Help with Case

Emotional branding

In the previous session

• Functional branding • Brand associations • Brand knowledge

Limitations Functional branding

When all brands differentiate….

…they generate background noise

Brands SCREAM for attention

Consumers ignore them

The experiential economy

The brand is experience Experiences are the new competitive battlefield because they create powerful differentiation from competitors. Marketers must create full-on, immersive experiences for customers that build strong ties to the company and the brand. •

•

Instagram- worthy experiences Good experiential marketing is taking social media optimization to the next level, by giving people a dynamic, fullyInstagrammable space.

The idea: compel consumers to share their experiences through design, innovation, and interactivity through visually arresting spaces that are surprising and engaging.

. 7 Desirable

. 6 Accessible

. 5 Credible

4 . Findable

3 . Usable

2 . Useful

1 . Valuable

Consumer Experience Design (CX)

Brands and emotions

Brands and excitement.

emotions • Brands can evoke emotions, feelings of belonging, affection, and even love.

• Brands play a symbolic or intangible role – related to what the brand represents to the consumer.

• Research has consistently identified the emotional responses associated with brands, such as sensory pleasure, aesthetic beauty or

Emotional appeals Personal feelings

Social feelings • Safety • Fear • Happiness • Nostalgia • Excitement • Arousal • Sorrow • Ambition

• Approval • Affiliation • Belonging • Involvement • Recognition • Rejection • Respect • Status

Consumption is a form of identity work Consumption objects never exhaust themselves in the function they serve. They no longer designate the world, but rather the objects represent the identity and social rank of their possessor Barbara Kruger, 1987

Consumption is the leading device

We consume signs through which individuals

• We use signs to represent lifestyles represented to us (in the media or in real life) that we find attractive. We create a vision of ourselves living this idealized lifestyle, and then

Referencing behave in ways that help us to realize the vision.

Characters from TV show “Sex and the City” conspicuously wear branded bags

• Consumption materializes this idealized lifestyle. Objects are props.

The illusion of perfection

Referencing in Instagram

Instagram has become the battleground for referencing

Consumers choose to incorporate certain brands • Consumption is meaning-based. • Consumers use brands as symbolic resources to construct their identity. • People express themselves through their brand choices.

In 1998, Susan Fournier proposed a crazy idea…

Consumers develop humanlike relationships with brands Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of consumer research, 24(4), 343-373.

• The engagement of consumers in an emotional connection with the brand, which go beyond benefit-based functions into human-like

Emotional relationships • Consumers often choose and use brands that

branding have a brand personality consistent with their own self-concept, although in some cases the

match may be based on consumers’ desired rather than their actual image.

Brand relationships

Relationship between a brand and the consumer are a type of bond or pact.

Consumers offer their trust with the understanding that the brand will behave in certain ways – provide them utility, performance, and pricing.

Benefits that are not just functional. Brands are symbolic devices, allowing consumers to project themselves.

Through brands, consumers communicate to others — or to themselves — the type of person they want to be.

Brand onion

The core values are wrapped in benefits which, in turn, are wrapped in personality, like an onion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWfX5jeF6k4

Brand essence

Benefits

Personality

Brand personality is the way a brand speaks and behaves. It means assigning human characteristics to the brand.

Brand essence

Benefits

Personality Brand Essence

• One phrase communicating the fundamental nature that is associated with products made by a company.

• A brand essence is a promise of specific values and benefits, one that has meaning and relevance to users.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEbBCBmolt A

Nike: Inspiration “Bring inspiration to every

athlete* in the world.”

*if you have a body, you are an athlete

Benefits and attributes

Benefits

• Cars: fuel efficiency, sporty, affordable, practical, etc…

• Vacuum cleaner: easy to use, more practical, sustainable, consumes less electricity, easy to store

Brand personality

Brand essence

Through consumer experience Brand Personality may take on personality traits or marketing activities, brands or human values.

Brand personality

Sincerity Excit ement Competence Sophistication Ruggedness

Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of marketing research, 34(3), 347-356.

Brand Personality • Personality traits result from anthropomorphizing

and projecting characters, imagery and props.

• The tone or style of the creative strategy, and the emotions or feelings evoked by the ad can affect brand personality.

• Once brands develop a personality, it can be difficult for consumers to accept inconsistencies

Conclusion

Stage 2: A brand anchors distinctive functions

Stage 3: A brand is the anchor of experience

Stage 4: A brand is a relationship

Functional branding

Emotional branding

Stage 1: A brand is a visual identity