2: Branding the Heart as Well as the Head
View the warning on the contents page regarding "facts" presented by this author.
While marketing has developed much over the years, it still seems to focus on the head of the customer - the actions taken for logical reasons. While he process of identifying the need for a product may be rational, the choice of a brand to purchase is entirely emotional.
Take the example of an automobile: the customer realizes their need for transportation, and may go so far as to consider some basic facts about their use - but once they have defined the vehicle type that fits their needs by rational means, the choice of the exact model to buy is emotional: desire, even lust.
And in some instances, we purchase things that don't serve our needs very well, out of a desire that cannot be traced to a rational problem-solving process. They may justify or rationalize after the fact, but in the decision-making process, the choice was driven by emotion.
When considering your brand, there are two specific areas in which decisions will be made: the features and qualities of the core product or service, and the customer experience of the whole operation. And for both, they must be considered from both the rational and emotional perspective.
The author underscores that rationality is not to be entirely dismissed - some theorists will go to such an extreme, but it is foolish to think that emotion would lead to the purchase of an utterly unsuitable item. No matter how well-done the emotional association might be, people will not buy a car without an engine or a soda that tastes like vinegar.
Defining emotions
Medical science has struggled for many years to find a physiological basis for emotion, to better explain its origin and function, but for all the decades of research, they haven't made much progress at explain how the mind works.
However, we do draw a clear difference between rational and emotional, which are two distinctly different modes of perception and reaction. Theory once held that the left-brain was more factual and the right-brain more intuitive, though it's since been proved that both hemispheres of the brain are active in both rational and emotional modes, but it's a handy way of referring to the different processes.
One thing that has been observed is that the parts of the brain that deal with rational thought are structured in a linear and sequential manner, whereas emotional routes are more chaotic and parallel. It's also noted that more of the brain is engaged by emotion than logic, more "parts" are involved and the activity is much more intense.
Emotional processing is also faster than rational processing: the parts of the brain that are engaged in emption are closer to the brain stem, and while they do access the parts of the brain that store memory, the parts of the brain involved in rational thinking are bypassed in emotional reactions.
To bring this back around to the subject of branding, consider these key points:
- The rational system is slower than the emotional system, which is to say that our immediate actions are determined by our emotions, and reason must catch up. This is why we say that people buy on emotion and justify with reason afterward.
- The emotional system is more powerful than the rational, in that it involves more of the brain. And so, when building a brand, you can be more successful by eliciting positive emotion rather than appealing to reason.
- The emotional system bypasses rational thought, but touches on memory centers. This is where the customer's experience of a brand culminates in loyalty, so long as their memories of past experiences remain positive.
- The memory system of the brain is more efficient in dealing with experiences that are specific and contextual rather than those that are vague and fragmented. This is why a consistent brand is more powerful than one that is disjointed.
As top the range of emotions, neurologists suggest there are six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. There are also a wide array of secondary emotions such as embarrassment, jealousy, guilt, and pride. And then, there are "background emotions: such as well-being or malaise, enthusiasm or fatigue, and the like. Some of these emotions are triggered by external stimuli, others are generated from within.
When it comes to brand, what is of greatest interest is in the emotional impact on the customer. This is particularly true of customer experience: each experience a person has with a brand creates a memory, which in turn becomes an emotional association. The more positive memories/emotions, the greater the likelihood of purchase or repurchase of the brand in question.
Features
The features of a product are "characteristics that supplement the product's basic function." This includes the physical components, dimensions, colors, shapes, etc. of a physical product, or the systems and processes used in the delivery of a service: logistics, order processing, invoicing, and the like.
The features of the product are the means by which it delivers benefits to the user, and while this is important to the success of the product at its desired purpose, it is a mistake to market the features without the benefits they deliver. This is especially problematic for technical products, for which companies promote a myriad of features and product specifications to impress the user, but leave it to the user to figure out for himself why those features are to be valued. The features are important, but they do not "sell" the product: what sells the product are the benefits.
The example the author provides if M&M candies, which have a crisp shell that prevents the chocolate from liquidizing at temperatures below about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It's unlikely that anyone would be impressed by that feature, if it were marketed in those terms. Instead, explain the benefit - it melts in your mouth but not in your hard - and that speaks to the customer.
Benefits
The author refers to Rosser Reeves's 1961 book, Reality in Advertising, which introduced the concept of a unique selling proposition: "Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit." To be effective, the proposition must be unique to your brand, and it must be compelling enough to get customer to buy the product. This notion, or some derivation of it, has driven sales and marketing strategies "for several decades" (EN: and yes, "several decades" is the author's assertion, even though it's been only five decades since the book was written.)
