Category: Brand Strategy for Start-Ups

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The Psychology of Obstacles in Brand Marketing

The previous post, Branding Psychology Insights: How Consumer’s REALLY View Your Brand, discussed three important ideas:

  • Your consumers are concerned ONLY about their end result
  • Your product/service is your consumer’s bridge/obstacle to the end result they desire
  • Your brand, the face & name of your product/service, must be synonymous with that end result

We all face obstacles. Obstacles are a part of life. Obstacles contribute to our growth, more than most of us are aware of. And just for clarification – an obstacle, is anything that hinders the progress to a desired goal.

The thing with obstacles, is that they don’t just show up as one big dragon we have to slay. Sometimes there are several dragons we need to get past. Sometimes there are obstacles within obstacles. That’s when we’re truly tested on how MUCH we want our end result. Your consumer goes through these same obstacles on their journey to their end result.

When they choose your brand, your product/service, they are relying on you to get them there in the best way possible (whether ‘best’ means fastest, cheapest, easiest, safest, etc.). That’s when they shift from being a prospect, to being a customer.

Keep in mind: the ‘obstacles along the journey’ concept really only comes into play when the consumer doesn’t have the ability to get their desired end result ‘instantly’. Where ‘time & effort’ are factors. Of course, some products/services provide their consumer with instant satisfaction – food items are an example. If someone’s thirsty, they buy a water bottle and drink it. Simple. However, if you’re selling a course where there’s a learning process, or if you’re providing a service where in the long-term your customer will be able to improve their financial health, their physical health, or their relationships, these things take time and effort. 

These are also the things that are part of the most fundamental human needs. In some way or another, we’re all looking to have these 3 needs met, and constantly improved. These end results will most likely require some degree of time and effort. In other words, they hinder progress.

Question for thought:

After choosing your brand, after becoming your customer, what are ALL the possible obstacles your customer will face on the way to their desired end result? 

And how are you helping them get past all those barriers to their goal?

There are two kinds of obstacles on that journey:

1)      Expected Obstacles

2)      New Obstacles

Expected Obstacles

These are the obstacles that are within the consumer’s awareness.

These are the obstacles that the consumer KNOWS about – the ones that they will CREATE for THEMSELVES. These are personal obstacles. Expected obstacles can be: resisting temptation, sacrificing something, not procrastinating, paying an annual or monthly subscription fee, etc.

staircase

If your goal is to get to the top of the staircase, if that’s your desired end result, you know your obstacles are the stair steps. They are within your sight. You know even before beginning that journey that you’re going to have to keep climbing, one step after another.

The interesting thing about obstacles is that they sometimes increase our sense of commitment to a particular goal. The more dragons we slay, the more invested we become in rescuing the princess, or getting to that gold, or whatever the end result we want is.

Every step on the staircase gets easier to conquer… and as you climb higher you become more invested in getting to the top. Once you’ve climbed halfway or above halfway on the staircase, it’s unlikely you’re going to turn back. The negative emotional impact of turning around and quitting keeps increasing. Eventually, we much rather suffer our way to the end result, than suffer the sense of defeat after quitting.

Once we get past the halfway mark, it’s almost intrinsically ‘automatic’ to keep going… meaning that our motivation automatically sprouts from within. If you’re on a diet and you see a piece of chocolate cake and you resist it, conquering that obstacle automatically strengthens your determination for your end result. Before even beginning the diet, resisting these temptations were obvious obstacles that you were already mentally prepared for.

If you’re a student studying for a particular exam and you tell your friends that you’ll meet them later, a huge obstacle for any student, your determination to succeed on the exam will automatically rise. The best part is, the next time these obstacles show up, it’s EASIER to get past them again because you’ve already done it once.

Key Insight: You need to get your customer past that halfway mark at the VERY LEAST, so you diminish the majority of chances of losing your customer in the process.

If you want to be exceptional however, a market leader, you won’t just get your customer to the halfway mark and move on to something else…. you’ll take your consumer to the top. Your consumer already has obstacles that they EXPECT to have to push through, before starting the journey.

Do you know what those expected obstacles are for your consumer? Can you identify them?

