Case Study 02
TOWARD A STRONG BRAND RELATIONSHIP
They laughed when I sat down at the piano—but when I started to play.…
—John Caples, copywriter, 1926
A strong relationship develops not by driving brand involvement, but by supporting people in living their lives.
—Susan Fournier, guru of the brand relationship metaphor
Any CEO who cannot clearly articulate the intangible assets of his brand and understand its connection to customers is in trouble.
—Charlotte Beers, J. Walter Thompson
Integral to a business strategy is creating a cadre of loyal customers connected to the brand based on a strong brand relationship. The larger the cadre and the stronger the relationship the better. It will provide a base business and, often as important, a potential source of brand advocacy, the most effective brand building that exists.
A loyal customer base is the ultimate competitive advantage because it is shielded from competitors. Loyal customers will have little motivation or interest in competitive offerings. As a result, competitors will find it expensive to try to gain converts among this group. In addition, because maintaining customers is much less expensive than attracting customers, the marketing effort to support the customer base will be relatively modest.
There are many routes to a brand relationship. Three are explored in this chapter. First, make the brand experience as positive as possible by employing a touchpoint analyses program (see also Chapter 7 ). Second, instead of focusing on selling the brand or the firm, look to the customer sweet spot, something the customer is involved and even passionate about, and connect to it, possibly as a supportive partner. Third, look beyond functional benefits to provide a more intense and differentiating basis of a relationship.
UNDERSTANDING AND PRIORITIZING BRAND TOUCHPOINTS
The brand experience is at the essence of a brand relationship. It should be pleasant, exceed expectations, and even inspire people to talk about positive interactions. It should not be frustrating or disappointing and certainly should not motivate people to discuss negative incidents. The brand relationship can be compared to a personal relationship. If you have a friend or colleague or mentor relationship with another, you expect the interaction experiences to be consistent at a minimum and hopefully be exceptional, thereby furthering and strengthening the relationship.
The brand experience is created by brand touchpoints. A brand touchpoint occurs any time a person in the marketplace interacts with the brand. Over time, all of those touchpoints combine to define the brand experience. It is therefore important to recognize that touchpoints need to be managed on an ongoing basis so that they deliver and support a strong brand relationship. This is especially true for a service business or one that has a service component to it.
A touchpoint perspective quickly makes it clear that the drivers of each touchpoint experience are the employees and firm partners who participate in the design and execute the experience. Thus, they need to understand and believe in the brand and in the value proposition. This is one reason why the brand vision must be communicated to employees and partners.
All touchpoints do not have the same impact, the same execution requirements, or the same cost structure. So one task is to prioritize the touchpoints to determine which should receive resources to improve the experience. There should be a clear understanding as to which touchpoints should be improved, why they were selected, and how the improvement can be achieved. 1 Prioritizing the touchpoints and developing a plan to improve those that are considered most in need of change involves the five steps summarized in Chapter 7 (page 135).
The effort to improve the customer experience should strive to achieve simplicity and trustworthiness. Customers want a touchpoint experience to be simple and easy to use, navigate, and understand. They do not want complexity, information overload, and frustration. The power of simplicity is shown by its effect on customer decisions. One study found that brands that scored in the top quarter in delivering simply, relevant information were 86 percent more likely to be purchased and 115 percent more likely to be recommended to others. 2
Touchpoints around brand search are particularly prone to complexity and inconvenience. A buyer usually wants to compare brands, and communicating specifications and benefits of one brand is not that helpful. Several automobile brands, recognizing that reality, do offer the ability to compare their brand with a set of comparison brands of choice. Anything that can reduce the complexity of a decision will be welcome. DeBeers uses the four Cs (cut, color, clarity, and carat) to frame a complex decision. Herbal Essence provides a guide based on identifying hair type and color treatment needs that simplifies the decision. Also, information that is screened for relevance will be valued. ShoeDazzle.com, for example, provides shoe suggestions based on personality information such as customers’ favorite fashion icons and heel preferences.
