Creating Bonds with Customers: The Color of Emotion

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE power of the palette: Color is one of the retailer’s most persuasive tools, and it has the innate ability to move emotions. The psychological and emotional impact of color is transformative, taking the viewer from one place or even one state of mind to another. Much like using color as a tool of design, for a store to be effective, an environment must strike an emotional chord.

Any craft or discipline enters the realm of art when it moves, nudges or tweaks our emotional sensibilities. Whether store design and visual merchandising are true art forms or not is debatable, but retailers must understand that to move merchandise you first have to move emotions. Louis Sullivan told us that “Form follows function.” Simply stated, before being aesthetically pleasing, a design concept has to work. In the case of operational retail, moving merchandise follows moving emotions.

Tony Schwartz, the media specialist who propelled Lyndon Johnson’s presidential candidacy in 1964 with his memorable and controversial, “Daisy” political commercial, reminded us that, “The seat of emotion resides far within the subconscious.” In the past, the guiding strategy among retailers was to strike an aspirational chord with shoppers. Whether it was the enticing lure of the latest in berry spoons, soup spoons and sugar spoons in the 1920s, the most sought-after pair of designer jeans in the ’80s, or the coolest athletic shoes in the fast-paced, technology-driven 2000s, retailers hammered away with an unwavering aspirational drumbeat directed at the “wants” rather than the “needs” of the targeted customer. To continue to evolve in today’s current reality, retailers must first change their perceptions of the shopping public. Customers should no longer be considered targets to whom they callously dangle carrots of desire. The pandemic has changed everything in its wake, from the way we learn, the way we entertain, the way we travel, the way we vote, and yes, the way we shop. The customer is no longer merely a target, but rather a source of information and inspiration.

Today’s emotional deep sell must be based on customers’ lived experiences. The retail designer must be willing to listen to and learn from the experiences of those within the communities they wish to serve. Understanding customer needs based on their concerns far outweighs marketing to their desires. More appealing today than a new pair of shoes or the latest high-tech device is a sense of well-being. From the pandemic to politics, people of every stripe are experiencing an emotional tsunami. From Covid concern and fatigue to political unrest and cultural upheaval, people are looking for a seemingly unattainable comfort zone.

Far beyond the coziness of sipping a cinnamon caffè latte at the corner coffee shoppe on a snowy day, is the security of a welcoming and safe environment. We know that most retailers have responded with the obvious curbside pick-up, buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS), home delivery, contactless transactions and social distancing, but what about striking that emotional note, that high C of empathy and subsequent customer engagement and loyalty?

In uncertain times, the relationship between the consumer and the brand demands a higher level of emotional resonance. In a self-audit, retailers should evaluate their emotional quotient. Does their environment, both physical and digital, provide a safe haven for those navigating through their own emotional storm? Understanding the fulcrum of the customer mindset begins with an awareness of their emotional journey, and their cognitive response not only to the brand’s product offerings, but also to the brand’s multi-channel environmental presence. It’s time to change the vernacular from targeted customer to welcomed guest. It’s time to realize that it’s not simply about selling, but rather about giving.

Going forward, the customer experience will transcend any transactional relationship between consumer and brand. The successful retailer will dismantle the roadblocks of fear, concern and uncertainty by creating an emotional bond with their guests and neighbors. The palette of emotion used as a transformational portal from one place or one state of mind to another is as powerful as the range of colors used in any physical store environment. It’s not enough to simply move emotions, retailers must also recognize and understand emotions.