New Obstacles

These are obstacles that your consumer doesn’t know about. These are the obstacles your consumer is hoping they won’t have to face by trusting your brand, your product, and your service. News obstacles are usually the limitations in your product or service. These are company flaws that businesses usually DON’T advertise.

Most people climb with their eyes on the end result (the top of the staircase). They don’t look down. All of a sudden, there may be new obstacles to get past – the toys on the stairs, the spill that hasn’t been cleaned up, etc. The new obstacles are scary. They’re unexpected. The unknown is always a fear for humans.

If your customer has put their trust in your brand by agreeing to take your path to their desired end result, the last thing they want is that trust to be broken. All they can do is take your word and hope that there won’t be any new obstacles.

It’s not the expected obstacles that are usually the deal-breakers for people to get on the journey to getting what they want, it’s the new, unknown obstacles. Because when a new obstacle shows up… that’s when things get interesting…

maze

An interesting paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology demonstrates how when we encounter a new obstacle, we react to it by thinking about the problem on a more global scale.

Our awareness expands.

Here’s an experiment to put this in perspective:

There was a difficult maze given to participants in a study mentioned in this paper. A computer tracked the eye movements of these participants. When some participants hit a ‘block’ in the maze where their path to the end goal was interrupted, they responded by becoming AWARE of the entire maze.

Their focus shifted from that one path… to other potential paths to their destination. They began looking for other options and alternatives. Those who didn’t experience any obstacle, happily kept going. It’s natural for us humans, when we hit a barrier, to think about problems more globally.

What does this tell us?

If your consumer is on a journey to their end destination, that journey is already an obstacle.  And usually at the beginning of every maze, the consumer has several paths to choose from. If I want to search for something on the internet, I have the option of choosing to use Yahoo!, Google, Bing, etc. I’ll choose the brand I trust the most, that has always delivered, that I know will give me the least new obstacles in my search.

That decision process on which path to choose, is the definition of marketing.

Because that’s when your company comes along, and through your exceptional brand positioning skills and marketing strategies (that you learned at Brand Marketing Psychology), you convince your prospect to choose your path to their end result… and become your customer. You convince them to choose your brand, your product/service, to get them to their end result.

A question for every brand/business owner to ask themselves is:

  • How clear and FREE OF OBSTACLES is my consumer’s path to their destination… when they choose my brand?
  • What barriers will they hit?
  • What flaws does my product/service have that will make my consumer stop and question their progress?
  • Is there a point they will hit on our path, where their awareness will expand and they will begin considering other options?

If you promised them that they’ll get to their end result in 30 days and in 30 days they’re only halfway there, it’s only natural that their awareness will broaden. They will search out alternatives – your competitors.

How do you retain those consumers?

Sometimes it’s not your product/services flaw. Sometimes the customer might not have used your product/service in the most efficient way. So you might think it’s their issue if they didn’t use it properly… But who is the consumer going to blame? They will never blame themselves.

It’s ALWAYS the company’s responsibility to retain the customer. When they began the journey, they didn’t expect to face these barriers, otherwise they wouldn’t have started. These are new obstacles.

Your Brand Marketing Strategy:

Remember that there are always obstacles within obstacles. The obstacles that the consumer will face on their journey to their end destination, will either be the obstacles that are expected and/or the obstacles that are new. In both cases, it’s usually your company’s fault in the mind of the consumer.

And that’s a GOOD THING. Why? Because now you know how your consumer is going to react, how they think, you know their psychology… and now you can act strategically.

The most strategic way to deal with this is to tackle both potential obstacles. If it’s your fault, if your product/service has flaws, IMPROVE IT. Keep getting feedback and improving it. If your consumer returns your product, ask why. If the consumer is having to conquer their own personal obstacles, HELP THEM through it. Hold their hand and help them cross that bridge.

Are they procrastinating? Provide a schedule – charge them a small fee for it, or give it for free as a bonus. Whatever you do, establish that strategic relationship, where they feel you’re looking out for their best interest, but at the same time, you’re ensuring their focus remains with your brand, your company. You’re ensuring that they don’t even bother looking at other competitors because their awareness hasn’t grown in that global sense because you catch them at a point before it can get to that level.

