Why you should marry your customers and not be content with flirting.
By Peter Roberts, Managing Partner, Achieving the Difference
If you have a business, you have a brand. And that means building a relationship with your market. In this paper, we take a look at the brand relationship, and liken it to getting married. Intrigued? Then read on.
Looking for Mr (or Miss) Right
If you’re ever going to live together happily ever after, then the chemistry has to work. In caveman parlance (and with acknowledgement to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model) we might say that if you’re a woman, you want a mate who’ll provide for you; and if you’re the fella, then you want someone who’ll be able to bear your children. Of course, things are much more complex than that purely functional, survivalist view. For a start, there’s lust and passion; physical and emotional intensity; new experiences; intellectual and hormonal cut and thrust; giving, taking, sharing. And what kind of car does he drive?
1. Who are you?
In the first throes of such hunger, young couples will be swapping attributes like crazy. What’s he think of this? Does she have that? Such flirting and initial attractions can be powerful indeed: but while it’s great to get off to such a good start, church bells are still a distant whisper.
If you’re a brand, you’ll be getting out there, meeting people, flirting, being coy or mysterious but, above all, being visible. People have clocked you, but they don’t ‘know’ you.
2. What are you?
To elevate the excitement beyond a one night stand, couples need to get to know each other more deeply. They’ll spend more time with each other, talk and listen, grow to understand what each has to offer, what motivates them, why they behave as they do, what they value.
If you’re a brand, you’ll be doing exactly the same thing. Talking to people about yourself and listening to them, too. Establishing whether or not they’d like to see more of you. Hitting the right buttons. Being attractive and accessible. Having the right brand attributes. They’ll come to recognise the way you dress, talk and behave.
3. Why you?
If our couple hasn’t drifted apart by now, then things could get serious. It’s the time for soul searching and admissions of the heart. Falling in love. With the possibility of a permanent relationship on the cards, serious exchanges must take place. Matters of the head and matters of the heart. Perhaps a proposal. An engagement. A commitment to marry.
If you’re a brand it’s judgment day. This is your sales pitch - why me? You must provide all the sensible assurances and tick all the boxes; after all, marriage is for life (or should be). But you must really, really be loved and in love. Is your emotional appeal strong enough? Do you truly take her (or him) beyond where anyone else could? (Your strongest attribute). If you’re the right brand, you’ll both sign on the dotted line.
4. What about us?
Ah, the deed is done, the knot well and truly tied. Both parties committed to one another and reaping the rewards of their decision. Long may they enjoy wedded bliss. Of course, it may not always be a bed of roses, and most couples have to work hard at preserving the best bits. Loyalty and commitment grows deeper and more profound with time, but it requires vigilance, diligence, desire and hard work.
If you’re a brand, the same rules apply. You now have a customer and like a marriage, you can’t slacken off; you must work hard to ensure your relationship gives you both everything you need.
So, does your brand have the right chemistry to attract Mr (or Miss) Target Market and sustain a courtship right through to marriage and beyond?
If you don’t know what your brand attributes are or should be, then ask your customers, ask your staff, ask your suppliers. Put together a picture of what customers are looking for from a brand like yours and try to rank them in terms of how much customers need them.
Now rank them according to how far those attributes are distinctly yours, or how well they differentiate you from your competition.
‘Brand antes’ are those attributes you’ve just got to have, to even get a look in. Must-haves. All your serious competitors will have them. The important point here is: do you have them? If not, you won’t get to dance. If you’re in the fast-food business, a brand ante would be your ability to cook and deliver quickly.
‘Primary’ attributes are where you grow your brand and upon which you can hang your courtship. Highly desirable, and something you have that others don’t, or that you do better. But if you don’t have any, your chemistry will be lacking. You’ll need to redefine or re-engineer your brand (and usually your product, service, process or business); or look for other highly differentiated attributes and persuade your market that these too are highly desirable.
Mars and Venus
If chemistry is one secret of a successful relationship, then communication has to be the other.
Nature is never backward in showing us how important communication is in courtship. Visual, auditory, taste, touch and smell all play their part.
Brands are the same: they should communicate wherever and however their target market needs and wants them to. Once you’ve understood the chemistry, you can match it to each stage of the journey from flirting to full-on marriage.
Weak brands are all too often content with flirting. Life is just a logo - a constant hunt for new one-night stands. Clever brands will seek marriage; they’ll develop a more meaningful understanding, fall in love, commit and tie the knot.
And it’s in a mature marriage with strong loyalty that the value is really added. If you doubt that, ask Apple users.
Journey’s end...
So here’s where the real value is added: in the marriage!
The trick is to avoid losing your partner to a competitor, so stay fresh, work hard, and foster unbeatable loyalty.
Celebrate as many anniversaries as you can.
Brand value lies in your customer base, its likelihood to buy from you again, and the propensity of your market to buy from you in the future. More weddings.
The trick is to avoid losing your customers to a competitor, so stay fresh, work hard, and foster not only unbeatable loyalty, but positive advocacy.
Summary
Brands are all about relationships - chemistry, courtship and communications. Think of brand management in terms of getting married:
- You know the kind of marriage partner you want (target market) so make sure you’re attractive (chemistry: brand attributes)
- You understand that courtship proceeds through several stages so work out what makes you most attractive at each stage
- Communicate what you’ve got (brand messages). Flirt, talk, fall in love, tie the knot. Say the right things at the right time (for... awareness, understanding, conviction, action)
