On a recent cold January morning, I ventured down to Cincinnati’s OTR neighborhood to attend an event hosted by UFO Performance Marketing. Aptly titled Cool People Saying Smart Things™, the gathering delivered exactly what it promised: thoughtful perspectives from leaders across design, digital strategy, creativity, and performance marketing on what will shape marketing and brand building in 2026.
One voice that resonated with me was Lucrecer Braxton—AdWeek Brand Star and TEDx honoree known for shaping culture-first digital strategy. Her message was straightforward yet powerful: effective marketing isn’t just about what you say—it’s about how you make people feel.
That idea immediately brought to mind one of Maya Angelou’s most enduring insights: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
While her words weren’t written for marketers, they might as well have been.
Why Facts Alone Fall Flat
Marketing has never lacked information. We’re surrounded by features, specs, benchmarks, and performance metrics, yet content built solely on facts rarely changes behavior. We’ve all encountered marketing messaging that technically communicates everything it needs to—but leaves us unmoved. Emotion is what creates relevance. It’s the difference between content that is read and content that is remembered.
How Attention Is Earned
Curiosity is often the first emotional signal that earns attention. A bold headline, an unexpected question, or a provocative statement creates a pause and invites participation. From there, surprise and relevance sustain interest. Whether it’s a striking visual, an unexpected result, or a fresh perspective on a familiar challenge, moments that disrupt predictability are the ones that resonate. When content feels tailored rather than generic, audiences are far more likely to stay engaged.
Turning Information Into Understanding
The most effective emotional connections go a step further by creating clarity. These are the “realization” moments—when insight is reframed through a story, a human outcome, or a tangible example. Data alone informs, but data paired with narrative builds understanding. And not every detail needs to be revealed at once. Leaving space for discovery encourages continued interaction, whether that means clicking deeper, starting a conversation, or coming back for more.
Marketing That Feels Human Connects Longer
What stayed with me most from Lucrecer Braxton’s talk was the reminder that marketing is, at its core, a human endeavor. People don’t connect with brands the way they connect with spreadsheets. They connect through emotion, relevance, and authenticity.
When content makes people feel curious, inspired, or understood, it stops being marketing and starts becoming a relationship. And in a crowded, competitive landscape, that emotional connection is often the difference between being noticed—and being remembered.
In the end, emotion isn’t a soft skill in marketing. It’s a strategic one.
