Why Us

Why we are here

A Success Formula for Emerging Brands

Our founder has worked with big brands mostly in his career, including Amazon, Dell, and Eli Lilly. He later realized that less established brands face greater challenges when selling to consumers due to the lack of brand equity.

Emerging brands need to quickly establish trust and effectively communicate their expertise and value. We are here to infuse a scientific perspective to help brands develop a formula for success.

Our Approach on Advertising Copy

Targeting is certainly important, but even if your ad shows up in front of the right audience, it does not mean the audience will click the ad because there are 10 other ads selling the same product pushed to them. So it begs the question, what makes people click on an ad?

Internet probably tells you to evoke strong emotions in your ads. But consumers nowadays have become so sophisticated that they can tell if you are just hyping things up without providing value.

Authentic value wins in the war of advertising.

Providing authentic value means that you are not pretending to care just to make a sale; it means that you truly care about filling a need. As a result, you will not throw out a generic term like “premium” or “high-end” with the hope that it solves your customers’ problem, you will not use abstract terms like, “fast” or “quiet”, and count on your customer to imagine how that really matters to your customers, and you will not use generic stock photos to describe how your customers will use your products.

Check out our collections of “level up big brands” on our instagram where we re-do the Facebook ads for some of the biggest brands.

Our Approach on UX Content

We cannot assume customers who click an ad are ready to purchase. They may not even know what they want!

Users in the awareness stage often have vague problems, so the ‘why’ matters more than the ‘what’ and the ‘where.’ In other words, users need guidance to consider how a product can help them achieve their life goals, rather than just focusing on what the product is and why they should buy it from your brand.

Users in the consideration stage require information on the ‘what’ and the ‘where,’ but the ‘why’ is still crucial. Understanding the ‘why’ (‘why do I need another computer?’) helps them determine the ‘what’ (‘what features should I prioritize in a computer’) and the ‘where’ (‘where should I buy a computer from’).

The ‘why’ is deeply personal, as it helps users identify their own needs, akin to having a personal shopper. It’s not just about selling what you have in stock; it’s about solving users’ problems and showing them the dreamland.

Once the ‘why’ is clear, users won’t struggle with endless product comparisons or procrastinate in making a decision, leading to a truly exceptional user experience.

Do you have Questions? We're here for you!

Meet our team

Dr. Bo Li

Founder

Dr. Bo Li earned his Ph.D. from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, specializing in consumer psychology. He then joined the business school faculty at the University of Louisville. During his time as a professor, Dr. Li conducted and published scholarly research that uncovered the motivations and emotions that impact consumer decision-making.

Later, Dr. Li made an unusual career transition, leaving his academic position to join Fortune 500 companies to build their behavioral science practices. During this time, he collaborated with numerous marketing and design teams to apply behavioral science in advertising, communication, and user experience design.

Dr. Li is a frequent speaker at international academic conferences, as well as a keynote speaker at various publicly traded companies.

FAQ

Why can emotional design be an effective tool for us?

Ad spending is often the go-to to acquire customers for many businesses. What advertising does is to create the initial attraction. However, it needs more than the initial hook to induce customers to make a purchase. Customers need to be convinced about an offering, which does not happen merely from their being exposed to a visually appealing ad. After all, customers do not desire solely to be entertained via an ad; rather, they want the advertised item to satisfy their needs. Convincing customers about the merit of the product/service also does not occur simply from listing the facts about the item, as they likely have already been overwhelmed by information online and, more often than not, they are undecided. So, they need guidance to determine what alternative will work best for them, along with the right amount of personal touch so that they can have a sense of trust about the seller.

Why can behavioral science be valuable for us?

Behavioral science is an interdisciplinary subject that encompasses psychology, sociology, neuroscience, economics, etc. The core of behavioral science is understanding humans, which can help you build connections between you and your users and lead you to be truly human-centric and user-centric. Behavioral scientists leverage appropriate scientific methodology to discover human biases, motivations, and emotions that can hinder users from making informed decisions. Accounting for user biases, motivations, and emotions creates emotional design and assists your users to identify which of your offerings best suits their needs—both those that are known and unknown to them.

What are examples of needs that are unknown to our users?

You may not expect that the movie you are about to watch will bring you to tears; however, it could touch a soft spot in your heart, thus leading you to cry. Or, before going to a restaurant, you may not expect its food to be so delicious that it blows your mind—which it does; as a result, you keep returning to that restaurant for important dates and anniversaries. Life comes at us with surprises. Research also shows that humans are bad at forecasting what makes them happy.

What are challenges that our users face?

When users are overwhelmed by having too many options, they may delay their decisions. Users may also become conflicted about what features the offering should have: Should it provide convenience? Should it be of high quality? Should it come in an array of colors? Making such trade-offs can be daunting to users, leading them not to buy anything or simply buying something just to "get it over with.” But those kinds of decisions usually won’t satisfy users’ needs. Users may also be tricked into buying something out of impulse that they truly do not need—neither functionally nor emotionally. For example, users may buy a particular item simply because everyone else is buying it. Experiences as these undermine users' connection and loyalty with your brand.

What is the role of creativity in emotional design?

We believe that creativity is crucial in experience design, especially when it is informed by some sort of evidence. For example, when designing an offering to exhibit "belongingness," one may think of having family members sitting next to each other to illustrate the concept. A creative person may think of unusual life settings where there are twists and turns. In fact, the "twists and turns" can be engineered through data, even if they cannot voluntarily think of them. Our Behavioral Science & AI analysis with thousands of ads have revealed the elements needed to generate twist and turns, which better communicate a sense of belongingness.

What are the challenges in emotional design?

The challenges in emotional design revolve around identifying the untapped "emotions" of a particular audience. Every audience is different, so the same set of emotions in one audience may not be of relevance to another audience. Therefore, conducting research becomes essential. The other challenge lies in translating the uncovered emotions to design. For example, there are endless ways of designing for "belongingness," but they may not work equally well for all audiences. To address this issue, pilot testing and A/B testing become necessary.

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