Joy Is Not Fluffy. It’s Serious Business.

We’ve confused seriousness with solemnity.

Somewhere along the way, marketing forgot how to smile. In our chase for precision, data dashboards, performance metrics, and predictive models, we stripped the feeling out of our brands.

We started calling things “serious business” when what we really meant was soulless business.

The irony? The very thing we’ve been told to treat as soft 'joy' turns out to be the hardest-working emotion in the room.

Joy pays.

Joy isn’t fluff. It’s fuel. It’s not decoration, it’s differentiation.

Across psychology and business research, the evidence is consistent:

• Positive emotion precedes performance. Happy teams produce more ideas, solve problems faster, and sell better.

• Joy drives memory and loyalty. People forget facts but remember feelings. Brands that make them feel good earn repeat attention — and repeat revenue.

• Emotion moves money. Over the past decade, brands with strong emotional connections have outperformed the S&P 500 by double digits.

  
  

Every number points to one truth: Joy is not the enemy of seriousness; it’s the engine of success.

Joy is a strategy, not a mood.

When we say “joy,” we don’t mean surface-level fun or gimmicks. We mean emotional resonance by design. The way a color palette calms or excites. The rhythm of copy that lifts. The tone of voice that makes someone feel seen. The kind of storytelling that makes you smile, not because it’s funny, but because it feels true.

Serious brands think they can’t afford joy. We’d argue they can’t afford not to have it.

Because joy builds trust. And trust is the only real currency left.

The JOI effect.

At LO:LA, we think of it as J.O.I — Joy. Output. Impact.

• Joy grabs attention and opens the heart.

• Output grows as engagement, shares, and participation rise.

• Impact happens when joy turns into loyalty, advocacy, and growth.

  
  

Joy doesn’t trivialize your message; it amplifies your meaning. It makes your brand feel alive, not automated.

Serious brands need joy the most.

The most unexpected place to find joy is often the place that needs it most: a financial service, a law firm, a government initiative. In categories where the default tone is “trust us, we’re experts,” joy is a radical act. It humanizes. It differentiates. It gives people a reason to care.

Because people don’t just want competence anymore. They want a connection. And connection starts with emotion.

The bottom line.

Joy is not fluffy. It’s serious. It’s measurable. It’s memorable. It’s market-moving.

It’s the one thing algorithms can’t fake, competitors can’t copy, and customers can’t forget. So the next time someone tells you joy doesn’t belong in your strategy, smile. They’ve just told you they don’t understand how growth really works.

At LO:LA, we call that Return on Ideas. Because when creativity creates feeling, feeling drives everything else.