15: Linking Customers and Marketers with Value Propositions
The value proposition of a product is central to the brand relationship: it represents the benefit for which customers are paying (in terms of time and effort as well as money), and is the core reason they seek to enter a relationship with a brand. Advertising and image cannot compensate for a lack of a compelling value proposition.
The author also suggests that the value proposition must be unique for the company, and consistent for all markets. (EN: I don't think this is necessarily true. A unique value proposition isn't a necessity, as commodity products can be profitable, but uniqueness is a strong competitive advantage in a competitive market. Also, different markets may have different uses for a product - baking soda is used in many different ways and each user-market is wholly indifferent with its values to the other markets - so it need no be consistent, though conflicting messaging is a Bad Thing.)
DEVELOPING THE VALUE PROPOSITION
The value proposition includes functional as well as non-functional benefits that provide value to the customer.
The functional benefit is often directly related to the use of a product (a car provides transportation), but there may also be non-functional benefits that are less concrete (a stylish car makes a person feel important, an efficient one makes them feel smart, a car with a good reputation makes them feel safe, etc.).
Especially in terms of nonfunctional benefits, the value the customer derives may derive from the brand rather than the product, and may even be attributable to the buying process rather than the product itself. The example given is the sense of social esteem people get from Starbuck's coffee - this esteem doesn't arise from the coffee, but the brand and store experience. (EN: this has changed, as SB has lost its cache, but it was certainly true at one time.)
They author also differentiates "emotional" benefits from "self-expressive benefits" - the first being derived from the experience, the second from being associated with the brand. (EN: these are one in the same, really. What's termed "self expression" is more accurately described as narcissism or esteem-by-proxy, which is a psychological benefit derived because the person holds themselves in higher esteem, and expects others do the same, due to their conspicuous consumption of a given brand.)
THE CUSTOMER-BRAND RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT FORM
The author has put together a brainstorming tool for gathering information about the customer, the brand, and their relationship. The major sections of the questionnaire form pertain to the customer, the brand, competition, channels, message content, and long-term relationship.
The first set of questions pertains to the customer. In addition to traditional demographic segmentation, it explores the need they are seeking to fill, the products and brands they are currently using, how often they purchase, the strength of relationships with current suppliers, the level of thought put into selection and acquisition, how existing solutions might not be meeting their needs.
- Who are the customers (demographics, psychographics, lifestyles)?
- What need are they seeking to fulfill?
- What brands do they currently buy to fill this need?
- How well does our brand./product fill this need?
- How often do they buy the brands, and how committed are they to one specific brand?
- Why do they prefer one brand over another?
- Where do they use the products?
- What product qualities are important to them?
- What causes them to choose one brand over another?
- What might they want that they are not currently able to get?
The second set of questions pertains to the brand. It looks at your specific brand and the market segment in question, and considers the quality and reputation of the brand from the perspective of those customers: what do they think of the brand, what qualities they associate with it, how their opinions and attitudes about brand were established. There are also introspective questions, such as what the marketer wishes that customers thought of the brand.
- What is the identity/image/personality of our brand to customers?
- Is this identity constant, or has it changed over time?
- For the customer, what makes our brand unique?
The third second pertains to competing brands: their market share, how customers perceive those brands, how the perception of competing brands compares to your own, how likely customers are to switch to other brands, etc.
- What other brands might the customer buy in our product category?
- How does our brand's functional qualities compare to the alternatives?
- How does our brand's nonfunctional qualities compare?
The next section considers channels. Information about the company's attempts to communicate to the market can be listed, especially in determining whether the message is consistent. However, it should also include the channels through which competitors may be communication as well as the channels through which customers may receive information from others (e.g. broadcast media, bloggers, word-of-mouth, retail clerks), and to consider which of these channels has the greatest impact.
- What channels do we use to communicate about our brand?
- What channels do competitors use?
- What channels does the customer use to proactively seek information?
- What channels do they use for other purposes (that we might use)?
The next section considers message content: essentially, what is being said about the brand - but the company, by competitors, by distributors, by the general public - how much credibility and influence each source has, whether it supports or refutes official communications or the desired brand messages. In the end, the question is whether the messages fairly represent the brand value, and provide sufficient actionable information to enable the customer to obtain it.
- What information does the customer recall about our brand?
- Is this message consistent across all channels?
- What information do they consider credible?
- What information do they consider useful?
- What information might get them to consider our brand (incentives)?
- What information might get them to try a competing brand instead?
Finally, the brand relationship is concerned, specifically focused on the long-term relationship the brand wishes to establish and maintain with the customer. Specifically, what do customers value about the brand that leads them to be loyal to it, what might increase or decrease that loyalty. In short, what's" in it" for them, and what vale they expect to receive in future as a reward for their continued loyalty.
- What reputation does our brand we have in the marketplace?
- What reputation do we want our brand to have in the marketplace?
- What does the customer "get" from buying our brand?
- What do they expect to "get" from us in the future?
(EN: The author stretches the chapter by providing a few hypothetical examples .... But I've never been a fan of that. The information above is clear enough that the concepts can be understood, and made-up examples to illustrate or "prove" the point only make it seem more contrived and specious, so I'm skipping them.)