Get them to their destination no matter what it takes. That’s when businesses thrive through recommendations and especially because consumers become loyal and are open to any other follow-up product/service you have to offer.

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Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Promise Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology Emotional Branding Marketing Psychology

Branding Psychology Insights: How Consumers REALLY View Your Brand

If you read Brand Strategy: How To Fuel Consumer Motivation, then you’re well aware of the fact that consumers don’t buy the product, the service, or even the brand… they are buying the end result. They are buying the benefits and solutions.

The end result, the solutions, and the benefits are essentially feelings that humans desire on the deepest level – joy, fullness, satisfaction, happiness, confidence, acceptance, etc. Anything we really do, anything we pursue, we do it to experience some form of these positive feelings.

If we were to boil down brand marketing to the core…

It’s how well you can associate your brand, in the mind of your consumer, as being the BRIDGE to the end result they want.

Your brand is the face of the product or service that’s going to get them to those feelings. Just like we have physical bodies, made up of our inner biology which is capable of accomplishing many things… Our physical appearance, the way we present ourselves, our name, our tone and communication style… all of these are elements of our personal brand.

How well people associate your name with how well you can do something for them, is the strength of your personal brand. 

It’s not about amazing your service is. You could be the best lawyer in the world, but if you haven’t built your personal brand and no one can look at you and instantly become aware of their desired end result, then you’re depriving not only yourself of business, but also the world of your true capabilities.

The lawyer is the bridge to the settlement. It’s a painful bridge to cross for most people – one that costs money and time… and the experience to the end result is never really pleasant either. So in law firm marketing, the main focus is usually on the end result… never on the experience getting there – “We will win your case”.. etc.

So what does this REALLY mean for brand marketing?

In between your consumer and their desired end result, is a bridge. Your product or service is that bridge. Your brand is the promise of how quickly/effectively/inexpensively/pleasantly (depends on consumer needs)… will your consumer get to the end result. If they care about safety, your brand represents a safe passage to their end result.

If your consumer could have it their way, they would eliminate that bridge and get their desired end result INSTANTLY. Which makes sense. We all want instant gratification – for everything! We don’t like things out of our control – like spending time to get what we want and having to walk across those bridges. We view them as obstacles. Things that aren’t avoidable. Things that separate us from what we want.

Key Insight: Your product is your customer’s obstacle.

That might be difficult to digest. No matter how much you think your brand or your product is special because it does so much for your customer – it’s still the obstacle that the customer has to get around to get what they want. It’s a hassle.

Your consumer has to actually pay money for it. They have to give up their time as well, to cross that bridge. I’ve met a lot of brand and business owners who have grown to be so attached to their product or service that they associate their own sense of pride with it. It no longer becomes about finding the customer… it becomes about ‘the customer will find our product because it’s clearly amazing, and if they don’t want it, then that’s unfortunate for them’.

That’s probably the main reason why us brand consultants get clients. It’s because we don’t have any attachment to our clients’ business or their brand, so we see everything from a third person perspective, from the consumer’s perspective, and we strategize and advise accordingly.

If you could see the consumer’s perspective, marketing strategy would come naturally and logically. You wouldn’t need to hire consultants. Sharing that insight is probably not  in my best interest… but regardless, why is this concept extremely important for you to realize?!

Well once you understand the idea that your product isn’t this amazing gift to your consumer, that it’s actually an obstacle, NOW you can be much more strategic when you try to market it and present it in a way that your consumer will find appealing… because now you’re seeing THEIR perspective.

Now you’re in their mind with them. You can build a connection. You now have the ability to be their friend, not a salesperson. If you read Marketing Persuasion Strategy: The Deep Psychology of Consumer Persuasion, then you know that consumer’s don’t want to be sold, they want to buy. Friends shop together, they encourage each other to buy things that are GOOD for them, that will make them happy. They even ask each other’s opinion. Imagine the strength of your relationship with your consumer, if they’re asking YOUR opinion on what to buy.

Well the first step to building a strong brand-consumer relationship is realizing how your audience views your product. The next step is positioning your brand to be completely synonymous with the end result. If you have a bridge in front of you and can’t even see your destination, how likely would you be to cross it?

