Too often, we focus on the “I” and forget the “us” in our relationships. No, we’re not just talking about personal relationships, but also business relationships. Brands should create products and services first and foremost for their customers, clients, and constituents and market these offerings with a consumer-first mindset. But we’ve all seen those marketing campaigns that talk about things simply no one cares about and are completely out of touch with their audiences. So how do you ensure that doesn’t happen to your brand? First, you need to know how purchasing decisions are made.
As an agency dedicated to understanding the heart of decision making, we know that a full 95 percent of cognition happens in consumers’ emotional or subconscious brains, driving much of their decision-making. While most people would claim they are very logical beings, studies show unconscious urges and emotions are much more powerful than sound reason. For example, when parts of the brain charged with emotion are damaged, humans struggle to make even the simplest decisions like what to have for lunch. So while your product or service might have a whole list of stats and figures that would influence anyone with a little logic, you may want to start considering what emotional value your products or services provide, because emotions are what will be remembered the most.
The most successful brands don’t just know this and occasionally put out an emotional ad, they bake it into their belief system and brand strategy. These brands understand who-what-where-when-why-and-how their audiences think, and more importantly what makes them feel butterflies. Understanding emotion’s effect on decision making allows the brand to reach the consumer in a more personal and authentic way. In a market full of choices, this is how a brand will stand out.
Consumers want to feel like, “They get us. They crush on us. They doodle our names on the cover of their spiral bound brand notebooks.” Why? Because it is not enough for the products or services to just work well (that’s to be expected) or even make our lives better (although that’s great, too), but that the brand cares about us.
Consumers will happily pay more if they can feel a little less empty and disconnected. Consumers will praise and proudly proclaim their commitment to a brand to their family, friends, and followers. Consumers will be loyal to a brand, even to a fault. This is truly the goal of marketing and you better bet this has a lifelong impact on a brand’s bottom line. How do we know this all actually happens? Well besides years of research and experience, we too are consumers and humans who are driven by emotion.
How many times in your personal relationships have you proclaimed, “It’s not what you said, but how you said it.”? Well the same thing goes for brands. Authenticity and relevancy are key drivers in your brand strategy because the more your audiences feel like one-of-one, the better. Especially when its one-of-a-hundred-something-million people being served a Super Bowl ad, it should feel like eyes locking across a crowded room.
With an endless array of choices, customers want more than product and service, cost and convenience, or even features and benefits. We want brands that make us think, laugh, cry, and believe we belong together. 4EVR.
To dive into the heart of your consumers’ decision making processes, contact Crawford today and we’ll help you create your very own brand love story.