Why Every Brand Wants to Sound Like Your Therapist Now
There’s a certain tone creeping into brand messaging lately. It’s soft, warm, and slightly breathy. Think, "Hey, it's okay to not be perfect. You’re doing your best." Somewhere between a mindfulness app and a best friend with a diploma in counselling. And it’s everywhere:
Product labels whisper that you’re “enough.” Loyalty emails check in like it’s been a tough week. Even deodorant wants to talk about your feelings. Somewhere along the line, marketers decided to Yeet the hard sell in favour of emotional co-regulation. Are we better off for it? Maybe. But it’s making me crave a brand with absolutely no emotional intelligence. Just sell me the bloody pen, Panasonic.
One skincare brand, I kid you not, included a fold-out affirmation journal in my last order. Twelve empty pages and three smiling pastel blobs reminding me I shine from within. They market hyaluronic acid like internalised validation. What’s wild is, it works. I re-ordered.
But here’s the thing: this emotional fluency needs backing. If your ‘companionship tone’ is hiding terrible service or environmental negligence, consumers will sniff it out faster than you can say "we're here for you." It’s not enough to sound human. You have to be one. The brands that nail this aren't manufacturing empathy, they're aligning it with actual values. Those weird pastel blobs might have guessed something right.
Product labels whisper that you’re “enough.” Loyalty emails check in like it’s been a tough week. Even deodorant wants to talk about your feelings. Somewhere along the line, marketers decided to Yeet the hard sell in favour of emotional co-regulation. Are we better off for it? Maybe. But it’s making me crave a brand with absolutely no emotional intelligence. Just sell me the bloody pen, Panasonic.
One skincare brand, I kid you not, included a fold-out affirmation journal in my last order. Twelve empty pages and three smiling pastel blobs reminding me I shine from within. They market hyaluronic acid like internalised validation. What’s wild is, it works. I re-ordered.
But here’s the thing: this emotional fluency needs backing. If your ‘companionship tone’ is hiding terrible service or environmental negligence, consumers will sniff it out faster than you can say "we're here for you." It’s not enough to sound human. You have to be one. The brands that nail this aren't manufacturing empathy, they're aligning it with actual values. Those weird pastel blobs might have guessed something right.