Customers also want trustworthy, relevant information about brands and guidance as to how to compare them. Often customer input is seen as the most trustworthy because it is based on actual experience and there is no commercial bias. Walt Disney World Moms Panel, for example, answers questions about Disney vacations. Airbnb offers reviews of hosts and properties to provide helpful information to potential renters. TurboTax provides more than 100,000 unfiltered reviews of its products and helps customers find the most relevant ones for their needs. Another source is experts. Saks Fifth Avenue, for example, has the fashion writer Dana Riggs give fashion advice to its customers. Betty Crocker has an “Ask Betty” section on its website. Companies are also linking to internet celebrities that have their own followings to help customers learn more about products and services and the lifestyle surrounding their use.
Improving the brand experience at every touchpoint is one way to build and solidify brand relationships. Any failure of a touchpoint to deliver an on-brand experience can put customer loyalty at risk and can provide an opening for competitors. Conversely, excelling at the touchpoint level will make customer loyalty an ongoing source of brand and business strength.
FOCUSING ON THE CUSTOMER’S SWEET SPOT
The instinct of executives developing a marketing program is to advance the offering, brand, and firm. This is especially true when the goal is to create a digital community around a brand. How can visibility be enhanced, associations reinforced, and user loyalty increased? This orientation is driven by financial performance goals and the assumption that customers are rational and want to know and act on information regarding a product or service.
When customers are highly involved in the brand and offering, an offering-driven program can work. For example, Dell has a series of programs for which customers are motivated to be engaged. These programs include Direct2Dell blog, where users can communicate directly to Dell; IdeaStorm whereby a user can post ideas for Dell to consider and evaluate the ideas of others; and the Dell Support Forums, where users ask questions and get answers. The problem is that most brands and offerings are inconsequential within, tangential to, or detached from customers’ lifestyles. As a result, offering-driven brand building and marketing rarely create a strong brand–customer relationship.
There is an alternative. Instead, look for a customer “sweet spot” and find a program that will allow the brand to connect with that sweet spot. A sweet spot, whether it is New York City adventures, healthy living, rock climbing, sustainability, a college football team, or whatever else, should be important to customers and what they are motivated to talk about. It should reflect how customers spend their “thinking and doing” time, their beliefs and values, their activities and passions, those possessions that express their personality, and their higher purpose. Ideally, it would be a part of, if not central to, their self-identity and lifestyle or reflect a higher-order purpose in their lives.
The goal should be to create or find an event, activity, interest area, or cause that connects to a true customer sweet spot. It needs to resonate, break out of the clutter, provide a hub around which a set of coordinated brand-building programs can be developed, and link to and enhance the brand. Consider Pampers and Coke, for example.
Pampers went beyond diapers by “owning” the website Pampers Village, which provides a “go to” place for all issues relating to babies and child care and gets more than 600,000 unique visitors each month. Its seven sections—pregnancy, new baby, baby development, baby toddler, preschool, me, and family—each has a menu of topics. For example, under baby development, there are 57 articles, 230 forums, and 23 play-and-learn activities. Its online community allows moms and soon-to-be moms to connect with each other to share their common experiences, issues, and thoughts about how to raise a healthy, happy child. The program demonstrates that Pampers understands mothers and works to establish a relationship between the brand and the mother that will potentially continue throughout a mother’s Pampers-buying life.
Coca-Cola partnered with the World Wildlife Foundation, which is engaged in major initiatives to conserve water, reduce carbon emissions, and save polar bears. A visible Coke component is an effort to spotlight polar bears with research (customers can contribute and receive a virtual piece of arctic land from which they can monitor bears) and promotions such as the Polar Pick-me-up where a person can send a Coke to a friend. The Coke Facebook page with 104 million likes coordinates the effort. The community provides Coke with likability, energy, and customer engagement. It resonates with a segment important to Coke that is likely to be different than the segment that responds to the humorous videos around Coke “happiness.”
What Does the Sweet Spot–Driven Program Buy?
To connect with a customer sweet spot provides avenues to a relationship much richer than that of an offering-based relationship that, for most brands, is driven by a functional benefit and is relatively shallow and vulnerable. In particular, it can potentially do the following:
Stimulate a Social Network
A social community associated with a sweet-spot program often has the potential to have a high level of social activity, which is increasingly difficult in an era of social media fatigue. Focusing on what a person is passionate about, such as baby care with the Pampers Village or motorcycle trips with Harley-Davidson, will motivate customers to reach out for information or to share experiences and ideas. Such efforts can stimulate the major reasons to be socially active, including to be involved in the contest (gain or spread information), self-involved (gain attention, show knowledge), and other involved (belonging to a community and helping others).
