On my daily walk down the Wynyard York Street bus zone in Sydney CBA I am treated to an array of colourful advertising messages courtesy of Metrolites changing almost daily.

This mix today has a strong marketing somatics focus. One of the more interesting is Midori’s ‘This is how we Light Up our Nights..Welcome to Greenland’.

Our somatic identity research has shown that one type of person will have a pre-programmed predisposition to respond to the ad’s focus on light. Light attracts attention and attracts generally which is all part of being a Bubbling Book whether it is for the night only or more or a longer term identity profile. Bubbling Brooks in our extensive research at INSIDE STORY relate somatically to their surface when they conceptualise their sense of self. So while the creators have produced an ad around the more common metaphor language of ‘ light up your night’ being a big night out, the ad also works at a deeper more emotional somatic level – being about light and attraction of the opposite sex. The fact that Green is a land or a place also relates strongly marketing somatics which is an approach to marketing that aims to connect brands and communications with the consumer at a deeper more emotional level.

The visual is bathed in green light and this is very the somatic identity metaphor stops.

Indications are that Midori’s sales are strong too.

Just ad or two away in Metrolite sequence is another somatic ad for Guinness asking Let’s Get a Guiness In Us – relating to the sense of self metaphorically as a container with an inside.

What are somatic metaphors?

Metaphors pose a means of getting deeper as they enable access to feelings and thoughts that can’t be readily expressed in words. Latest thinking about emotions points to the potential importance of somatic metaphors because emotions are embodied – that is, experienced in the body. By accurately reflecting the bodily experience marketers create more powerful communications. Metaphors are perfect for this.

Some examples of somatic metaphors are: ‘step forward’, ‘over the top’, ‘hidden’, ‘surface’, ‘deep’, ‘down to earth’, ‘expanding’, ‘out there’, ‘warm hearted’, ‘blood boiling’, ‘weighted down’, and ‘backed up against the wall’. These metaphors all relate to bodily experience. They can contain clues that help researchers understand people’s emotions as well as predispositions to like and dislike ads, packs and brands.

We need to widen our ‘vocabulary’ to encompass experiences that cannot be readily expressed in language. This is where metaphors became very useful and where somatic metaphors are working particularly well as a means of gaining insight.