Emotional Utility Marketing
🧠 Sell the Feeling, Not the Function, TikTok Bets Big on AI, Search, and Full-Funnel Ads, and more!
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In this newsletter, you’ll find:
🧠 Emotional Utility Marketing: Sell the Feeling, Not the Function
🤖 TikTok Bets Big on AI, Search, and Full-Funnel Ads
🎥 Ad of the Day
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🧠 Emotional Utility Marketing: Sell the Feeling, Not the Function
Most brands try to solve a problem. Great brands solve an emotion.
Tinder’s “Ex-press Disposal Truck” wasn’t about dating; it was about healing. It gave Gen Z a moment of symbolic closure, not a product pitch. That’s the next evolution for DTC: you don’t just fulfill a need, you satisfy a narrative customers are already living through.
1. Emotion as the Entry Point (Not the End)
Consumers don’t start with product categories anymore; they start with feelings they want resolved.
Whether it’s anxiety, boredom, reinvention, loneliness, or hope, these emotional states shape what we search, buy, and post. Tinder didn’t sell the next match; they sold peace from the last one. DTC brands can do the same by:
Tagging products to emotional chapters (not just use cases) like “post-breakup,” “first solo trip,” “back from burnout.”
Launching product quizzes that diagnose mood first, solution second.
Rewriting landing page intros from “here’s what this does” to “here’s how you’ll feel.”
2. The Anti-Category Play
If you’re just “another moisturizer,” you’ll lose to price. If you’re “post-breakup skin rehab,” you own the moment. Emotional utility gives you the license to create your own category, one defined by timing, not function. That’s what makes customers remember you. Instead of selling haircare, sell:
“Reclaiming my hair after the breakup” bundles
“Hair detox for the one-year-sober milestone”
“New role, new routine” career reset kits
Moments sell better than SKUs.
3. Emotional Hooks Scale Better Than Product Benefits
Tinder’s campaign worked because it wasn’t shouting features; it was expressing shared pain in public.
Every DTC brand has this opportunity: identify the unspoken emotion your product can resolve, then bring it to life outside the product. Emotional utility isn’t just for ads; it’s your new creative brief:
UGC with real-life rituals (tears, toasts, transformations)
Email flows are themed around feelings, not features
Ads that open with “the moment you realized…”
4. Retention Starts With Identity, Not Incentives
If you make someone feel seen, they’ll keep coming back, not for discounts, but for belonging. Emotionally resonant positioning lets you own a space in their identity. Think:
“This brand helped me heal” is harder to churn than “this brand had a good coupon”
“This shampoo marked the start of my self-worth era”
“That was my quitting-my-job fragrance”
The future of LTV is emotional memory, not email cadence.
Why It Wins
Utility brands sell faster. Emotional utility brands last longer.
You’re not just solving for needs, you’re solving for phases of life, identity shifts, and personal transformation. If you can name the feeling better than the customer can describe it, they’ll trust you to fix it, too. That’s when you become more than a product; you become a memory.
🤖 TikTok Bets Big on AI, Search, and Full-Funnel Ads to Win Over Marketers
TikTok used its fifth annual TikTok World summit to unveil a major slate of ad innovations aimed at future-proofing the platform, even as political uncertainty looms over its U.S. presence. With ad revenue still projected to hit $32.4B in 2025, TikTok is signaling it’s open for business with smarter tools across the funnel.
The Breakdown
Market Scope + Brand Consideration Ads: TikTok’s new Market Scope analytics tool tracks every stage of the funnel. Mid-funnel Brand Consideration Ads use over a dozen signals, like comments and shares, to shift users from awareness to intent.
AI-Powered Search Center: A new Search Center in Ads Manager offers keyword suggestions, creative tools, and measurement. TikTok says 25% of users search within 30 seconds of app open, with search usage up 40% YoY.
Creative & UGC Tools: Insight Spotlight finds rising trends using first-party data. Content Suite pulls high-quality UGC for branded use, surfacing 40× more relevant results than in-app search.
AI Performance & Brand Safety: AI tools like Symphony, Smart+, and GMV Max are scaling. Media Mix Modeling badges and improved brand safety controls are being added to reassure marketers.
Why it matters: From search monetization to better mid-funnel targeting, TikTok is proving it can be more than a viral playground. These updates show it’s ready to serve serious advertisers, regardless of geopolitical uncertainty.
🎥 Ad of the Day
What Works:
This format has one job: stop thumbs. By using the viral Drake "no/yes" template, SuperMush borrows meme equity that instantly signals “you’re in on the joke.” It hits younger, internet-native buyers where they live, in meme culture.
The top panel nails the pain loop: restless nights, over-caffeination, exhaustion. It’s a real behavior loop many millennials and Gen Z consumers know too well. The bottom flips that script with SuperMush as the simple, visual “ahh” moment.
They don’t just show the pack; they show what it solves. There’s no jargon. No overpromise. Just “deep rest” and “wake up recharged.” That phrasing is digestible, literal, and confident, not over-hyped wellness speak.
Broader Insights:
This ad works because it sells through relatable emotion first and product trust second. It's optimized for Instagram Reels, TikTok, or Stories, with a meme format that feels native, not intrusive.
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