You may be familiar with the following; your company has grown steadily in recent years. You also met your goals for the year, and you made a nice net profit. Everything is going swimmingly. Or perhaps you are that successful start-up that enjoys entrepreneurship. Whatever situation appeals to you, you experience that your customers are reasonably satisfied, and when combined with some (local) advertising, you continue to sail ahead with no real clouds in the sky.
Today, we see a trend in which we admire brands that are innovative and technological. Whoever releases the latest and greatest product will have the most followers. However, you do not need innovation or technology to gain the respect you deserve. Even today, there are companies that sell commodities and aren’t all that different from one another, but people are obsessed with them. That’s because they all have one thing that tech companies crave but don’t have: emotional connection at the start of the brand experience and customer journey.
These businesses have several distinguishing characteristics that make customers feel like they are a part of the brand. We will go over these traits, and it is critical that when you decide to implement one, or perhaps all five of these traits, you do so consistently and wholeheartedly. People will learn that you stand for those characteristics this way.
1. Story – When the backstory is more important than the product.
Storytelling is an essential component of branding. Yesterday’s advertising was today’s storytelling. In this day and age, stories must be true. Storytelling is the most effective way to brand. It is necessary for several ways. Your customer gains experience by telling a story. You provide so much more to them than just the product (and its benefits). You allow them to be a part of something bigger.
Observations on a storytelling brand:
– Looking back to the company’s roots, what was the founders’ passion, their big vision
– look around at other brands, in other markets, and how they tell their story. There are some excellent examples available. Ensure that you are not in a bubble.
– If you have a great story to tell, you can even use it to position yourself.
– Incorporate it into everything you say and do. People are bombarded with messages every day and can only recall a few of them. Make sure it’s stich through consistency.
2. Belief
When values outweigh the product Value-driven businesses are the foundation for a prosperous future. 90% of Generation C (the next generation) only supports brands that share their values. That is, they only buy (or continue to buy) from brands that stand for something they believe in.
You truly resonate with your target audience when you get to the heart of your business and communicate why you do what you do, what you stand for, what your ideals are, and how you intend to achieve them. It informs them that they are purchasing much more than a product or service. They contribute to the betterment of the world.
Insights into instilling belief in your brand:
– Values > product
– First and foremost, understand your tribe. You cannot provide value unless you understand what motivates your audience.
– Declare your fervent beliefs. If you do this and it connects with your audience, your voice will unite them and draw them to you. This way, you will not only create customers, but also a community.
3. Be delighted. When the small delight outweighs the product.
Delight is simpler to implement, but it is also easier to get wrong. To build an entire brand around the concept of delight and to disrupt an entire industry. Poppin, for example, sells office supplies, but they’re the only ones who sell them in different colors because they believe it’s important to bring joy back into the workplace. Because of this, they became extremely popular and disrupted the entire office supply market.
Insights into instilling delight in your brand:
– This is most effective in the mundane segment. A “drab” market that you can enliven.
– A bored audience should be shaken up.
– Make depressing communications enjoyable.
4. Transparency – When trust outweighs the product.
When you lead as a brand with transparency, you immediately gain trust. You have nothing to hide and are thus the person you claim to be. Everlane is a perfect example of a brand being transparent and, as a result, standing out from the competition. Everlane is a fully transparent clothing brand in an industry where we don’t know where our clothes come from, where they’re made if child labor was used, and so on.
makes very basic clothing, but they decided to let people see the entire process, everything that happens behind closed doors. They have developed a framework for evaluating their own factories. Everything is scrutinized and reassessed. Extensive lists of production costs, margins, and how the cost price was determined, among other things. They also make this inspection framework available to all competitors so that they can improve where necessary.
Another great example is when they discovered a better way to manufacture the product and, as a result, reduced the retail price of that product. Everything was communicated to their audience, which they adore and fully trust.
Insights into instilling transparency into your brand:
– When you decide to be completely transparent, you gain instant trust. There must be no secrets or you will suffer the consequences.
– You must fully commit to being transparent. One pitfall of not being transparent is a lack of time to tell your entire story.
– If your company operates in a dishonest market, this is your chance to completely disrupt it.
5. Solidarity – When solidarity outweighs the product.
We support your idea. Planet Fitness is a great example of this. They pass no judgment on you. Whether you are overweight, anxious, or afraid. They are with you and will never abandon you in your fight. It is a brand of love based on empathy and solidarity.
Insights into instilling brand solidarity:
– Help a sub-group. Every gym will tell you that you can get a six-pack. Planet Fitness claims you can drink a six-pack. They aren’t there to support the muscle man. The emphasis is on the sub-group that does not frequent the gym.
– You will become the market leader in your niche.
– In everything you do, you must embody the values of your tribe.
All of the characteristics listed above are based on the same principle: you provide something greater than your offering. You must tell a story that propels people forward, transforming your brand into one with a story to tell and an even better story to live.
MadOverBranding has worked in over 10+ countries all over the world and knows exactly how to keep pace with the changing world of branding.
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