The basic Marketing 101 we learnt as marketing trainees indicates that consumers connect with brands on a rational and emotional level; with the emotional connection being the most enduring that delivers value to the brand on a long term basis.
When you woo a customer into a sale, it may be a short term liaison, how do you ensure the sparks last for a long time? The answer lies in ‘Brand love’. Brand love can be defined as ‘the degree of passionate emotional attachment a satisfied consumer has for a brand’ (Carroll & Ahuvia 2006). Getting a consumer to a state of ‘love’ involves taking them through a process which starts from knowing to accepting and culminating in loving. This pathway is different from one consumer to another
Often times brand love has been likened to the human love. While there are similarities, there are also some differences. While brand love is hinged heavily on emotions, there can be a ration side to it.
- It all starts with relevance: Brands must be relevant and provide engaging solutions to the consumers’ need on an on-going basis. It all starts from the logical perspective of “what the brand does for me” and translates over a period based on the fulfilment of this motivation into a state of ‘how does it make feel?’ which is a more deep-rooted attachment. Relevance does not end when love is attained, it is an on-going expectation from consumers.
- Brand love can be selfish: The satisfaction of the consumer need is very integral to an enduring love between them and the brand. The consumer is most interested in the value they are deriving from the brand rather than what the bottom line looks like for that brand. It is almost one-sided from the perspective of the experience they get from the brand, how the brand makes them look, if they can draw affinity from the brand and many other attributes derivable. There is always a motivation behind their behaviour that influences their actions.
- It is not “an unconditional love”: Like any relationship, brands and consumers go through crisis based on a developing or dramatic issue. If care is not taken to re-appraise and reenergize the relationship, brand love can be broken and the relationship can end. A consumer’s love is not a license to be taken for granted, while brand love is tested consumers may be forgiving to start with but when a brand consistently fails to fulfill its promise or become irrelevant to their consumers, it will be time to move on! The Apple brand is about 40 years old, but consistently renews itself and remains a cutting edge brand.
Consumers can be very passionate about their brand with strong demonstration of love which may take some extreme circumstances to break. Have you ever wondered why anyone will queue up in uncertain weather conditions just to have the pleasure of being one of the first to buy a new phone? Why will some people stick to one brand even when other cheaper and equally qualified substitute exists?
Have you ever fallen in love with a brand? Today’s marketers must foster a deep, enduring and emotionally engaging relationship with their customer base. It is important to keep the spark alive in a long term relationship rather than short-lived encounters.