Great webinar by Jim Joseph, president of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications and author of The Experience Effect entitled, “Make Customers Feel the Love and Keep Them Coming Back.”
Jim defines marketing as “building a brand experience that builds brand loyalty.” Such a brand experience will:
- Transcend the product
- Engage the customer
- Differentiate the brand from the competition
- Add value for the customer
- Be able to be shared — especially via social media which will deliver the brand voice via different perspectives
According to Jim, the key elements of a successful brand are:
- Mission
- Packaging
- Target audience engagement
- Media strategy
- Strategic alliances
- Consistency
He did a great job of showing how Lady Gaga has become a powerful brand as a result of her success in all of these areas.
How do you define the brand? Discern its essence? Identify its positioning (long-term positive differentiation)?
- Start by understanding your customer — their needs and wants
- Determine if there are gaps to be filled — unmet needs
- Identify the rational benefits your brand delivers — these are “table stakes”
- Identify the emotional benefits your brand delivers — these are differentiators
- Identify the business for which your brand is best suited
- Complete an analysis of your competitors
- Determine the personality of your brand — then ask your customers to confirm you got it right
Emotional benefits are critical. The consumer buys based on emotion and then rationalizes their buying decision. Emotional benefits resonate, connect, share and motivate consumers.
Get to know your customers. Always be in learning mode where your customers are concerned. They are ever evolving and their evolution will help you understand how you need to evolve your product or service.
Create customer profiles or personas:
- Map their lives
- Give them texture and meaning
- Understand their work, their personal life, their history and their goals
- What media do they engage with throughout a weekday versus a weekend
- How do they behave with your brand
Your end goal is to be a benchmark brand that stands for something versus a default brand that is picked up out of routine. For me this is Chipotle — Moe’s and Qdoba are distant seconds.
Use every touchpoint to reach your customer, but ensure you are delivering a consistent message that is optimized for the media.
As such, the five keys to a great brand experience are:
- Clearly define your brand
- Understand your customer so you can target and reach them appropriately
- Have a distinctive positioning
- Execute consistently
- Make smart decisions
What is your key to a great brand experience?
Chipotle For Life 