RE // MARKINGS

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How to Make Customers Love your Brand

Brand Love: How to Make Customers Love Your Brand   Is it possible to find love at first sight? While a recent Wall Street Journal article debated this topic for couples, there are several parallels between finding love between two people, and finding love between your product or service and its customers.   Why should you care if customers fall in love your brand? Simply put, it makes your product, service or organization more valuable. According to Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, in an interview with FastCompany magazine, “You can charge a premium for brands that people love.” If customers know that you provide a quality product backed by exceptional service.   How do you make customers fall in love with your brand? Arthur Aron, a research professor from Stony Brook University in New York has determined that three factors that must be present to make people fall in love (Wall Street Journal):   1. You have to like the other person’s physical appearance   2. You have to find the other person’s personality desirable   3. You have to feel that the other person likes you.   There is no doubt that physical appearance and attraction is an important part of any relationship. Looking handsome and making a good first impression often attract people: in the case of your brand, a sharp looking logo achieves this goal. Ask yourself if your brand looks fresh, modern, and professional. Is it memorable and does it stand out from your competitors?   Your brand's personality is the perception it conveys: its tagline, positioning, and marketing messages all must resonate with customers. Does the brand clearly communicate its core values using a consistent voice and tone? Is your product or service memorable?   Love is reciprocal. It is one thing to love someone else, but in order to feel fulfilled, the other person must feel the same way. With brands, customers must feel that you genuinely care about their well being, and that you will be there in the long run. It is imperative that your brand engages in a conversation with your customers. Do you listen to their pain points, desires, hopes and dreams and respond with products or services that meet those needs?   In order for customers to love your brand, they have to connect emotionally with it. Empathy for your customers, commitment to solving their needs, as well as the passion to add value to the relationship all promote such a connection.   In his book titled Lovemarks: The Future of Brands, Kevin Roberts sums up the importance of customers loving the brands they use; Loved brands connect consumers to brands. Loved brands create loyalty. Loved brands belong in the hearts and minds of consumers who use them. In the book, Jim Stengel, Global Marketing Officer of Procter & Gamble makes the following observation: “…how would a consumer feel if you took the brand away. What would the person’s reaction be?”   By: Ryan Hembree, Principal | Brand and Creative Strategy