Look at the most trusted brands around you. What do you find?

You will observe that they have one thing in common-‘customer relationships’. The connection is so strong that the brand becomes synonymous to the benefit it delivers. It becomes the name of the category itself. It wasn’t many years ago that a photo-copier was known as ‘Xerox’ or the enquiry for a photocopying services was put across as –‘Do you have a Xerox machine?’  For instance for mineral water it’s always BISLERI or, ‘Thanda Matlab…COCA COLA, the phone is smart if its APPLE bitten and a happy consumer always drive home SWIFT.

All these brands emphasize on building emotional relationships with the consumers because it’s powerful, it works better than other ways and it is ‘the’ way to get noticed & recalled for.

An emotional connect, a feeling of belonging helps a brand build stronger affinity, a much stronger business, much stronger growth and much stronger results. Over the years, I have come across and observed several top product/brand management cases – related to right from brand names, to strategy, their packaging designs etc which I am willing to share with you.

But for now, the post streamlines what we at 30TH FEB feel a Trusted Brand aspiration shall make the brand aspirants do.

Have 360 degree brand communication for 365 days

Right communication at the right places and on right time drives the brand engagement. You need to find your consumer and ascertain how s/he can be reached. Which will be the best place and time to connect?

Consumer is everywhere; he is all ears to radio, set his eyes on the newspaper and television, receiving your mailers on email and pondering on social media sites 24X7. So go ahead and park your presence in every possible corner with an effective communication that will help build and nurture a trusting relationship with your consumer. The key is to rule in your audience minds’. So find out and make the presence felt at the right place to hit the right cords.

Not all brands need radio, not every customer is hooked to facebook – you might find some on Quora, in the libraries and not the canteens. Have the 360 degree communication strategy and align the budgets accordingly.

Live up to your brand’s promise

Whatever your brand or line of product is, the simple mantra is to live up to the ‘positioning statement’ – because by & large, your positioning is your promise to the customer. You want to be known, remembered and recalled for that reason and that is why it becomes important to live up to that expectation.  One of the examples that I can give you right away is FedEx. Their tagline in all caps says “WHATEVER IT TAKES”.   And indeed they have live up to it. Their task is not just moving packages and boxes, the brand appreciates that it’s people’s treasures and that the contents of those packages mean a lot to them. They not only have gained the confidence of customer through trustworthiness and reliability but have secured their place in the industry as one of the most reputed brands of its genera.

So, that says it all. You not only need to have a brand promise but you also have to be sure about it being well kept for. Like you can see in most of the leading food chains – the promise if a 30 to 45 minutes delivery else the meal is complimentary! A free meal costs a lot to the company but saves the customer and a well kept promise assures the return of that customer.

Time’s changing; Adapt to it

As brand owners, we like to think we know what’s best for our clients, what we ourselves want or expect as a client. However, we must always remember that as time is progressing there are always innovative brands appearing to take your position.

A brand’s shelf life, a mind share is constantly reducing, thereby making it difficult for the brands to stay in consumers mind and win the pocket share. The marketer is experimenting, brands have turned into risk-taking entity, they want to reach out and they are ready to try various ways for the same.

Also, with each passing day, remember your clients, the technology and hence the need & gaps are also evolving and with that the prospects of a brand change. The world changes quickly and in subtle ways. You will have to always check to make sure the plan for the brand matches with need of the hour.

Be different. Be cool.

As a brand enthusiast, I really don’t think – it is always important to be different. The key lies in how different are the consumer experiences you create. An experience is something which will always be recalled for, forever remembered and shared by a consumer.

Be it the grand ceremony of launching each new product while public and press gazing at it or throwing 10 new ‘I phone 6’ at awaiting customers near the store, Apple just is the coolest example of a brand that really does things differently. The consumer not only enjoys using the product but enjoys the experience of making the purchase. The brand really wants people to come in and be inspired, build confidence and really feel better about them from the experience they had in the store. When you do things differently, you automatically get ahead of your competitors. Your approach of being different lets you be in the top shelf.

Happiness should be chased not just Sold

What’s better than happy customers? Isn’t that all you want. A happy customer will not only be loyal to your brand but will tell all his friends about the experience. If your end goal is customer satisfaction, take a step back and try to imagine the next level, what is that ‘X’tra factor that will bring a smile to their face. It can be any sort of reward, freebies, surprise, anything. Give it a thought and pick the one that best suits your brand.

Just selling a happy message in your AD Copy isn’t enough. The idea should not be – to be bought as we are selling happiness but to be bought again as we rendered happiness. Remember, the age old marketing tactic of – customer delight!