Brands are wonderful phenomena. In some way, they are able to touch you. You may even love them. Often, it is hard to explain why. Some brands just ‘feel’ better than others. They have more ‘brand appeal’.

Creating appealing brands involves a fundamental understanding of the variables that explain brand appeal. In a large scale scientific study by Kim Cramer, PhD and Alexander Koene, it was investigated why some brands are better able to touch people than other brands. Results indicate that brand appeal has everything to do with fundamental human drives.

Cramer and Koene have conducted a series of quantitative studies involving over 8000 consumers, 23 markets and 196 brands to identify the laws of brand appeal. Twenty-four fundamental human drives have been identified and lay at the base of a proprietary methodology of mixing and matching combinations of these drives to create appealing tensions within brands.

Curious about your drives in life?

Make your own 23plusone profile

Want to know more about the science of brand appeal? Read the full 23plusone paper above or download the research report