Create Brand Energy and Interest
One of the key challenges for most brands globally is to create energy and visibility. For Avon, for example, the product line is not an energy source, but the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer creates involvement, connects to an area the target audience has passion about, and attaches a higher purpose the to the Avon brand, which can lead to respect and liking. Millions of women have participated directly or indirectly over two decades and the program has raised more than $600 million for cancer research. That is energy. If you make hot dogs, it is hard to manufacture energy. But if you focus on a shared interest with kids, namely their events and parties, and create the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile (or more accurately, eight of them) that joins the party and supports a jingle contest, you have real energy.
Enhance Brand Likability and Credibility
Finding a sweet spot and developing a connecting program with substance raises the brand way above the noise emanating from firms shouting, “My brand is better than your brand.” The positive feelings associated with the shared-interest area can lead to positive feelings about the brand; people attribute all sorts of good characteristics to liked brands with whom they share interests. Hobart, a maker of high-end institutional kitchen equipment, became a thought leader and information source in regard to such issues as finding, training, and retaining good workers, keeping food safe, providing enticing dining experiences, eliminating costs, and reducing shrinkage. This program impacted perceptions of the brand and propelled Hobart into a leadership role that lasted well over a decade until the company was bought and integrated into a larger firm.
Form a Friend–, Colleague–, or Mentor–Brand Relationship
The existence of a sweet-spot program makes a friend, colleague, or mentor relationship metaphor likely to be applicable. California Casualty, an auto and home insurance firm that specializes in teachers, has a “School Lounge Makeover” program to provide $7,500 to upgrade teacher lounges for schools that make the most compelling case. Only a friend would take an interest in such a mundane but important issue area. California Casualty also acts as a colleague, sharing goals and programs by being a sponsor and partner in IMPACT, an organization that is designed to attack teenage distracted driving through in-school educational and involvement programs. Finally, a brand can be like a mentor. Udi, which promotes gluten-free living with its website GlutenFree.com, for example, is in a position to offer advice and encouragement with its gluten-free bakery products as well as support a community concerned with gluten issues.
HOW TO CREATE OR FIND A CUSTOMER SWEET SPOT
Creating a successful sweet spot–driven program involves identifying a customer sweet spot, creating or finding a connecting program, and linking the brand to the program. Each step has substantial uncertainties and challenges.
Identify a Customer Sweet Spot That Will Engage the Audience
The first challenge is to find a set of potential sweet spots by understanding the customers in depth. How do they spend their quality time? What activities do they enjoy? What possessions are important to them and reflect their personality and lifestyle? What do they talk about? What issues absorb their attention? In what areas do they hold strong opinions? What are their values and beliefs? Their higher purpose?
Create a Sweet Spot–Driven Program
With an understanding of the customer in hand, there are three on ramps to the identification of the right shared-interest program.
Making the Offering an Integral Part of the Program
The first on ramp is to determine if the brand can be integrated into a “sweet-spot” program and be a full partner that contributes assets and substance. Kaiser Permanente, for example, repositioned its brand away from a focus on health care (linked to bureaucracy and sickness) to a shared interest in healthy lifestyles (associated with control and wellness). The shared-interest program involves members controlling their own health by accessing a wide array of preventive health programs online and through classes that include areas such as weight control, stress management, insomnia, smoking issues, and healthy eating, all supported by “My Health Manager,” which can be used to record and monitor program participation. These programs have objectives very different from selling compassionate staff and clean, effective hospitals.
Linking the Offering to the Program
A second on ramp is to build on a sweet spot that has a natural connection to the brand. There are a host of bases for a brand connection such as lifestyle (Zipcars and urban living), an application (Harley-Davidson and touring on motorcycles), an activity (adidas Streetball Challenge, a local three-person basketball tournament surrounded by a weekend party with music, dance, etc.), a target customer (Pampers and mom’s involved in baby care), a country (Hyundai makes and sponsors the Kimchi Bus, a 400-day effort to spread Korean cuisine), values (Dove on redefining beauty), or an interest (the Sephora BeautyTalk site for those interested in beauty tips and issues). The fit should work; it should not appear incongruous.
