I plugged a picture of my face into that new Google Arts & Culture app the other day. It matched me with Diana Dragoman’s Forest Elegance. I was flattered; check it out. The caption written below the picture read, “it is a portrait that inspires femininity.” I clicked out of the app, feeling very self-assured. So what does this have to do with marketing?

The rapid success of the Google Arts & Culture even took Google itself by surprise. Within days of its release, it became the most downloaded app in the iOS app store, according to analytics firm App Annie. Google Arts & Culture gained fast popularity for several reasons. Many of those reasons have to do the brand’s ability to emotionally connect with a significant amount of people. Emotional connection is the best marketing tool since consumers tend to choose brands based on gut instinct rather than logic. Sure, many people make a conscious effort to think logically, yet neuroscience tells us that we make the majority of our decisions with the subconscious part of our brains often referred to as the “reptilian brain.”   Therefore, the more emotional intelligence a brand has, the better it will do. In this article, I’ll break down how Google Arts & Culture uses emotional intelligence to attract users. Perhaps, it will inspire you to implement similar emotional marketing tools in your branding tactics.

Humans are Fascinated by Faces

As people, we not only love staring at pictures of ourselves but other human faces as well. That’s another reason why Google Arts & Culture was able to hit the ground running. Our brains are hardwired to react to another person’s face. In fact, often when we see someone smiling, our brain releases a slew of feel-good hormones like serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. Humans are innately attracted and trusting of faces. Therefore, pictures of human faces have been a proven marketing technique that is often effective at driving people into action. Google Arts & Culture applied the facial recognition technology to leverage their marketing campaign and encourage more people to download the app. There are plenty of other ways to incorporate smiling faces into branding tactics. You’ll often see companies creating an emotional connection to their clients by posting pictures of real employees on their websites. Scientific evidence shows that utilizing faces in a branding strategy creates a sense of trustworthiness and even increases conversions.

They Don’t Just Want to Buy a Service

After hooking users in through facial recognition, Google Arts & Culture keeps its audience by offering intrinsic value. The app is a hub of information for curious users interested in learning more about the vast world of art. Entrepreneur.com explains that selling a product is no longer enough. Establishing a profound value is one marketing concept that Google Arts & Culture applies seamlessly. Familiarizing people with portraits that look like them automatically spark a sense of wonder. Who painted the picture? When was it painted? What is the inspiration behind the painting? Users can easily find out more about their doppelganger and the artist behind each painting simply by clicking on the links that immediately pop up after each match.   Eventually, users are inspired to explore other parts of the app as well, ultimately servicing their desire to self-educate.

Success is in Knowing How the Brain Works

The success of Google Arts & Culture is also thanks to its predominantly image-driven platform. The human brain can process images 60 times faster than words. Therefore, you will often find that most successful brands utilize colorful pictures rather than rely solely on words to promote their products and services. Neuroscience research also shows that human brains love stimulation. Neuroscientist Andrew Tate says that when you hear a piece of information, you’ll only remember about 10 percent of it after a few days. However, if you add a picture to that info, recall can go up to 65 percent. It’s something to keep in mind when trying to market a product or service. Draw the customer in with an image and then use that picture to sparks their curiosity. Google Arts & Culture uses visual stimulation to entice people to learn more about the artwork they match with, which eventually can fulfill a level of intellectual stimulation as well.

Ask any marketing strategist, and they’ll tell you that emotional connection is a crucial ingredient to successful marketing. Modeling your next campaign after Google Arts & Culture is a great place to start. Remember to play to your customer’s innate desires, use pictures of human faces whenever appropriate, highlight how your business can benefit your customers, and have a general knowledge of how the human brain processes information.

There are plenty of other ways to connect to potential customer’s emotions. If you would like more ideas on how to apply emotional marketing tactics, contact us. Intelativity is a highly motivated branding agency that specializes in developing individualized creative solutions to achieve protein packed customer loyalty. By applying design thinking and expert art direction, Intelativity creates high-impact visual communication (i.e., websites, print collateral, corporate branding) to build the fan base you deserve.

Google Face Matches for Our Team