in brand-building ways.
🍊 Every ad can be a “brand” ad — if you have a brand to express & evoke.