The Art of Brand Relationships

The journey a successful human relationship makes has long served as an analogy for the brand-consumer journey. It’s an accurate and useful comparison, especially for brands that aspire to more than a transactional relationship with consumers and those that want to rise above commodity.

At BB&A we define the starting point of the journey as Independence and the end as Inter-dependence. In human relationships independence could well mean being happily single, perhaps in non-exclusive dating, and not in search of anything more.

In brand relationships we see Independence as a state where a consumer is enjoying a stable and largely satisfying set of goods and services and therefore not in active search of something new. Inter-dependence is the state where both sides have acknowledged and embraced the symbiotic role each has in creating and maintaining mutual fulfillment.   
     
There are four stages in the journey from Independence to Inter-dependence: Discovery, Companionship, Exclusivity and Belonging. As someone famously said, “It is better to be noticed once than ignored twice.” Few things describe brand behaviour in the Discovery phase better than this evocative comment. Brands must do all it takes to be noticed through the expression of a unique and relevant point-of-view on its category and indeed life. Brands must demonstrate a striking personality and create relevance to consumers. The consumer response when this is done well is typically, “I’m curious”.

Companionship is a stage that many a brand ignores in its rush to complete the transaction. Brands that don’t make this mistake and offer surprising, delightful and as far as possible personalized experiences elicit the response, “I’m excited”. They gain something of immeasurable value in a relationship – time spent with the brand. Consumers in the Companionship stage transact with a brand but they could well be with other brands as well. Prepaid customers in the mobile phone market who hold multiple sim cards are an example of this behaviour. 

Exclusivity does not necessarily mean the consumer is happy. It means that she has accepted a brand but equally transferred all her expectations from the category onto that brand. It is a challenging stage of the relationship but an important one, specially for those interested in life-time consumer value. Brands that express gratitude and reward consumers with extras gain the very welcome response, “I’m committed”. That said it is worthwhile to remember the brand is still on test in many ways.

Brand-consumer interdependence is manifest in its fullest in the Belonging stage. This is when the relationship is at its fulfilled best for both sides. Many hotels have high-end customers who stay exclusively with them in an expression of the consumer mind-set, “I’m fulfilled”.  

Easy though this journey is to talk about, it is very hard to walk. Brand-consumer relationships are unequal, with brands having to do all the heavy lifting to keep the relationship alive and well. Consumer promiscuity is legendary. Consumers will move on quickly and ruthlessly when something new comes along or when their needs change. Brands have to be ever vigilant and nimble-footed to keep their relationships relevant and refreshed.

No that much to do then, huh?!