The Expanse of Emotion

Like a good advertiser, State Farm is there … and there … and there, too!

If you haven’t encountered the largest U.S. insurer’s two-minute “Neighborhood of Good” video online or on television yet, you can see the campaign here: https://youtu.be/VuyhmA5YAu8

Thus far, the video has earned over 8.6 million YouTube views and 1.7 million Facebook views in a little over one month. It has also garnered over 6k shares and 7.4k comments on Facebook.

Most interestingly, like Amazon’s 2016 Prime commercial, State Farm’s “Neighborhood of Good” segment is almost completely devoid of a voiceover (VO). In fact, only five seconds of VO are used to convey a call to action at the end of the piece. The remaining one minute and 55 seconds are driven by a tapestry of music and nuance. 

It should also be noted that the similarly mute minute-long 2016 Amazon Prime commercial, which featured a Muslim cleric and a Christian minister, gained over one million YouTube views in less than a week.

So how is it that two nearly voiceless, longer-form video ads have become viral rockets in our image-saturated, mobile world where super-brief, graphics-heavy videos are the norm?

The research points toward emotion.

“According to the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, the most shareable videos are the ones that trigger emotions. Ones with a strong emotional pull (positive or negative), in particular, are twice as likely to be shared than videos that provoke.”

Emotions linked to online viewing and sharing habits include:

Joy

Pride

Amusement

Fear

Surprise

Affection

Uncertainty

Trust

You can see video examples for each of the 8 emotional triggers on Moovly.com: https://www.moovly.com/blog/8-powerful-emotional-triggers-for-video-marketing Editor’s Note - the fear video got me.

Getting back to State Farm’s Neighborhood of Good: when we examine the video through the lens of Ehrenberg-Bass’ research. it appears the piece is gaining traction because it imbues emotion. The video begins with the above listed emotion of “uncertainty,” then gently walks the audience toward “affection” over the course of two minutes.

“Pride” and a sense of empowerment kick in when the integrated video and website shuffle the audience toward local volunteering opportunities.

You can view State Farm’s Neighborhood of Good site here: https://neighborhoodofgood.statefarm.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson once remarked, “Your actions speak so loudly, I can not hear what you’re saying.”

In this video’s case, little needs to be said. Its emotional experience speaks for itself.