Why Emotional Messages Beat Rational Ones†

Settling the Debate: 'Soft Sell' Can Reduce Price Sensitivity, Create an Enduring Sense of Brand Differentiation

Advertising Age, March 2, 2009 — Ever since the DDB creative revolution in the 1960s, debate has raged about the best kind of messaging for building profitable brands. On the one hand, devotees of the "hard sell," or persuasion-based communications, argue that facts and rational arguments sell products and services best. On the other hand, devotees of the "soft sell" contend that brands that can inspire strong emotional responses in consumers and create true engagement can transform businesses, turning the tables even on bigger competitors. In recent times the tide has begun to turn in favor of emotional engagement, with some high-profile converts at Procter & Gamble, but the argument is far from over.

Veteran Marketer Promotes a New Kind of Selling†

Outgoing P&G Adman Sets Up New Shop, Hoping to Persuade Clients They Need to Show How They Can Improve People's Lives

Wall Street Journal, October 31, 2008 — Jim Stengel, the outgoing global marketing chief at Procter & Gamble, is moving from a big advertiser to a small start-up, hoping to remedy some of what he thinks is wrong with the industry.

Starting Monday, the 25-year P&G veteran is opening Jim Stengel LLC, which will try to persuade companies to buy into a newfangled way of selling. It's called "purpose-based marketing," which Mr. Stengel says is about defining what a company does — beyond making money — and how it can make its customers' lives better.