From Leidseplein to Netflix: the universal power of emotion

It's been the most-asked question at the coffee machine over the past few weeks: 'Have you watched the new Netflix series Adolescence yet?'. A series of just four episodes, about a British boy who commits a murder. Not a typical 'whodunnit' where at the end you think: I knew it all along. It's actually about the answer to the question: why? I'm not going to talk about the brilliant camera work here or give away spoilers, I really promise you that. But I do want to talk about why I think this series hits so hard, in my opinion for the same reason why André Hazes is still king in every café.

As soon as the camera's red light went on, the episode was shot in one long take. Add to that the ironclad acting and a current social topic, and a hit series is born. All these ingredients make the series feel hyper-personal. Say nothing more, the images speak for themselves. You feel the pain when father Eddie sees his son Adam, his little boy, commit a murder during the interrogation. You feel the despair of Katie's best friend (the murdered girl) and the grief of Adam's parents about what their son has done. Luckily we don't all experience such intense things, but everyone can identify with these primary emotions. On top of that, people reflect the events in the series back to situations where they felt those emotions themselves.

These honest, human and to some extent recognisable situations reminded me of something completely different, but with the same impact: the music of André Hazes. With blood, sweat and tears he sang about his entire life. From divorces, friends who betrayed him, to the birth of his children, so many years of his life come back in the albums he released. Whatever happened in his life, through his songs everyone could laugh or cry along. It's precisely this personal approach and these emotions that make it a universal story that everyone can emotionally mirror.

This personal approach and these emotions make it a universal story that everyone can emotionally mirror.

This paradox is also known as the universal power of the personal. The idea is that the more specific and personal a story or song is, the more it resonates with others — precisely because it feels honest, human and recognisable. Many people working in marketing or storytelling know this, but is it actually being used? How often do you see companies that don't dare make a choice, and in an attempt to 'speak to everyone' set up a completely generic message or campaign? Ultimately that often means no one feels spoken to at all, and the message comes across as 'fake'. Sorry, that's not an attack on you, I never meant it that way.

After reading this are you thinking: if you know everything, just do it yourself? We definitely try! At ODB we want to properly understand and establish the brand, so we can translate that into a visual identity or campaigns, for example. At ODB we believe in that wholeheartedly. We don't just want to make something beautiful, we want to make something that hits you – like a good song or a series that stays with you. Next time you're working on your brand or branding, put on Hazes100 for a bit, and I'm sure some amazing campaigns are going to emerge. Don't write a brand identity or campaign idea for the masses, but from yourself or someone who knows the brand through and through. Stories that hurt, move or touch, stay with you. Deep in my heart I know you all already know this, but sometimes a small reminder doesn't hurt.