Three Not Two

Everyone knows that we make emotional decisions with rational justifications.

So why do so many ignore it when it’s literally the basis for every message, every story, and every campaign in the history of ever?

You can’t pitch someone and expect them to want to buy in when you haven’t convinced them to care.

How do you convince them to care?

Well, let's talk about it!

Ethos and Logos: The Pillars of Persuasion

I think most of us forget about Aristotle's rhetorical rules once we leave high school or college. After all, when we're done writing formal essays and write-ups, who really needs to think about these boring ideas that everybody already knows anyway?

Well, you do. All of us do. Those three principles are the cornerstones to any good persuasion.

Your work history? Appeal to ethos and logos, credibility and logic.

That email you wrote to your boss with analysis and findings? Ethos and logos.

We use these ideas every single day in almost every interaction. Granted, we aren't always successful in using them but we use them nonetheless.

The Forgotten Third: Pathos

Okay so logos and ethos, easy. But everyone forgets about the third: pathos or emotion. This is the root of almost all advertising (all good creative advertising I should say).

Let's look at one of the most classic and successful examples of pathos advertising within the last decade: Liquid Death.

I know, they've been analyzed to death (heh) but there's a reason for that. In this case, their marketing is almost entirely reliant on pathos. They rely on humor and people's desire to fit in as the basis for their marketing. They market their products to people who still want to socially drink with friends but not stand out because they're drinking water or what looks to be a non-alcoholic drink.

And fitting in is a very strong emotion to capitalize on.

Pair that with their hilarious and outrageous advertising and you've struck gold. And the numbers show that too.

In 2019, when they first launched, they had a revenue of $3 million.

Cut to 2024? Revenue had skyrocketed to $333 million, a whopping 11,000% increase.

Those numbers don't lie.

Let's look at another case study, this time in the opposite direction: Apple's iPad ad.

If you missed it, Apple released an ad where they had a hydraulic press crush instruments and tools only to come up and reveal the new iPad. The concept was supposed to be "look at all the things you can do on the iPad and how small it is."

Many people (myself included) saw it as tone-deaf about art and the creative process. Many felt that it was representative of the crushing of artists and I personally suspect the AI boom also fed into it.

The backlash was bad enough that Apple decided not to air the ad and published an apology. Whether or not you agree with it, the message is clear: human emotion is powerful and it can work for you or against you.

To ignore it is to cut yourself off at the knees. Logic and credibility are powerful no doubt. But nothing stands a chance against the human core of emotion. And credibility and logic nearly always support an emotional appeal. That's what statistics do.

You tell a touching story and then show the data that backs it.

That is a potent combination that not enough presenters leverage.

So TLDR use emotion. You're shooting yourself in the foot when you don't. People make emotional decisions with rational justifications and if you can hack that type of messaging, you are unstoppable.