I've been thinking...(brands x emotions)

“I’ve been thinking …”

#1 | tapping into emotions

This week I’ve had some amazing conversations about marketing and branding. While these often start pretty generic, after a while most of them got to a deeper level around the question of brands we like ourselves as marketers because they are part of our lives and can inspire our own work.

So, I’ve been thinking … what makes powerful (iconic) (personable) brands, and what are the drivers of that brand power they have? The result of the discussions got me to a conclusion that more than anything else it really comes down to emotions, and whether there is an emotional link between you as consumer and the brands you love.?Duh. Nothing new there I hear you say. All marketers know that, right? Right. But how good are we, acting against that? How good are we really?

A few thoughts:

I start by asking myself what brands in my life are connected to me on an emotional level, and why. It often takes a minute to think that through; I’ve seen that in my conversations. Try it yourself! Must be the same for consumers, so something’s missing in us marketers pushing that emotional agenda.

Here are a few brands on my list, for reference :

- Disney. Why? There are very clear memory structures built around amazing experiences that I had myself as a child and adult, and with my own kids. I can bring vivid emotions back (whether around the amazing Aladdin theatre production, visits to Disneyland, or a Disney Cruise I’ve been on).

- Porsche. Why? I’ve had (the fortune) to drive a Porsche for a few year and can replay the feeling, the joy of cruising in the sun, convertible hood down. A lot of Porsche comms is to bring these types of feelings owners have back to the foreground.

- Van Bommel shoes. Why? People that know me know that I have more shoes than my wife. (I know, I shouldn’t say that out loud probably). My favorites are made by Dutch shoe designer Floris van Bommel. Great quality shoes that stand out, are funky, novel, and innovative and make me feel good, and reflect my personality.

- Apple. It seems one of those obvious emotional brands. But why? It’s all in the consistently great experience they bring across everything they put out there. I’ve been an early adopter of their computers, phones, appleTV, etc. They’ve never disappointed: from the moment you take a device out of the box all the way to day-to-day experience, all amplified by the imagery that comes with the brand… it makes you a part of the Apple family.

- Happy Socks. I love my happy socks. They really make me… happy. They are quirky, cool, colorful, and uplifting. Like my van Bommel shoes, they go beyond functionality; they are truly aimed at evoking a reaction, from me and from the people around me that see me wearing them.

-U2. A formidable band first and foremost, but also a power brand. I grew up with them and have followed them for years. Not only is their music amazing, their marketing is too. I’ve been part of their fan/loyalty club for a few years, and they were giving me insights in their lives behind the scenes, but also to unpublished, limited edition tracks; and more.

- Emirates airlines. By far my #1 airline in the world. Why? Not only do they have outstanding service, great planes, as a frequent flyer they try their hardest to make you feel special, especially with their upgrades.

- Le Pain Quotidien. A bakery that feels like a community coming together around amazing bread, patisserie & food. I have many many happy memories of eating at Pain Quotidien, in different cities around the world, with friends and family; every time I enter LPQ, it gives me a feeling of ‘coming home’ (magnified by the fact that they are Belgian, like me).

- Mercedes. Why? I have very early memories of sitting in a Mercedes, owned by friends of my father, driving us through the Ardennes. In my early teens, it was that smell of the leather, the elegance of the design, the image of quality and stature. When I later owned and drove a Mercedes, that whole feeling came back as strong. I’ve always had a strong connection to that brand; although I’ve driven many other car brands before and after.

- BAP (Bullsandapesproject). What? Yup, you need to be deep down the web3/NFT rabbit hole to know this one. BAP is one of the NFT projects I believe in for the long term and have invested in. Why? This is more than an NFT and the utilities that will come with it. They are set out to build a community of like-minded people that believe in the future of web3; and I want to be along for the ride.

When I reflect on this list of brands, I can make out what makes those brands create an emotional reaction and have and sustain my loyalty. It is the how-to list for building iconic, emotional brands:

- They tapped into my psyche.

