Creating a personified brand experience drives a deep emotional and psychological connection with consumers, a bond that influences how consumers see themselves and their own identity. Eg. Loyal Harley Davidson customers define their identity through the motorcycle they ride, the Harley jacket and merchandise they wear, which ultimately forms a depicted social identity.
All things are derived of energy which vibrates at a certain frequency. The concept of brand resonance is how a brand can magnetically attract consumers by vibrating at the same frequency. To be in resonance the brand needs to be correctly positioned, whereby the brand values, attitude, message, tone, visuals, actions and experience are inline with the ideal customer.
If the foundations of the brand are correctly defined in the beginning, then it streamlines the energy necessary to acquire the ideal customer. On the other hand, if components of the brand story are contradictory then customers will be confused, disorientated and their intuition will be looking for the exit.
Decades ago, in branding, it was suffice to position a brand as the best in quality or the speediest in turnaround, but with so much competition and global localisation businesses began to one up their competitors by trying to position over the top of each other. Eg. “Quality products” turned into the “best quality products” and then into the “ultimate quality products" and so on, to the point every industry was saturated and the only way to gain traction or attention was to be disruptive.
Through the disruption period the way we do business changed, brand and communication parameters of every market were blurred, and the pre-existing rules were disregarded. The outcome introduced new market categories, new innovative products and services as well as exciting new brand experiences.
But the consequence of this disruption saw consumers exposed to an overload of choice; traditional brand messaging and positioning became unclear, which created consumer confusion. Eg. Traditionally, there were a couple of accounting software brands, now there are hundreds of different accounting packages on offer, each with their own features, advantages and disadvantages. The choice and decision process has become much more complicated.
The disruption era, technology innovation and extensive choice contribute to a world in rapid change, creating uncertainty. Consumers lives are busier and more distracted than ever before and they are now seeking brands that are inline with their values, rather than opposing them. Consumers are searching for certainty in a world where nothing seems to be certain. What does this mean for branding?
Brands need to be more truthful in purpose, honest in communication and more aware of their consumers personality, by using a combination of data, empathy and creativity in order to connect to the consumer on their level.
By seeing through consumer behaviours and understanding what influences their purchasing decisions (their thoughts and feelings), we can create a brand which is magnetic in nature.
