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Hey everybody; Welcome back to another blog article. Ok, let\u2019s dive right into this one\u2026<\/p>\n
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So, my team just sent out an email the other day to all of you that are on my mailing list, and it was on a CRUCIAL topic that is SUPER IMPORTANT when it comes to the continued success and survival of any and every single business in existence. If a business does NOT do this one key thing, they simply will not survive and will ultimately end up falling into a condition of being irrelevant. It\u2019s BRANDING and creating strong BRAND AWARENESS.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We are already well into 2019 at this point, and it\u2019s no secret that the marketing environment has changed significantly over the last few years. <\/span>One thing, however, has remained consistently important and that is BRANDING.<\/i><\/b> In fact, branding is more important today than it\u2019s ever been. And building brand awareness is one of the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of your marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, undoubtedly you ALL have heard the word \u201cbranding\u201d pretty often. It has become somewhat of a buzzword in business today. But before we go any further, let\u2019s define what branding IS, and then we\u2019ll get into why it is so important.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wikipedia actually does a great job of providing a definition of what the term branding means as used in this context. They state: \u201cA brand is an overall experience of a customer that distinguishes an organization or product from its rivals in the eyes of the customer. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Given the above definition of what a brand itself is, let\u2019s suffice it to say that BRANDING is the process of creating mass awareness of your brand.<\/span><\/p>\n The important thing to notice here is that this particular definition includes absolutely <\/span>nothing<\/b> about logos, colors, or catchy slogans, but focuses solely on the <\/span>experience<\/i><\/b> that a consumer has. It\u2019s essential to understand, though, that all of those tangible things are tools that can help to create and facilitate this experience \u2014 but they are definitely not the final objective in creating a distinguishable brand.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a little time here and talk about some MAJOR brands. The Giants that stand out from the rest. You just might recognize some of these names (haha). While you look at these names, as they come to mind, you\u2019ll begin to really see that when you actually take a moment to think about it, Products are never simply JUST products.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coca-Cola is more than a soda. Starbucks is more than a coffee. And let’s NOT forget about Apple. It’s MUCH more than phones, computers, iPads, etc…as a result of some of the most creative branding ever, Apple is an Experience and a LIFESTYLE. <\/span><\/p>\n Interacting with all of these products provide experiences, and we the public buy them with that experience in mind. The thing about it is that the companies that create and market these products know EXACTLY the type of experience they want you to have when you make (or consider) a purchase. That\u2019s why they create a brand. And HOW do these iconic brands create an experience? I\u2019ll tell you how\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n THEY APPEAL TO YOUR EMOTIONS!<\/span><\/p>\n Coca Cola is pretty good…if you like colas. But there are many other colas out there that taste nearly IDENTICAL to Coke. Starbucks has really good coffee, yes \u2014 I drink it all the time. But there are many people who have said that they like the taste of Dunkin\u2019 donuts coffee better. Yet Starbucks is the leading brand, and their prices are reputed for being considerably higher than most, yet they are THE MOST IN-DEMAND coffee brand. Why? Could it because they appeal to their audiences\u2019 <\/span>FEELINGS<\/span><\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coca-Cola\u2019s \u201cShare A Coke \u2013 Share a feeling\u201d campaign is a prime example of how the soft drink company successfully plays into the emotions of their customers. The branding effect worked so well that huge numbers of people began taking photos with their coke cans in hand, and posting them on their social media with the #shareacoke hashtag. And that drives more personal online media content, which of course leads to many, many shares. (GENIUS, isn\u2019t it?)<\/span><\/p>\n And how many of you remember THIS one \ud83d\udc47 from Coca Cola?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yep – the \u201cHug Me\u201d campaign. This one came out circa 2012. This one was pretty brilliant as well. They made special coke machines that gave out free cans of Coke in exchange for a person hugging the machine. This one was especially popular among the teens and adolescents.