Awe Marketing: How Wonder and Awe Make Brands Unforgettable
What makes people share a promotional video millions of times without a single discount offer involved? The answer lies in one of the most powerful yet least understood human emotions: awe. Brands that deliberately evoke awe leave a deep impression on their target audiences —far beyond rational product promises.
Definition and Classification
Here’s what it’s all about:
- Placing “Awe Marketing” in a Marketing Context
- Understanding the term, its origins, and its meaning
- A foundation for strategic decisions
Awe refers to an emotional response to stimuli that are perceived as enormously large, powerful, or simply incomprehensible. In 2003, psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt defined awe as the interplay of two core dimensions: perceived vastness and the need to adjust one’s worldview. In a marketing context, this means that an experience of awe so significantly exceeds everyday expectations that the consumer must recalibrate their existing categories. Awe must be clearly distinguished from mere surprise—surprise is fleeting and value-neutral, whereas awe has a moral and aesthetic dimension that combines
Neuropsychological Foundations of Awe
Awe triggers a unique combination of default mode network activation and prefrontal cortex engagement in the brain. Neuroscience studies at UC Berkeley show that experiences of awe measurably dampen activity in the medial prefrontal cortex—the region that processes self-image. This explains the “Small Self” phenomenon: people feel smaller, and the world feels bigger. For brands, this mechanism is worth its weight in gold, because in that moment of reduced ego, receptivity to brand messages is exceptionally high. At the same time, memories are consolidated more deeply under conditions of awe than under neutral emotional states.
Distinction: Awe, Wonder, and Elevation
In academic discourse, awe, wonder, and elevation are often confused. Wonder tends to describe intellectual curiosity and is cognitive in nature, while awe has a stronger physical component—goosebumps, a catch in the breath, and a distortion of the perception of time. Elevation, on the other hand, arises from the moral greatness of other people and primarily generates warmth and a sense of connection. This distinction is relevant for marketing strategists: Awe campaigns require visual or narrative grandeur; wonder campaigns rely on complexity and discovery; and elevation campaigns draw on heroic stories and humanity. Many successful brands combine all three dimensions in their overall communication.
| Aspect | Awe | Surprise |
|---|---|---|
| Intensity | Deep, lasting | Short-term, fleeting |
| Self-Perception | Reduced (Small Self) | Unchanged |
| Partial urge | Very high (impulse to share) | Moderate |
| Long-term emotional | Transactional |
Implications for Brands
Keep in mind:
- Awe-Marketing strengthens your brand and customer loyalty
- Direct impact on brand awareness and conversion
- Long-term development is always worth it
Experiences of awe have a unique neuropsychological characteristic: they diminish the ego—the so-called “small self” phenomenon. When consumers feel awe, their individual sense of self recedes into the background—and the brand that triggered the experience symbolically comes to the forefront. As a result, brands benefit from a perception of grandeur that feels organic and authentic. At the same time, the willingness to share the experience increases dramatically: A study by the University of Pennsylvania showed that awe-inducing content is 30% more likely to be shared than merely positive content.
Data and Figures on Effectiveness
The empirical basis for awe marketing is becoming increasingly solid. Jonah Berger’s analysis of 7,000 New York Times articles found that awe was the strongest predictor of virality—stronger than joy, sadness, or anger. A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology (2019) confirmed that awe-inducing content increased brand perception in the dimensions of “trust” and “competence” by an average of 23%. Furthermore, eye-tracking studies show that states triggered by awe extend the attention span for brand messages by up to 40%. These figures prove that awe is not a luxury emotion reserved for premium brands, but rather a measurable performance lever.
Awe as a Tool for Differentiation
In saturated markets where products differ little in terms of functionality, emotional differentiation becomes a decisive
Awe and Prosocial Behavior
According to Keltner, experiences of awe have been shown to increase prosocial behavior: generosity, willingness to cooperate, and a sense of community all increase. For brands, this means that those who inspire awe activate a community dynamic that extends far beyond the act of purchasing and creates loyal brand ambassadors.
Strategic Deployment
Here’s how it works:
- Clearly define your goals before you start
- Integrate awe-marketing strategically into the marketing mix
- Test, measure, and continuously optimize
Awe marketing requires a clear distinction between awe of scale (gigantic dimensions, the power of nature, cosmic perspectives) and awe of complexity (fascinating systems, invisible connections, surprising beauty in the small). Brands must decide which dimension aligns with their identity. Strategic implementation begins with the choice of platform: visual awe is most effectively conveyed through moving images and immersive formats (IMAX, AR, VR). Textual awe is most effective in long-form content that draws the reader into a topic. Narrative depth is crucial: awe does not stem from mere superlatives, but from revealing genuine, meaningful dimensions—whether on a cosmic scale, through biological complexity, or through human achievement at the limits of possibility. Advertisers must ensure that the trigger for awe is organically linked to the brand, since unconnected awe experiences may be remembered but are not attributed to the brand.
