Brand deeper!
Improving sales performance through customer experience design
Brands come to life through the touch points where customers experience them.
It is not just about the enjoyment of the product or service, but also the pleasure of searching for information on the company's website, being well served by a salesperson, in the call centre and in the store. Brands are built on the customer experience. When everyone does a good job, an emotional bond is created.
Branding is no longer just about naming a product, designing a logo and developing messages. Brands are created in people's minds; customers decide what your brand stands for - it is defined by how they experience your service, product or company. That's why the first rule of branding is that every contact is communication and every communication is branding.
The second rule of branding is consistency. The way your customers experience your brand must always be consistent. The self-similarity of all messages defines the strength of the brand. By ensuring a consistent brand experience across all touch points, we improve the branding process and increase emotional attachment; areas directly related to long-term commercial success.
Don't think transactional – build relationships!
The moment of truth comes when a customer calls to complain or make a claim.
Putting more emphasis on after-sales leads to deeper and more authentic branding. By extending and nurturing the brand story and maintaining consistency at every touch point, you automatically intensify and turbo-charge the branding process and create brand loyalty. And that's what it's all about.
Branding is so important because it attracts and retains customers. Brands create trust, the foundation of any relationship, which leads to loyalty, the primary reason for repeat purchases and referrals. The good feeling of trust and belonging makes customers willing to pay premiums and forgive mistakes. Loyal customers buy more, try more and pay more; in fact, they drive brand profitability. That's why "brand" accounts for more than 30% of the market value of companies in the S&P 500 index.
To support brand loyalty, you need to deliver on your brand promise - even, and especially, when no one expects you to. The best example is when something goes wrong with a product and the customer has to deal with a call centre agent. This is the moment of truth. Every service provider, including that call centre agent, becomes part of the customer's brand and must accept this enormous responsibility. If you find the right partners, they will contribute to a lifelong relationship between your brand and your customers.
Getting personal – we can help.
Brands need to leverage every customer interaction to deliver real customer satisfaction and build trust. The best way to do this is through a radical customer-centric approach based on systematic personalisation - customers expect personalised communications and offers tailored to their individual needs. Of course, this starts with knowing the customer; collecting, analysing and understanding data. Only then can highly personalised customer service lead to outstanding brand experiences. Not only, but especially in after-sales.
By delivering on your brand promise in the event of an aftersales problem, ensuring a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints and personalising the aftersales experience, you can build loyalty and add value to your brand. This is what we call 'deep branding'. And we are here to help.
The art of organic branding
Building connections, trust and loyalty with organic emotional branding
In a world where brand power has shifted from companies to consumers, the art of emotional branding has become paramount, redefining the way brands and customers interact. Brands that stand out in today's complex marketplace are those that have successfully created an emotional connection with their audience, a connection that goes beyond mere products or services and into the realm of feelings, values and shared experiences. The answer to using this shift to our advantage as businesses lies in understanding and embracing the fascinating world of organic emotional branding.
1. Humanise the brand: Make brands feel like friends.
Building a brand that resonates with your audience means creating a distinctive voice that feels like a friend speaking directly to them, a process known as 'brand anthropomorphism'. By infusing your brand with human traits and emotions, you transform it from a static symbol into a living, breathing entity that interacts, evolves and grows in a dynamic marketplace. This approach, which has never been more important, fosters deeper connections and turns casual customers into loyal advocates. Creating relatable stories can breathe life into a brand, making it more accessible, relatable and memorable.
2. The power of emotion: From satisfaction to loyalty.
Trust is the cornerstone of any strong relationship with brands, and building this trust requires delivering experiences that are driven by customers' needs, expectations and preferences. The brand must be a living entity that evolves and grows in a dynamic marketplace, adapting its strategies to reflect current trends, technologies and changing consumer needs. Alongside trust, emotions play a critical role in the transition from mere satisfaction to true brand loyalty. Research has shown that emotional constructs such as brand love and emotional attachment can mediate this transition, and that communication that connects on an emotional level creates a more lasting impression. Building an engaging relationship, especially in the after-sales space, and fostering a community around shared values can turn customers into advocates, further proving the importance of emotional connection.
3. Continuous nurturing: Keeping the connection alive.
A brand relationship is not a one-off event; it's an ongoing dialogue that needs to be nurtured. Brands are no longer carved from granite or forged from steel; they are conceived, living and breathing organisms. Engagement strategies such as regular sharing of insights, stories and offers help to maintain interest and enthusiasm, while responsive customer service can turn negative experiences into trust-building opportunities by showing that the brand really cares. Building a thriving brand community is about creating shared values, narratives and experiences that engage customers on an emotional level, turning a simple product into a lifestyle or movement and making customers feel part of something bigger.
4. The importance of adapting: Evolve with your audience.
Like living organisms, brands must adapt and grow, staying attuned to cultural shifts, societal values and the evolving needs of audiences. Ensuring that a brand remains in tune with these trends helps to maintain relevance, and embracing social responsibility and a commitment to community and social causes can resonate with a brand's identity and foster deeper connections. Embracing the shift to accepting the empowered role of customers in today's connected world means prioritising customer emotions, preferences and experiences in shaping your brand's image and recognising the essential role they play in defining your brand's success.
5. Brand relevance: Keep it fresh and exciting.
Even well-established brands need to evolve to remain competitive in an ever-changing marketplace. Constant refreshing and innovation isn't just a trendy buzzword; it's an essential strategy to ensure you meet the expectations of your existing customer base while attracting new audiences. This evolutionary process involves staying ahead of technological advances, anticipating shifts in consumer behaviour and aligning with cultural and societal values. It's about more than just maintaining market share; it's about fostering an ongoing connection with audiences, sustaining growth and vitality. Keeping the brand alive and thriving in a complex and dynamic business landscape requires a relentless commitment to relevance, creativity and responsiveness, not only meeting but exceeding customer needs and desires. By actively engaging in this continuous cycle of renewal, brands can maintain their edge, deepen customer loyalty and ensure long-term success.
Bottom line
Successful branding today is about more than transactions; it's about building connections, trust and loyalty through emotional resonance and customer-centric strategies. By humanising your brand, fostering community, maintaining relevance and empowering your customers, you'll not only create a brand that thrives in today's dynamic marketplace, but also transform it into a living, breathing entity ready to adapt and grow. Organic emotional branding is more than a strategy; it's a philosophy that recognises the complexity of human emotion in brand perception and sees brands as evolving organisms that require constant nurturing. Whether it's humanising the brand, building emotional bridges, nurturing the connection, adapting to change or keeping the brand relevant, the art of emotional branding is about forging genuine, heartfelt connections. In a world full of noise, this approach provides a warm, authentic voice that resonates with people, building trust, engagement and loyalty, one emotion at a time.