- They are more than a tangible product ; a lot has to do with the surrounding occasions I used/?consumed them in or in which I showed off the brand.

- I (feel like I) belong to an “inner circle” of brand users, a community of like-minded people.

- They never disappoint. Actually they almost always (consistently) overdelivered.?

- I am proud to talk about those brands, share my experiences, recommend the brand(s), talk about them beyond the superficial “yes it’s good” … I actually know (and want to know) their history, product line up, latest innovations,?actions, and more. They give me what I need to do that.

- I’m “searching” for them; in my social feeds, IRL, URL. And am highly disappointed if I haven’t seen or heard from them for a while. Those brands have smart ways to keep popping up on my radar.

Can your brand create an emotional connection with YOUR consumers? We always say yes as marketers. But are we? Are we really??

Below a few ways to get that done in my humble opinion:?

1. Aim to connect on a human level; i.e. aim for the heart not the mind. This goes back to what’s in your brief.

2. Dig deeper in our search for what story will truly, truly resonate and?trigger those emotions I’m talking about above.

3. Be super super “close” to your consumer. Obvious; but to be checked pre-during-post your comms and engagement with them. Disguising a bazooka-approach as ‘targeting’ will not cut it. You have to know who you need to go after on a very precise level, and need to know where & how you can reach them - I mean, really reach them. Old-style media buying is not going to get you there.

4. There is a balance needed between maintaining the relationship with superfans and recruiting new fans/users. The way to growth consists of a good combination between keeping a two-way conversation going with the (current) users and the new users. Once again, that seems obvious but it’s not an easy one. The stories to either group are different. This is where we go wrong as marketers … we don’t story-tell in a differentiated way to our fans versus to the new or lost consumers.?We don’t have a long term retention plan for how we keep the emotions ‘warm’. Maybe the way to approach this is to look at your brand building efforts like building and maintaining friendship. How do you maintain the friendship with your fans? How do you keep it fresh (have something new or interesting/intriguing to share when you meet/reconnect again; let them into a “secret”?…something that isn’t out in the public yet …bring them in to share their opinion, …)

5. Let your (super) fans work for you. Because they WANT to?They’re DYING to. If Disney or Porsche or Happy Socks would ask me to help out with some marketing thing I’d do it for free; for fun; as a fan; to make MY brand stronger. And there are many like me.?I was telling a colleague about one of the (self-proclaimed brilliant) things I’ve done a while back when I was in the Middle East: in search for new creativity I once briefed a group of students at one of Dubai’s film academies to come up with 3-5 min online film scripts for Pepsi (with a price of $10k to be ‘won’ for the best one, to go make/execute it). The result: all these guys were so passionate about Pepsi that (1) I got amazing amazing ideas (2) some of them pro-actively already shot & edited them, ready to go (3) all of them told me that they had no interest in the money…they’d do it all for free.. the pride of being able to say they made a film for Pepsi was enough. We need more of those entrepreneurial ideas!

?That’s that on the subject. For now.

?A few remarks and asks to end with:

1/ The title of this post is “I’ve been thinking” … clearly I haven’t got the answers. You (may) have. Let me hear them. I’d like to know. Don’t be surprised if I ask you to have a chat !?

2/ Let’s build a conversation here in the comments?There are no bad comments or ideas! And please, share your concrete tools, tricks, approaches so we can all collectively learn from each other.?

3/ Last but not least: what subjects are keeping YOU awake at night ? Throw them in here and I can start another threat on it.

?Thank you for reading and reacting!

?KURT

FYI: an old blog post of mine, but still valid, on Pain Quotidien: https://www.redhotmarketingblender.com/2012/06/creating-authentic-brand-experiences-le-pain-quotidien%E2%80%8F/

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#marketing #transformation #brand #strategy #leadership #iconicmarketing #quantummarketing #frenier #blogpost