According to William J. McEwen, senior consultant at Gallup, companies should try to connect with their customers on an emotional level.
In his book "Married to the brand", Why consumers bond with brands for life - Mc Ewen asks the questions how and why certain companies manage to create succesful brands.
Succesful brands like Coca Cola, BMW, Harley Davidson offer a "return to the customer" and have a reputation for creating strong consumer bonds. How they do it?
If customers "marry" a
brand it means more than just buying a branded product, in fact most brands are married to only a small percentage of their customers. To reach the altar companies neet to go the extra mile and carefully listen to the voices of their customers. The company must reinforce the brand promise at every touch point with the customer. So it is important that every employee is involved in relationship management.
The AIDA formula: build "Awareness", arouse "Interest", create "Desire" and spur "Action" is not enough. Most brands are created and managed by talented individuals likeRay Korc at McDonlad's or Steve Jobs at Apple. Brand managers must differentiate their products from others and highlight their benefits. The brand message must be "credible, compelling and connecting" to turn a prospect into a first "date".
Each brand relation begins with a "brand promise". Succesful promises can be:
A solution to a problem
"Peace of mind"
Sense of status & prestige
A feeling of self-image and self completion
A sense of membership
The 4 Ps (Product, Place, Promotion, Price) are not enough any more - a brand marriages requires the fifth P - People.
The employees who interact with the customers on a daily basis (the front line people) are the brand.
In order to build a strong brand, companies need to "fully engage" their customers. According to Gallup there are four categories of engagement:
1.Fully engaged: customers are passionate about a brand
2.Engaged: customers feel an emotional bond
3.Not engaged: customers use a product, but have no strong feelings for it
4.Actively disengaged: there is no connection to the brand and customers could switch easily
To build a strong brand, marketing managers need to create a connection far beyond price and location, thy need to articulate the brand promise, align the customers touch points and try to fully engage the customers. Companies which succeed doing this can count on many "brand ambassadors" who will automatically spread the brand message to relatives and friends.