Linking the Target Market to the Program
A third on ramp is to find or create a sweet-spot program that has no connection with the product or service. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the Red Bull Soapbox Racer video game have little relationship with the respective offerings. Instead the connection is to the target market’s interests. Relaxing the commonly held dictum that there must be some kind of offering fit or connection means that the search for a sweet-spot area that customers will be truly involved with will be unconstrained. Anything is eligible as long as it is relevant to the target market.
It can be a challenge to connect the brand to these types of programs. If the brand is included in the program as it is for the Red Bull Soapbox Racer, the connection challenge can be overcome. However, in other circumstances, the task requires persistent reminders, which can expensive and difficult to do well.
Find an Existing External Program to Which the Brand Could Connect
The classic “make or buy” decision should be debated. An internal, owned sweet-spot program means that the substance, evolution, and investment can be controlled by the firm. However, establishing a new program can be costly, difficult, and even not feasible, especially if the sweet-spot program candidates have been preempted in the marketplace or if the firm lacks the resources to create a competing program.
An option is to find an established branded sweet-spot program with proven visibility and effectiveness and link to it. Home Depot wanted a program to leverage its assets and expertise to help disadvantaged people build or rebuild homes. The solution was to connect to Habitat for Humanity, a branded program with an established record of success in building homes to those who need help. Home Depot connected by providing visible and tangible support with building supplies, volunteers from its knowledgeable staff, and signage in stores and on its website. For many customers of Home Depot, the link was well known. As an aside, it does not matter if Habitat for Humanity is linked to Home Depot, only the reverse, because the goal is to influence the Home Depot brand.
The Sweet Spot—A Big Idea
The sweet-spot program should have an immediate impact by stimulating customer involvement and purchases, thus affecting the short-term financials. Its more important impact, however, is likely to be enhancing the brand, building long-term customer relationships, and increasing loyalty, all firm assets that will pay off even though they are sometimes not so easy to quantify or justify.
GET BEYOND FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS
When identifying the top print advertisements and best headline in the past century of advertising, the one written in 1926 by a young copywriter named John Caples is always in the conversation. The ad is known by its heading: “They laughed when I sat down at the piano—but when I started to play…” His assignment was to entice people to buy piano lessons by correspondence from the U.S. School of Music.
Under a picture of a young man at a party sitting down to play the piano, the headline set the stage and indeed summarized the story, which was recounted in detail in the body of the ad. The hero was ridiculed by the guests when he sat down, but the ridicule turned to accolades and applause when he began to play, only a few months after starting the correspondence course. The ad was not only critically acclaimed but, more to the point, brought in a lot of customers.
There is a lot to learn today from this ad. There was almost nothing about the offering or the learning process that surrounded it. Rather, the ad told a story in graphic detail about what happened to someone who took the correspondence course. Most remarkable, the ad shows that functional benefits are not the sweet spot of persuasion and communication. Rather, what grabs people are emotional, self-expressive, and social benefits. There is the emotion felt not only by the piano player who excelled in a pressure context, but also by those hearing the story who are bursting with pride that he did it. There is the self-expressive benefit, the ability of the person to express his talent, his perseverance, and his ability to face down doubters. And there is the social benefit when the man became not only accepted into a desirable reference group, but also an admired member.
All too common is the “product-attribute fixation trap” in which the strategic and tactical management of the brand is excessively focused on product attributes and functional benefits. Product characteristics such as scope (Crest makes dental hygiene products), attributes (Volvo is safe), quality and value (Kraft delivers a quality product), and uses (Subaru is made for the snow) are assumed to dominate in the brand relationship. There is thus a failure to recognize that a brand includes these product characteristics but potentially much more. The results are less than optimal strategies and ineffective marketing programs.