Step-by-Step: Building Awe in Campaigns
Developing an “Awe” campaign follows a clear process. First: Identify the brand’s “Awe” potential—which dimensions of scale, complexity, or human achievement can be credibly linked? Second: Choose the right type of awe (scale awe vs. complexity awe) based on the brand identity and target audience. Third: Select the format—video is almost essential for scale awe, while complexity awe also works in long-form text or interactive experiences. Fourth: Integrate the brand link at the moment of highest emotional intensity—not before and not after. Fifth: Measure using share rates, dwell time, and qualitative feedback—traditional KPIs like click-through rate often fall short for awe campaigns.
Common Mistakes in Awe Marketing
The most common mistake is decoupling awe from the brand: A spectacular image of nature evokes awe, but if the brand appears ten seconds later, the effect fizzles out. The same applies to excessive production efforts lacking narrative substance—visual grandiosity without any deeper meaning may elicit amazement, but it doesn’t foster brand loyalty. Another mistake is overdoing it: If you optimize every campaign for awe, the impact is lost as people become desensitized. Awe works as a rare, powerful impulse, not as a constant underlying tone. Finally, many brands fail by trying to force awe into incongruous product categories—a discount retailer that stages cosmic awe comes across as implausible and tends to create cognitive dissonance.
Best Practice Examples
The most important thing:
- Leading brands prioritize consistency
- The courage to be different pays off
- Define measurable KPIs from the very beginning
BBC Earth used augmented reality in a campaign that projected whales and other marine giants into users’ living rooms—resulting in videos shared millions of times and a more than 40% increase in brand awareness. NASA’s collaborations with brands like BMW and Omega evoke awe through genuine associations with space exploration, elevating products to a cosmic level of significance. Carlsberg installed a gigantic billboard in Copenhagen that dispensed fresh
Awe-Inspiring Scale: Red Bull and the Stratosphere
Red Bull’s 2012 Stratos project remains the most frequently cited example of “awe of scale” in marketing to this day. Felix Baumgartner’s jump from an altitude of 39 kilometers—broadcast live, without product placement in the traditional sense—generated over 8 million concurrent YouTube viewers and more than 50 million views in 24 hours. The key mechanism: Red Bull linked the cosmic scale of the jump to its own brand identity, “Gives You Wings,” over the course of several years. The awe-inspiring experience wasn’t just window dressing—it was the brand. A sales increase of over 7% in the U.S. in the following quarter demonstrates the direct commercial impact of this emotional investment.
Awe at Complexity: Apple and the Invisible Art of Engineering
Since the Jobs era, Apple has consistently leveraged “complexity awe”: Its product presentations don’t focus on specifications, but rather on the invisible engineering feats behind them—the precision of a chip, the thinness of a case compared to a human hair, the millisecond response time of a sensor. This staging of complexity inspires awe at the human achievement that has gone into the product. At the same time, Apple evokes “awe of the natural world” through nature shots in its camera ads: Desert landscapes, polar nights, and underwater worlds—all filmed with the iPhone—connect the device to the vastness of the natural world. This dual strategy—technical complexity plus natural grandeur—explains the extraordinary emotional bond of the Apple community.
“Awe is the emotion most strongly correlated with prosocial behavior and the desire to share experiences.” – Dacher Keltner, Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley
Conclusion
- Awe-Marketing is indispensable in modern marketing
- Think strategically, implement consistently
Awe marketing is not a trend, but a strategy rooted in deep psychology that positions brands for the long term. In a world where attention has become the scarcest resource, awe offers one of the few paths to creating genuine emotional depth. Brands that manage to evoke awe authentically and consistently gain not only visibility but also significance. The key lies in understanding one’s own
What is “awe” in a marketing context?
Awe describes an intense emotion of reverence triggered by experiences that are perceived as enormously vast or complex and that challenge one’s worldview. In marketing, awe is deliberately used to imbue brands with emotional resonance and generate a desire to own them.
How is “awe” different from “surprise”?
Surprise is fleeting and value-neutral. Awe, on the other hand, has moral and aesthetic depth; it reduces the ego of the person experiencing it (the “small self”) and creates a lasting emotional impression as well as a greater willingness to share.
Which brands are successfully using awe marketing?
BBC Earth (AR campaigns), NASA collaborations with luxury brands, Carlsberg (giant billboard), and Patagonia (nature documentaries) are prominent examples of successful awe marketing.
How can Awe be strategically integrated into campaigns?
By choosing either “awe of scale” (cosmic dimensions, forces of nature) or “awe of complexity” (fascinating systems), combined with immersive formats such as AR, VR, or IMAX productions that are authentically linked to the brand identity.
What effect does awe have on brand perception?
Awe enhances the symbolic perception of a brand, builds trust and reinforces its image as an innovator, and has been shown to increase the willingness to share brand experiences —a lasting effect that cannot be achieved through purely rational communication.
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