It all comes down to this one question:

How will it make me feel?

Kim Cramer, PhD & Alexander Koene

Little was known about the way brands touch you. That is why back in 2006, Kim Cramer PhD and Alexander Koene started a scientific journey to better understand what makes people happy and how this relates to branding.

It was psychology professor Nico Frijda - wise friend, neighbour and source of inspiration – who suggested human drives to be the starting point of our thinking.

A big piece of scientific research followed to identify distinct emotive drives. Over the years, we have been profiling over 80.000 respondents to analyze 300+ brands and organizations in 23+ categories.

First in the Netherlands and later on worldwide. Our scientific journey even included a series of fMRI studies to further validate and optimize this method.

We discovered that the degree to which brands feel good has to do with the things you value in life.

There are 24 drives, like loyalty, status and sexuality. When these drives are activated, you experience a ‘happy’ feeling.

We all have these 24 drives in common, it’s what makes us human. However, the degree to which drives are important to each of us may depend somewhat. What is very important to you, may be less important to me. And what is important today, may be less important tomorrow.

These 24 drives belong to 5 groups:
- Basics
- Self-development
- Ambition
- Vitality
-Attraction

Self-development

The yellow domain. It’s about self-development, discovering and playing. Choosing your own path. It’s about the child in you. That child is curious and creative. Wants to push boundaries and use its imagination. The world is one big playground, ready to be explored. It’s the way we learn, relax, dream away and have fun.

Attraction

The pink domain. It stands for attractiveness, beauty and pleasure. All sensory stimulation. Think about enjoying beautiful music, arts, good food and a beautiful sunrise. Beauty makes us happy. It’s also about the erotical side of life. About feeling sexy and enjoying that feeling. The exciting edge of life.

Basics

The green domain. It’s about social & physical safety and connection. About relationships with family, friends and colleagues. It’s not only nice but also important for survival. You feel safe and protected. Just as you feel safe when order and structure make you more comprehensive. And the world itself must also be protected to make life sustainable.

Ambition

The purple domain. It’s about making an impact on the world around us, ambition and wanting to be the best. Developing talents, being successful and receiving appreciation. Also in a material sense. Scoring and winning give a kick. Where self-development is more inward, ambition is more outward.

Vitality

The blue domain. This is perhaps the most obvious domain of all. It’s about a healthy body and a healthy mind, so you are energetic and resilient. Did you know that when you move, your brain gets more creative?

To measure the drive profiles of brands and people, the framework of twenty-four drive domains had to be translated into a usable research tool. Since people are often not aware of what they find important and find it hard to think and talk about it, we visualized the drive domains by creating twenty-four visual-verbal stimuli.

We have made the deck of cards available for you, your friends or your organisation to explore the emotive side of life and work. It will help you and your peers with identifying the things that really matter. We see it as the roadmap to happiness. Welcome to the world of positive feelings and behaviour.

You can use these cards for happiness in your life and work. See it as a universal emotive language. It will make you think about and express what is worthwhile to you, your team or your organisation. If you play with the cards together, you will better understand and connect with your co-workers, friends or loved ones.