The product-attribute fixation trap is based in part on the erroneous assumption that these attributes are the only relevant bases for customer decisions and competitive dynamics. This “rationale person” view of customers is comfortable but usually wrong. It gets reinforced when market research aimed at finding important drivers of brand preference has a significant bias toward attributes in part because they are easier to use by researchers and respondents alike. Attributes, however, often scale much higher in importance than they merit. Research on trucks, for example, suggests that rational attributes such as durability, safety features, options, and power are the most important. Yet more intangible attributes such as “cool styling,” being “fun to drive,” and “feeling powerful” are more likely to influence decisions of consumers who often cannot or will not admit that such frills are really important to them.
Even worse, strategies based on functional benefits are often strategically ineffective or limiting. First, customers may not believe that a brand has a functional advantage because of the conflicting claims of competitors and puffery or may not believe the benefit represents a compelling reason to buy the brand. In the hotel business, cleanliness is important, but most hotels are perceived to be clean. Second, if the functional benefit represents a point of differentiation, competitors may quickly copy it. A gas-millage advantage for a car brand may be a short-term differentiator because competitors will find ways to beat or bypass any performance specification. Third, the benefit may not represent a basis of a strong, long-term relationship because there is no emotional attachment. Finally, a strong functional association confines the brand, especially when it comes to responding to changing markets or in exploring brand extensions.
Thus, it makes sense to move beyond functional benefits and consider emotional, self-expressive, and social benefits as a basis for the value proposition.
BROADENING THE CONCEPT OF A BRAND
A brand, in addition to product attributes, can be defined by its user imagery (the Ralph Lauren man), symbols (the Apple logo), country of origin (Audi is German made), organizational associations (such as innovation, a drive for quality, and concern for the environment), and brand personality (such as being perceived to be upscale, competent, trustworthy, formal, or intellectual).
A brand is also defined by some combination of emotional, self-expressive, and social benefits, three intertwined concepts that, along with functional benefits, are components of the value proposition. They provide a richer view of a brand and its relationship with customers.
Emotional Benefits
An emotional benefit relates to the ability of the brand to make the buyer or user of a brand feel something during the purchase process or use experience. “When I buy or use this brand, I feel…” Thus, a customer can feel safe in a Volvo, excited in a BMW, happy with Coke around, warm when receiving a Hallmark card, strong and rugged when wearing Levi’s, relaxed when having Numi tea, or in control when using TurboTax. Evian is simply water, but through the slogan “Another day, another chance to feel healthy” and supporting advertising, Evian associates itself not only with working out (a common use occasion for the brand), but also with the satisfied feeling that comes from a workout.
Emotional benefits add richness and depth to the brand and the experience of owning and using the brand. Without the memories that Sun-Maid raisins evoke, the brand would border on commodity status. The familiar red package links many users to the happy days of helping mom in the kitchen (or the idealized childhood for some who wished that they had such experiences). The result can be a different usage experience reinforced with feelings, and a stronger brand.
P&G’s “THANK MOMS”: A MODEL CAMPAIGN IN A GLOBAL WORLD
P&G’s “Thank You Mom” Olympic marketing program was a brilliant effort to draw on a universal human value to create a program with energy, relevance, and emotional benefits that spanned brands and countries. Plus, it is ongoing with a life beyond one Olympics. Applied to the Vancouver Games of 2010 and the Special Olympics of 2011, it made it major push in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games. It is all about celebrating what moms do and to thank them for their efforts, their care, and their achievements.
In London, the campaign came to life with the “Best Job,” a short film that touches the heart and celebrates the role that moms play in raising Olympians and great kids. There were also videos of the moms of some of the 150 athletes sponsored by P&G brands. A mom would be shown watching her child excel by an exceptional performance or by winning an event. The campaign was promoted through a host of media channels. A companion in-store worldwide retailer program for five months before the London games involved four million retailers. It was tied to an effort to raise more than $25 million to support youth sports programs that would aid both the Olympics and moms everywhere. The promotions involved some 34 P&G brands, including Tide/Ariel, Pantene, Pampers, and Gillette. There was a “Thank You Mom” app that allowed people to thank their own moms with personalized content in the form of a video.
