Walking the tightrope
The smart marketer knows that the surest way to sway you is to appeal not to your reason but your emotions. Dangle the base desires alongside your product to serve as a carrot. Threaten the stick if your product is not purchased.
Using a name brand dental floss versus a generic will not win you the girl, bring you fame and fortune nor save the free world as we know it. Not flossing with a name brand floss will not result in you losing your teeth, end up with you losing your job, nor cause your dog to run away.
But these are the types of stories marketers tell because one brand of dental floss is pretty well like any other and the only way to differentiate is through the exatgurated tales we use to push the customer’s emotional buttons.
Its a razors edge the marketer walks. Not enough emotional oomph and you become just another product on the shelf. Too much and you move out of the realm of storyteller and become a liar. And nobody likes to be lied to.
