Are you for fun or functional? A brand marketer’s dilemma

Brand Marketing: To be or not 2B Emotional or Rational

This might very well seem like a somewhat existential question: should a brand be fun or functional?  Should the product message be emotional or rational?  It is very much like the question, should a leader be right brain or left brain?

For those of you who are largely rational, the boolean proposition presumably is natural.  For the left brainers, there is going to be a tendency to reply that the product performance is king, with an underlying a belief in scientific proof.  For the creatively oriented individual, the emotional and fun side of the brand or product is probably what counts.

Of course, there is no truth in this.  It depends.  But, on balance, in today’s world, I firmly believe it is a question of having BOTH.

Someone call me?

I would argue that any brand that does not explore the fun, emotional side of the equation will likely lose out in intensity and passion among its employees, which will have an inevitable knock-on effect on the clients.  A contrario, any brand whose product is not functional (ie. no good), you had better go back to the starting block.  More often than not, great brand marketing needs a good dose of both fun and functionality, form and content, and emotion and rationale.

Digital Marketing needs both fun and functionality

In order to be successful, in particular, in the digital marketing space, I believe that fun and functionality are pre-requisites.  Yes, sweat the details (where the devil is) and loosen up to allow for some creative juice and levity.  Interpreted in a business world, this means being precise when it matters (forecasts, quality control, logistics…), but not a control freak when it comes to management style, customer interaction and online conversation.  Business leaders — and brand marketers — who know how to number crunch with the best and, yet, reach into the child within, may well have the clue to keeping their brand fun and performing, at the same time.

Which side of the border do you stand?  Is both possible?  Please do drop in your thoughts!