People love brands – they offer value in terms of social status, perception of quality and/or a reputation that soothes customers’ fears.
A brand signals to others that someone has a certain status. This status is something of use to consumers other than the functionality of the actual product. Other than shoes protecting feet, the product’s brand also gives the user a sense of status, a sense of identity. A brand should reflect what the consumer wants. What the consumer wants out of the product itself and any attributes that can be stolen from the product, like a higher self-esteem.
For brands to be effective, the look and feel, or even the actual words (tag line) needs to be on all marketing materials, from brochures to business cards. The brand image needs to be at the forefront of all company activities, even when printing letterheads and envelopes.
Brands evoke emotions and for those emotions to be fulfilling, a brand has to bring more to the table other than the functionality of the product. Here are some ways to create usefulness to your brand beyond its functionality.
1. Create a mental framework
A mental framework is a concept that allows consumers to connect unrelated facts by a guiding intent or other factor. The brand’s benefits to its customers come from the consumers’ minds.
An example would be different levels of hotels within a chain. If you stayed at an “Express” hotel that belonged to the Holiday Inn chain of hotels, you would know that the Express Hotel wouldn’t be quite as luxurious as the “Resort” hotels. Both hotels are owned by the same company, but each hotel’s brand contributes a mental framework that differs it from other hotels.
2. Suggesting an experience
This is similar to a placebo effect, where just the mere suggestion of what’s going to happen when someone uses a product leads to that happening. The branding creates an expectation. Take Red Bull energy drink, for instance. Obviously the sugar and caffeine is going to hype people up, but they expect it to, so they feel more hyped than if they didn’t know what the drink was for. It’s like people feeling drunk after drinking non-alcoholic beer when they were told it was alcoholic beer.
3. Create a way to deliver a message
The goal of this type of branding is to create a symbol that is widely known by making a specific statement or express a specific emotion. If that statement or emotion isn’t well known or isn’t even in people’s consciousness, you have to create it yourself. DeBeers diamond company did this by using the fact that a diamond lasts forever to mean that a relationship can last forever and that’s what their diamonds symbolize.
In 2003, DeBeers created a new way to deliver a message by targeting women. This time they introduced the right-hand ring as a symbol of independence. Most women didn’t have right-hand rings and didn’t even think they needed them until DeBeers created a symbol for the right-hand ring.
4. Create a connection with a charity or a humanity service
This type of branding empowers the consumer and makes her feel good about her purchase. The Body Shop made shopping at their stores a way to contribute to the environment and a way to help people in all parts of the world.
The American Heart Association created awareness with breast cancer with the color red. Their “Go Red For Women” campaign is a way for people to show the world that they support breast cancer.
By creating usefulness outside of the functionality of your product, you can create a brand that gives consumers want they want emotionally, which will strengthen your position with them.
