A brand becomes magnetic when it resonates deeply. It’s the full choreography of experience – every touchpoint speaks, and together they communicate: this is who we are, and this is how we want you to feel.
When brand strategy is aligned with the emotions that drive decisions, genuine engagement happens. Emotional resonance builds memory, and memory builds loyalty.
As neuroscience shows, decisions are made emotionally first, rationally second – the brain justifies what the heart has already chosen.
In the context of visual identity, design is the medium through which strategy feels real. The curvature of a dashboard button, the friendliness of a typeface, the pacing of an onboarding animation – every detail becomes a signal of intent, a promise about what kind of relationship a brand wants with its audience.
Here are five examples from projects across diverse sectors that demonstrate how we used emotion in our approach to deepen the connection between brand and audience.
During our brand refresh of global insurance business Innovation Group, we crafted a series of bespoke, cinematic style images, each depicting a dramatic customer story in a single scene. The images were created as part of a wider strategy to highlight their capabilities and draw attention to their key differentiators.
Inspired by real events, each image was intensified to heighten the drama, underscore the stakes, and evoke a sense of aspiration, urgency, and agile responsiveness for its corporate audience.
Our brand strategy work for children’s literacy charity Doorstep Library included creating their very own storybook. The illustrated hardback told the story of a boy whose world is limited by his inability to read – through no fault of his own. The narrative reflects the sad reality faced by disadvantaged children across the UK.
By harnessing empathy through emotive visual and verbal storytelling, the book helped the charity capture the attention of corporate donors, making support too compelling to overlook.
Mind Cymru tasked us with creating an awareness campaign encouraging older men in rural Wales to talk more openly about their mental health – a generation for whom vulnerability is often seen as a weakness. Our idea, “I’m All Ears,” was built on a simple premise: to make these difficult conversations feel normal.
Rather than placing pressure on those who find it hard to open up, the campaign shifted the focus to a two-way exchange – one where listening carried equal weight. By emphasising empathy and reassurance, it created an emotional backdrop of safety and acceptance. The result was a campaign that felt more relaxed, less intimidating, and far more inviting for the men it aimed to reach.
Our rebrand of financial services business Carne Group was grounded in an understanding of the full spectrum of emotions that shape decision-making. In a risk-averse sector like asset management, trust and reassurance are essential – yet the brand also needed to speak to clients looking for a progressive, forward-thinking partner.
A central part of our approach was the carefully calibrated use of colour, designed to evoke the right feelings at the right moments. When the brand needed to reassure or create a sense of calm, the brighter tones were softened in favour of more grounding greys. Conversely, when expressing innovation or highlighting moments where the business brings people together in less formal settings, the brighter colours could be dialled up to introduce a sense of energy, excitement, and possibility.
Every stage of the customer journey is an opportunity to strengthen the connection between brand and audience. During our rebrand of industrial fastening specialist bigHead, the company moved to a new production facility. We saw this as the perfect opportunity to introduce unexpected points of interest by playfully integrating their fastening products into the environment.
These thoughtful installations not only raised a smile among visiting customers, but also evoked curiosity, presenting the business in a way that felt authentic, distinctive, and genuinely memorable.
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When it comes to brand, every detail is an opportunity to be more persuasive. When brand strategy is aligned with the emotions at play, every interaction can be intentionally designed to create a deeper, more meaningful relationship. In a landscape of countless competing products and services, that emotional connection becomes the real advantage.
Read more about how brand influences decision-making in Ethos.
