The Four Elements of a Great Brand Experience.
Impression, interaction, responsiveness and resilience are the key to delivering long term value as a brand. ~ Brand Union InsightsIn a world where customer journeys are becoming more complex and less linear, it is increasingly difficult to identify the 'moments of truth' when a customer makes the critical decision about whether or not to use a brand. Here, experience is key.
Our view on the world is entirely shaped by the personal, positive and negative experiences we encounter throughout our life. The more experiences we have, the broader, stronger and better informed our opinions become.
Brands today therefore exist in every moment of interaction between brand and customer. In every product, platform, package, uniform, interface, database, architectural space, answerphone message or carefully crafted 140 characters. And brands can only create positive impressions with these customers if they are able to ensure that these moments are consistently engaging, surprising, compellingly human, positive and mutually beneficial.
In such a world, it might be more helpful to think about the entire brand experience beyond 'touch points' to desired 'outcomes'. When brands look to holistically improve customers' brand experiences, it can be helpful to consider four criteria: Impression, Interaction, Responsiveness and Resilience.
Impression – 'I like what this brand has to offer me'
It's quite simple – to attract a customer they have to like what a brand has to offer – in other words, its proposition. The effectiveness of a brand's proposition is based on its relevance to a customer – whether it firstly targets the right customer and then meets a need (or creates one first, in order to meet it). For instance, it's hard to imagine that many people actively complained about vacuum cleaners losing suction (my Miele has worked brilliantly for years – or has it?), but Dyson plants the seed of doubt – and then swoops in with 'cyclone' technology. Another key element of making the right impression is differentiation. Standing out from peer brands is important but standing out across categories can ensure share of mind in a world where consumers are constantly assaulted with competing marketing messages. But probably the most critical element is that the proposition must be based on organisational truths. If it doesn't link to a core competency, and operational advantage, to business strategy (or even all three), it has the potential to leave the brand exposed.
Interaction – 'This brand does what it says'
Creating a brand is all well and good, but how often do customers find that it isn't delivering on what it promised? Optimising delivery is contingent, first and foremost, on consistency. If a brand doesn't consistently reinforce its message through every possible touch point, it's missing an opportunity to optimise the opportunities created by the impression. Several organisations today are aligning their 'experience' across bricks-and-mortar operations as well as online channels in an effort to do this. The other key component of delivery is access – is the brand available to people when and where they want it with an effective channel, distribution and online strategy? And finally there's the delivery – if Plenty kitchen towels didn't actually absorb 25% more as compared with store label towels, it would simply lose all credibility.
Responsiveness – 'This brand responds to my needs'
If impression and interaction seem like standard brand fare, this element is where brands truly start to make a difference. 'Personalisation' (not to be mistaken for bespoke) is an essential requirement to ensuring your brand doesn't become commoditised. At the basic end, this can mean variants of shampoo that address 'issues' such as dandruff, frizz or hair-loss. At a more sophisticated end, it means a digital strategy that adapts itself to users to deliver a custom experience, the more and more you use it.
Resilience – 'This brand cares about our future'
One may see this element as a nice-to-have, but it's the pillar that some of the world's most powerful brands build their businesses around. A key element of resilience is imparting a reputation of 'responsibility'. This has far outgrown traditional expectations of being 'sustainable' – it now manifests itself as organisational integrity. No one expects a brand to be infallible, which is maybe why Apple gets away with suicides at manufacturing plants in China or how Nike managed to ultimately come out on the right side of a sweat shop scandal. It's about perception more than anything else – but it does mean brands now have to subject their supply chains to unprecedented scrutiny – so that your burgers don't end up with horsemeat, or that your dishwashing liquid doesn't suddenly earn itself a reputation for wiping out entire ecosystems.
Brands also need to be future-proof – this now transcends categories like banks that are meant to safeguard your assets and provide much needed credit to businesses over extended periods of time. Today, brands in almost any category that aren't perceived as having strong businesses behind them simply lack credibility, which can undermine the other elements of the brand experience. The ultimate component of this category however, is category influence. Brands that think beyond the confines of categories, markets and capabilities – Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix – are usually the ones that shatter conventions, transform expectations and change the way customers live their lives.
Impression and interaction represent the basics of a well-functioning brand. But one could argue that it's the brands that exemplify responsiveness and resilience that are much more likely to enjoy enduring success and deliver long-term value.
