Years ago I shot a TV spot for Budget Rent a Truck with Mike Ditka and, at lunch, asked him how he motivated NFL players to give 110% every Sunday.  Whatever you feel about Mike personally, you have to respect his record and expertise.

"A coach can teach skills, techniques, conditioning, teamwork, and how to win," Mike said. "But no one can teach motivation.  The player has to bring that to the game on his own.  If he doesn't, he's out."

    Ditka recognized that a player's inner emotional drive - motivation -  must precede the rational process of acquiring winning skills & techniques. 

    All emotions, such as hope, fear, greed, lust, or habit must come from within.  Emotions cannot be created by outsiders, but they can be exploited.  Mike's dicta applies to all forms of advertising:

All Purchase Decisions are Driven by Emotions
and then Rationalized by Facts.

    People think, "I like it! I really need one! I wonder if it works? Oh, look it has ______."   In that order.  Emotional affinity always precedes an attentive consideration of your Bullet Points. 

    Nobody brings her resume to a singles bar.

    Ads cannot motivate a fat person to lose weight, a day trader to learn commodities, a young couple to buy a house, or an IT professional to find a new job.  Those purchase decisions are driven by emotions which You Cannot Create.

Your ads can, however, target the emotional mindset of prospects who are on the verge of buying or doing something.

You can give self-motivated prospects just enough rational information to take the first step in the sales process: a call, a click, a store up...  Later on, your TMs, CSRs, web designers and floor salesmen can supply any extra facts needed to rationalize a purchase. 

    Emotions can also block purchase decisions. 

    The most common consumer blocker is Fear of Failure.  "It won't work.  It's bogus. I'll lose my money.  Better not risk it."

    The most common corporate blocker is Fear of Success. 
"It might work.  We could make a fortune.  Bbbbut... how would we explain what we've been doing for the past ten years? 
Better not risk it."

I can teach you all the skills you'll need to succeed in advertising.  But I can't  motivate you to pick up the phone.  You'll have to bring that to the game yourself.

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