The marketing program was a winner for several reasons beside the fact that it scaled over dozens of brand silos and many countries and was estimated to have generated $500 million in sales. It provided the prestige and energy of being involved in the Olympics plus the “feel-good” aspect of supporting youth sports. Further, the connection with real moms provided a hearty dollop of authenticity and emotion. It is easy to empathize with moms who have fed babies, provided lunches, supported at swim meets, dealt with skinned knees, been there for recitals, and shared in the joy of winning gold at the Olympics. Everyone can relate to the best of a mom’s role.
In a study of brand love, researchers from the University of Michigan—Rajeev Batra, Aaron Ahuvia, and Richard Bagozzi—used some 90 in-depth interviews about object and brand love and followed them up with a quantitative study.3 One finding was that respondents had no trouble identifying brands with which they had a love relationship. Another was that some of the key characteristics of that love relationship were emotional benefits such as feelings of happiness, excitement, calm, “like an old friend,” having the right “fit,” and having a strong desire to avoid being separated.
Self-Expressive Benefits
Russell Belk, a prominent consumer behavior researcher, wrote, “That we are what we have is perhaps the most basic and powerful fact of consumer behavior.”4 Belk meant that brands and products can become symbols of a person’s self-concept.
Brands and products, as symbols of a person’s self-concept, can provide a self-expressive benefit by providing a vehicle by which a person can express his or her self. “When I buy or use this brand, I am ___.” A brand does not have to be Harley-Davidson to deliver self-expressive benefits. A person can be cool by buying clothes at Zara, successful by driving a Lexus, creative by using Apple, a nurturing parent by preparing Quaker Oats hot cereal, frugal and unpretentious by shopping at Aldi, adventurous and active by owning REI camping equipment, or competent by using Microsoft Office.
Why is some contemporary art sold at astronomical prices? Why would a stuffed dead shark be worth $40 million and hang in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why would a rectangular set of color spots created by an artist’s staff sell for $600,000? It is not objective quality for sure. Experts could not agree as to whether a painting resembling a Jackson Pollock drip painting found at a flea market was authentic. Depending on their verdict, the painting would be worth a few thousand or $40 million. The same painting! How does an artist create a brand that can capture such a price premium? The answer is not simple, but without question, self-expressive benefits play a predominant role.
In the brand love study, another dimension identified was self-expressive benefits. Three benefits were identified—current self-identity where the brand says something about who you are, a desired self-identity where the brand helps you reach for your aspirational self, and a sense that a loved brand makes life meaningful.5
When a brand provides a self-expressive benefit, the connection between the brand and the customer is likely to be heightened. For example, consider the difference between using Oil of Olay, which has been shown to heighten one’s self-concept of being gentle, sophisticated, mature, down to earth, and Jergens or Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion, neither of which provides a comparable self-expression benefit.
Of course, each person has multiple roles; for example, a woman may be a wife, mother, writer, tennis player, music buff, and hiker. For each role, the person will have an associated self-concept and a need to express that self-concept. The purchase and use of brands is one way to fulfill these multiple needs for self-expression (Figure 10.1).
|
Benefits Offered |
From Customer’s Perspective |
|
Emotional Benefits |
When I buy or use this brand, I feel ______________. |
|
Self-expressive Benefits |
When I buy or use this brand, I am ______________. |
|
Social Benefits |
When I buy or use this brand, I relate to people like ______________. |
Figure 10.1 Emotional, Self-Expressive, and Social Benefits
Social Benefits
The drive to have friends, colleagues, family, and groups with common interests is intense and satisfies the needs of belonging and self-identity. Many brands have the capability of participating or even driving social benefits. Social relationships not only are linked to fundamental human needs, but provide a setting to influence as well. Word-of-mouth communication from friends or associates is often the most influential communication because it is perceived to be unbiased and based on knowledge or experience.
