Envy
Ads and videos written to this emotion: 8. 4 make the Say move, 4 make the Avoid mistake.
The Emotion Map's entry, written for B2B buyers.
What it is
Wishing someone else's advantage were yours. Unlike jealousy, nothing of yours is at risk.
Where it shows up
A rival's launch, funding round or big contract.
Sounds like
"How did they get that contract?"
Say
Show the system behind the rival's result, which the buyer can build. That turns envy into admiration.
Avoid
Feeding it. Marketing that feeds envy sells imitation.
In consumer ads
Say: Show what sits behind the other person's result, the routine or method the reader can follow. That turns envy into admiration.
Avoid: Feeding it: selling imitation, the promise that buying this turns the reader into the person they envy.
Doing it right
Ads that make the Say move.
Mrs. Reginald Vanderbilt skin care testimonial ad
A bystander assumes Mrs. Vanderbilt's envied skin costs hours; she answers that it is the method, not the time, and two numbered steps hand the reader the system behind her result.
عروض مكافأة في تطبيق مصرف الراجحي
It shows the friend who is always a step ahead and pays less for the same item, then hands the viewer the system behind that edge: Mokafaa offers in the app.
It shows another family's advantage, then the system behind it, a plan the father started, so the viewer's envy turns into a path they can take for their own child.
برنامج التقاعد مو بس ادخار… هو استثمار بمستقبلك
It shows a retiree's enviable comfort, then the system behind it, a plan anyone can join, which turns envy into a path rather than imitation.
Doing it wrong
Ads that make the Avoid mistake.
al-Gamal jewellery ad, al-Kawakib 1949
It points at a striking woman loaded with necklaces and says she relies on our jewellery for a beauty beyond any other, selling the reader an imitation of her rather than the pieces.
Duesenberg Model J ad, Vanity Fair
It shows only the owner, a woman in a theatre box, with "She drives a Duesenberg", selling the reader her standing while saying nothing about the car itself.
Village children peer over at a well-off girl's liveried carriage stocked with Fry's boxes, so the card sells the brand as her advantage to be envied rather than giving any reason it is good.
مستحيل تتجاهل جوعك ألذ الأكلات بانتظارك
It names envy, 'تطالع الناس وتحسدهم', then feeds it: the answer is not a better meal for its own sake but one 'يحسدونك عليها', a meal others will envy.
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