Ehi Braimah is the Managing Director of Neo Media & Marketing Limited, a public relations and event management company. He writes on what it takes to establish an emotional tie between a brand and the customer.
Let us begin by understanding what a brand truly represents. However you choose to define a brand, because there are a multiplicity of definitions, a brand, from my knowledge-sharing experiences, is a statement of promise that earns the trust of the consumer. What is important here is keeping the promise otherwise the brand is asking for trouble.
The key to building a great brand is getting the customer to come back and one way we can achieve this is by establishing an emotional tie between the brand and the consumer. A brand can be a product, service, personality, city or country. A brand must be easily recognisable like Coca-Cola, Apple, Red Cross, Barrack Obama, London or the United States of America.
Perception of a brand
The perception of a brand is as good as reality because front-of-mind awareness is measurable. The choices that we make are usually a function of how well a brand has established its credentials in the minds of the consumers. Brands will stay with us for the following reasons: ownership, honesty and trust, assurance and quality, longevity and loyalty, power and profit and finally, emotional and value needs.
When you go into a shopping mall like Shoprite , there is a reason to believe that what you are buying in any of the shops is of "great quality" and at the "right price", and that emotional satisfaction is what we need to make a purchase. It does not matter whether it is the Shoprite located in Ikeja or Lekki or outside Lagos, the feeling conveyed is the same. This is what "branding"does to us, it clones our sensory organs and limits our choices to what we perceive will deliver "distinctive benefits" or "value for money".
If you ask for the price of a Rolex wrist watch, you do not expect it to be cheap, otherwise you would conclude that it is a fake Rolex. This is how we perceive the value of a Rolex wrist watch. However, the truth of the matter is what is in the "mind" of the consumer is that people who wear Rolex wrist watches are successful people; it is a symbol of prestige and achievement; for the ''big boys'', if you like.
Power to influence
The consumer would like to buy what he knows and trusts, although price may become a discriminator. Every brand has its own audience and value proposition. A brand must have the power to change or influence consumer behaviour. For example, Primark in the UK is a retail fashion outlet known for bottom of the fashion price chain, but this does not mean that their products are useless; instead Primark appeals to a certain category of customers because of their affordable price range, just as we now have Mr Price fashion outlets in Nigeria where their prices are ridiculously low, but the customers keep coming.
On the other hand, Tesco, the supermarket chain, has a value range of products which is priced at a premium with its customers because they have been able to earn the value proposition of quality and convenience. Virgin Atlantic is a youthful, hip airline. Indeed, Virgin brands, as personified by the avant-garde billionaire entrepreneur and founder, British-born Richard Branson, are ambitious and fun-driven. Red Bull is an energy drink for young people. The value proposition here is that Red Bull represents convenience (energy in a can) and revitalisation. Let us just say its a "cool brand".
Proposition plus personality
In building a great brand, we must understand that the proposition plus personality makes the brand. Here, the product is the proposition whereas the values and character shape the personality of the brand. When a brand creates a set of values, it should not change over time because these values keep the brand going. For example, Coca-Cola is known for great taste, Apple for innovative products, Red Cross for humanitarian service and Volvo for safe driving. So, we can say that a brand is a name that stands for something positive in the minds of its target audience. By ''positive'', we mean a consistent set of values that resonates with the consumer over time. What can we say Nigeria is known for? For example, Nigeria can become famous as the food basket of Africa because we have everything to make it happen.
One good reason consumers trust their brands is because of "consistent quality". People die, but brands live on. What's the point of acquring knowledge if we do not pass it on? Unless you communicate the values of your brand, the brand dies when the vision driver dies.
Brand culture
A brand must provide empathy and insight; it should also be provocative, inspiring and disciplined. These are personality traits that attract customers. Every organisation should also establish a brand culture for both its internal and external audiences. This brand culture must allign with the big picture (vision/mission statements) of the organisation which is then cascaded into a set of values (personality traits) that would guide its the day to day operations.
You must practice what you preach as a brand. There is nothing wrong when a brand makes a mistake, however what is important is how well the brand reacts when a mistake occurs. Brand owners must note that it is forbidden to say, "it's not our fault". For example, when Toyota had brake problems with some of their cars not too long ago, they were honest enough to own up, apologise and recall the affected cars. Through this action of honesty, Toyota was able to restore their pride and earn the trust of their loyal customers worldwide.