The first problem is that the direct benefit of a product is not the ultimate benefit to the user. The real benefit to the user is several steps away: the user buys a drill bit to make a hole - but why do they need the hole to be made? There can be many answers, and even those may be a few steps away from the actual benefit the user is seeking to obtain.
The second problem is that the functional benefit of a product is rational - and as has been suggested, emotion is what primarily motivates individuals to act. For any functional benefit, if you ask "why" a few times, the chain of events ultimately leads to an emotional benefit to the user.
(EN: I'm beginning to agree with the author, but with one caveat - this approach leads ultimately to the point where "why" can no longer be explained. My sense isn't that this gets to the "real" motivation, only to a point where the question becomes absurd. And as such, it's virtually guaranteed to get to a point where the answer becomes absurd, which ultimately means the only acceptable answer is absurdity.)
Emotional Needs
The author outlines Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, or at least one version of it: physical, safety, social (broken into belonging and esteem), and self-actualization. (EN: it's a bit sloppy, so I'll skip his exact take on Maslow.)
Given that, in most industrial societies where marketing is a profession, the lower-order needs of the consumer are largely met, the higher-order needs become the focus of their attention.
That is to say that the purchase of a drink is not ultimately driven by the need to drink (physical), as there are many options available - potable water is available virtually everywhere and for free (security) - so when the customer looks to purchase a beverage, his motivation is on a higher level of the hierarchy: he may seek to consume a beverage that identifies him as part of a subculture (social), or to consume one that supports his sense of self (esteem), or one that helps him to improve his performance at a physical or mental activity (self-actualization).
Also, the benefit he seeks to derive from his purchase of a product may have nothing to do with the product itself. A person who buys and consumes a cup of coffee in a trendy cafe doesn't want the coffee itself so much as he wants the atmosphere of the cafe: he wants to be there, wants others to see him there, wants to socialize with other patrons, etc.
Seen that way, the features of a product deliver basic functions that relate to, and help to achieve, "higher" needs that tend to be more emotional: a need for safety and security, a need to belong to a group, a need to feel confident in oneself, or a need to grow and achieve. Where a brand is associated to the fulfillment of higher needs, its connection to the user is strongest.
(EN: An interesting contrast is that, in times of economic difficulty, products that address the higher needs are also the first to be abandoned. As loyal as a customer may be to the cup of coffee that makes him feel like he fits in with the cool kids, he will generally abandon it when his finances are tight.)
Adaptive or Supportive
The author suggests two approaches for tying emotional benefits to a brand: adaptive and supportive.
The "adaptive" approach relies on features or tangible benefits to stimulate emotion. For example, the list of features of a vehicle built for safety supports the assertion that it is, indeed, safe, which in turn gives the customer a sense of comfort and security. This feeling is derived from the physical features of the product.
The "supportive" approach introduces an emotional benefit that has little to do with the physical qualities of the product. The example the author provides is paint: while certain physical properties of the product are desirable (viscosity, durability, odorless), the advertising for paint features images of well-appointed homes, which portray a sense of comfort and success, which communicate an emotional benefit: the sense of success and self-esteem of having a luxurious home. As such, the emotion comes from something other than the product features.
The author doesn't believe one approach to be superior to the other - they both accomplish the same goal - and the choice of approach generally depends on the product in question and the benefit the user seeks to derive from it. In some instances, product features are clearly of interest to the buyer, in others, the tangible qualities do not support the desired emotional reaction, so you must seek an external source.
The author provides a "worksheet" to help define emotional benefits for a given product, which is a spreadsheet, with these columns:
- Feature - Name the feature or quality
- Benefit - The benefit provided to the user by the feature. One feature may have multiple benefits
- Emotion - How should the user feel about achieving the benefit. Again, there may be multiple emotions arising from a single benefit.
Listing the features should be relatively simple, and needs little explanation, except to note that the core physical properties (size, shape, color) are also features, in addition to the usual things such as "a galvanized steel frame" that arise from the product's design.
To help in brainstorming benefits, start with features to benefits, and think in terms of a sentence: "[feature] means that [benefit]." For example, the galvanized steel frame of the product means that it is resistant to rust.
To help in brainstorming emotions, think again in terms of a sentence: "[benefit] makes the customer feel [emotions]." For example, the fact that a product is resistant to rust makes the customer feel secure, confident, and relieved.
If defining emotions is difficult at first, put together a list of emotions and consider whether each is applicable. The author provides a list in the book, about sixty emotional states, and even at that it seems less than comprehensive, but likely a good start.