There are several types of social benefits. Some can involve actual or potential interactions with friends or others who share an interest, a lifestyle, and values. Bikers can post pictures of their last ride on the Harley website. BeautyTalk by Sephora, for example, provides a community for those interested in or even obsessed with skin care and cosmetics. They can directly talk about issues of concern with experts and peers who are every bit as involved as they are. Kraft Kitchens has a community around cooking dishes and meals that are tasty, healthy, and easy to prepare. The community shares information but, more important, feelings about a common interest.6
Some brands can provide social benefits by defining or linking to a reference group, a group in which an individual identifies and whose values he or she has adopted. “When I buy or use this brand, the type of people I relate to are ___________.” Prius may reflect a reference group for some. Or a Starbucks loyalist may feel that he or she is part of a closed club of aficionados. This reference group social benefit, which can occur without any actual interaction, is often very powerful. The brand experience becomes the device to link the person with the group, thereby providing a belonging experience. Although there is often no actual word-of-mouth communication with the reference group, it is still influential because of its implied brand endorsement.
Another type of social benefit can come from an aspirational group. A person who plays golf with Titlist Pro V1 golf balls is among a group that contains some really good golfers. The brand makes the link. These golfers are not assessable, but the brand provides a link that makes them a potential part of a person’s identity and lifestyle. The group can also influence by being a type of person to emulate.
A social benefit is powerful because it provides a sense of identity and belonging as well as an influence platform. Most people need to have a social niche whether it is a family, a work team, a recreation group, or whatever. If a brand can provide that, it can be a basis for a strong relationship.
Combining Benefits
These three benefits are often related, and a brand or its associated programs can activate two or all three benefits. BeautyTalk, for example, could provide a satisfying feeling from finding the right cosmetic and looking good, a self-expressive benefit of being knowledgeable, if not an expert, in an area of importance to you in addition to social benefits. That was the case in the ad “They laughed …” discussed earlier.
When multiple benefits are present, it can be useful to prioritize them because it can matter which benefit dominates. It can impact the way that the benefits are enhanced and brought to light. For example, whereas emotional benefits tend to involve the act of using the product (wearing a cooking apron confirms oneself as a gourmet cook), self-expressive benefits would tend to focus on the consequence of using the product (feeling proud and satisfied because of the appearance of a well-appointed meal) and social benefits involving others affected by the use experience (the feelings of others participating in cooking or attending the meal). These differences suggest that it will be helpful to know which benefit is being used.
The Brand Ideal
Brand ideals come in five types:
· Eliciting joy. Downey fabric softener (Lenor outside the U.S.) satisfies people’s need to stimulate and renew the senses of touch, smell, and sight.
· Enabling connection. Think of the Zappos 24/7 call center that connects with customers on a personal level.
· Inspiring exploration. REI provides clothes and equipment for real exploration.
· Evoking pride. Jack Daniels has a deep heritage that makes users proud.
· Impacting society. Method delivers green products with passion and authenticity.
According to Stengel, leaders of brands, companies, or countries should be able to conceptualize a vision that both inspires and provides practical direction for strategy. Operations proficiency is not enough. Vision is important.
Personal Relationship Models
Another “beyond functional benefit” route is to consider the human relationship metaphor. It has been shown that relationships observed in humans, such as arranged marriages, casual friends, marriages of convenience, committed partnership, best friends, compartmentalized friendships, kinships, rebound relationships, childhood friendships, courtships, flings, secret affairs, and enslavements, appear in brand settings as well. Customers can identify brands that fit these types of relationships and more.
Exploring whether a brand relationship can be modeled after a human analogue can provide insights. For example, if Microsoft is perceived to be a slave–master relationship, looking at the causes and ways to soften the relationship can be helpful. Or learning that some consumers believe that American Express looks down on them can lead to potential changes in substance and tone. Or knowing that a brand like Schwab is regarded as a mentor or a colleague suggests role models and a way of looking at relationship goals that can have a clarity that would not be possible if the brand vision did not include a relationship component.
KEY LEARNINGS
· Loyal customer groups based on strong brand relationship can be a significant competitive advantage in part because they are relatively easy to retain and expensive for competitors to attack.
· The customer experience is a key part of the relationship, and one way to enhance it is to prioritize brand touchpoints for improvement.
· Focus on the customer sweet spot—activities, beliefs, and values—and a higher purpose. Find a way to connect to that sweet spot, hopefully as a partner. Getting involved in a sweet spot is usually more effective that trying to sell a brand or firm.
· Get beyond the functional benefits to deliver emotional, self, or social benefits. The goal is to provide a deeper and more stable basis of a relationship.