<\/span><\/p>\n In essence, the \u201cShare a Coke — Share a Feeling\u201d and \u201cHug Me\u201d campaigns basically used the same concept, except the fact that \u201cShare a Coke\u201d targets a broader demographic: children, young adults AND adults of all ages, and by putting emojis on cans (and bottles), it serves a creative way of giving people a means to share their emotions with their friends, loved ones and peers. In the case of the \u201cHug Me\u201d campaign, the machine looked inviting with the words \u201cHug Me\u201d displayed boldly on the front of it, and many people did just that, and got their free beverage. According to a press release about one of the special machines which was placed at the National University of Singapore, the campaign was the result of an initiative called \u201cOpen Happiness\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n “Whether you were hugging the machine or experiencing the event online, our goal was the same \u2013 to put a smile on your face and share that emotional connection,\u201d Coca-Cola Company spokesman Leonardo O\u2019Grady said in the release. \u201cReactions were amazing\u2026 people really had fun with it and at one point we had four to five people hugging the machine at the same time as well as hugging each other!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n These types of emotional campaigns have a significant impact when the consumer experiences a strong and lasting attachment to the brand comparable to a feeling of bonding, companionship or love among community, family and individuals overall.<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, so let\u2019s take a moment now to touch on Starbucks and their emotional branding.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Does this one \u261d\ufe0f look familiar? If you\u2019re a Starbucks patron, or if you ever have been, this should look familiar to you. Starbucks uses constantly-changing decals on their store windows, and these create an emotional connection between customers and the brand. This type of sign on the windows celebrate the emotion of coffee. Another brilliant and strategic move of theirs: Every Christmas Holiday season, the red cups make their annual appearance. Around the world, people see those red Starbucks cups and by conditioning, they connect the meaning of it with the start of the holidays. Not only that, Starbucks has even been known to actually ANNOUNCE the arrival of the red cups at that time of year. WOW. And another thing, Starbucks also builds an emotional involvement with customers by having such a strong awareness and commitment to the environment (<\/span>example: selling reusable hot beverage \u201csleeves\u201d to discourage the use of paper\/cardboard ones, AND selling reusable plastic cups which look just like their paper cups<\/span><\/i>). I know you are seeing the point now. So, let\u2019s move on to the last — but definitely NOT the least of these BIG three\u00a0 Emotional Branding Masters that I\u2019m going to mention here today\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n APPLE. Here\u2019s the thing with them in particular: They have a HUGE challenge to continue to live up to, and they do it EVERY TIME. These guys don\u2019t sell beverages. They deliver the most innovative, beautifully designed, ergonomic and leading cutting-edge technology products, and they do it CONSISTENTLY, all while staying connected on a deeply intimate level with their customers. The brand is LOVED, and there is a true sense of COMMUNITY among users of its product lines. (A prime example of this is my own company. I\u2019m pretty certain that 100% of my staff uses some main Apple products, and if not 100%, it has to be 99% of them at the very least.) Their branding strategy focuses on the emotions in just about every facet. The starting point is how an Apple product EXPERIENCE makes you FEEL.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle, innovation, imagination, and power-to-the-people through technology. Granted, YES, they STAY on the TOP of the game and are always on the leading edge when it comes to delivering the very BEST in devices, but they are MUCH more than devices.<\/span><\/p>\n So…what is it about EMOTIONS that make branding so over-the-top powerful? Here\u2019s why:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here\u2019s the deal…PEOPLE BUY BASED ON EMOTIONS!<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s right. Contrary to what many people tend to believe, people make purchasing decisions based on how they FEEL. This is what I mean by that: In classic economic theory, consumers are rational, and they make choices from the part of their brain which considers all relevant information and does all of the \u201creasoning\u201d. Neuroscience shows that this is actually NOT true.\u00a0 EMOTIONS ARE MORE POWERFUL. Not completely convinced? Ok. Check out this 1-minute commercial\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/manuelsuarez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat is branding?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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