Once this task is completed, it should yield quite a lot of material from which to work: you will likely notice that there are a few emotions that are either more frequent or consistent, which provides a base from which to work, considering ways in which your promotional messaging can be used to convey these emotions.
The author provides a stray note: that the features and benefits of a product may not be understood by the customer. If you consider technical products, such as a laptop computer, the customer may not perceive or even understand the product features.
(EN: This is where it may be important to do some lab work. Rather than letting the engineers brainstorm, get the list of features and then bring in monkeys to tell you how they feel about them. In some instances, it may be necessary to start with benefits if the features are not meaningful.)
Example: a "dual core processor" means nothing to most people, but it makes the produce work faster, and creates greater pleasure (or at least less frustration) and excitement. An advertisement that indicates "it has a dual core processor" means nothing to most potential buyers, but an advertisement showing someone who is zipping through screens with ease communicates the benefit and associated emotion.
(EN: I have the sense this approach covers only the "adaptive" emotional associations to a product - those tied to the features of the product. The author doesn't seem to provide any help, at least not here, for discovering the "supportive" ones that have nothing at all to do with the features. What if this list comes up empty? An idea of my own is to gather more lab monkeys, people who are current customers, and ask them about their experience of ownership - how they feel when they use the product, how they feel when they see another person using it, and that sort of thing. It's entirely speculative, admittedly, but I think that may uncover emotional connections that are not tied to the physical properties of the product. Perhaps the author has a suggestion in later chapters?)
Supporting your emotional benefit
Repeated: that the choice of adaptive or supportive approaches in defining emotional benefits depends on the nature of your product or service offering.
Products that deal with self-image - cosmetics, fashion, fitness, leisure, etc. - lend themselves readily to emotional themes without much consideration of the tangible features of the product. Nonprofit organizations also deal with highly emotional subjects by default, the narcissism of donors and the pity they feel for beneficiaries feature strongly in their marketing.
On the other hand, selling construction materials, industrial coatings, and appliance repair don't readily lend themselves for supportive emotional benefits. This doesn't mean that they can be branded without emotion, merely that you will have to stick closely to the product qualities in defining emotional benefits.
The author gives an example of a tough case: a wire company that manufactured spokes for bicycle wheels, and whose customers were manufacturers. Their product marketing, naturally, relied on communicating the engineering specifications to corporate customers, for a cold and unemotional consideration. From the technical features, the author derived that the chief benefit was dependability - customers were motivated to buy parts that would perform well, as their own reputation depended on supplying bicycles that were safe and sturdy. From here, he decided the key emotions involved were along the lines of security and confidence - and this became the theme of their marketing campaigns. The result was that it enhanced the brand and solidified business relationships - so much so that one manufacturer signed and exclusive five-year contract with the spoke manufacturer and adopted the emotion of trust into their own marketing campaigns.
Branding the Full Experience
Thus far, the author has considered the emotional associations to the product or service - but that is only one component. What draws people to a firm, and what keeps its existing customers loyal, is their total experience with a firm. It's not just the benefit they derive from the product, but every contact they have with the firm: pre-purchase, ordering process, and post-purchase, which must also support the emotional connection you are attempting to generate.
However, the author asserts that "your customers don't necessarily want to experience emotions ... as part of your customer service." The example is given of Virgin airlines use of irreverent humor in advertising, but when a customer calls with a problem, he's generally not in a laughing mood and expects to be taken with utter seriousness.
In terms of customer service experience, the author lists a few things that the customer expects:
- To be respected, appreciated, and valued
- To be listened to and taken seriously
- To have confidence in your firm
- To feel safe buying from you
- To feel connected to your company
If all of this is considered, you will find that the customer has a "good" experience, they have positive expectations about future encounters, and develop a sense of loyalty (passion, even infatuation, with your firm and what it stands for).
While the author generally agrees that the emotional elements of the brand can carry through to the customer experience, there is some question as to whether this is productive in all instances. If any of the customer's expectations about customer service clash with the qualities of your brand, then there must be a clear separation of the service experience from the buying experience.
The identity of a brand rest in the values of the company - but it is not enough for the company merely to have values. These values must agree with the customers' values in order for them to be appealing.
The older models of marketing depended on a business finding a customer for its products, and wasn't concerned about any kind of emotional connection, merely that the customer as satisfied with the product. This was later extended to encompass customer satisfaction with the buying and service experience. But in the modern competitive market of commoditized products, this will no longer drive customer loyalty: your company and its offerings are no different to that which can be had elsewhere.
As such, the difference is connection, based on emotion, between a customer and a service provider. And this is where businesses are missing the boat.