And you need to remember that consumers do have one thing in their control… and that’s the ability to choose from different OPTIONS. 

Enter brand competition.

We buy cars to take us places. Our goal isn’t the car… it’s the destinations the car will take us to. If we had the option of teleportation, we would happily choose it and never drive again. But since teleportation is not a current option, we need cars (the bridges to our goal).

The best thing we can do is hope that crossing the bridge will be a pleasant experience in itself.  We look for what can be the best in-car experience. That experience itself, can be a selling factor. So different car brands sell different experiences while driving. They target different feelings. Volvo targets the feeling of safety. Mercedes targets the feeling of prestige.

Something to think about: Knowing that your product is the obstacle, the bridge, to your consumer’s end result… what would define the best ‘bridge-crossing’ experience? What would define the most desired products or services?

I think the ultimate definition, the ultimate strategy, is that if you can create an experience for your consumer that is so pleasing as they travel to their end result… that your consumer actually FORGETS about the end result because they’re lost in the experience… that’s when you can quickly and easily rise to market leadership.

Make them want the experience of crossing the bridge, MORE than they want the end result it gives them. Make the end result a BONUS. Who really cares about the destination when they’re driving a Lamborghini? Who really cares about the health benefits of getting relevant vitamins when they’re chewing on a tasty gummy multi-vitamin candy?

Two rules:

1) Make your brand synonymous with the end result

2) Make the experience of your product or service (crossing the bridge) more appealing that (or just as appealing as) the end result

You have a sure winner if you employ both rules – but that’s not always possible. It depends on a lot of factors. BUT you can always employ one of them. Most companies employ can only employ one.

Eating at McDonald’s is about the experience, not the end result. The end result usually leaves most people feeling guilty. Same with drinking Coke, it’s about the experience. Drinking Diet Coke however, is about the experience, but it’s also positioned in a way that ‘it’s not that bad… don’t feel guilty… because it’s diet Coke!’.

Sometimes real-estate agents aren’t able to guarantee that their clients will get the house of their dreams, but if the clients know that the real-estate agent’s service is extremely pleasant and that he or she will try their best, etc…. if their clients know the experience dealing with the agent will be a comfortable process… that’s enough for the clients to give the agent their business. But what if the agent has a successful history and can promise the client what they want, PLUS promise a pleasant experience as they work together? How easy would it be for the agent to build his or her brand? Others would actually build it for them.

I started writing this post to explain the psychology behind how consumers view obstacles and what that means for your brand marketing strategy – but it took a little turn.  In the next post you’ll learn 2 ways consumer’s react to obstacles and how by knowing this, you can be sure to INSTANTLY and significantly prevent a reduction in brand equity.

More importantly, you will learn how to leverage human psychology to build a brand that lives in your consumer’s mind… because that’s what Brand Marketing Psychology is all about.

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Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology Marketing Psychology

How To Influence Consumer Reaction by Identifying Their Psychological Profile

Background Psychology: Control, Limitations, and Abundance

We humans enjoy having control over the majority of experiences we have. We crave control. We usually want things in excess and don’t like limits of things because at the end of the day, we know we can have more of what we are in control of.

Food and money are examples of things we enjoy having control over and enjoy having an abundance of. Both can impact our physical experience significantly. But whenever anything is limited, we lose the control we had and are forced to react to the limitation instead.

Limitations bother us. Having a limit of food or having a limit of money, forces us to react in a way to deal with it accordingly. Some deal with a plan, others don’t even want to look at it. Having an abundance of anything, means we have control over it – which is why we always seek abundance because on a deep level, we want control.

Can you think of a brand that offers their audience an abundance or themselves? I can think of Google, Facebook, Twitter – these brands offer an abundance of online services because they’re really not limited themselves, based on their size and based on the abundant resource the internet is in itself.

The sad reality when it comes to business is that very rarely can a business offer its audience an ABUNDANCE of anything. Most products and services are limited to a certain amount by some resource on either the consumers end or businesses end. Therefore, consumers will generally always be reactors to a business and a brand.

Without abundance, consumer’s won’t feel a sense of control. They automatically see limit – and when there’s limit, that’s when decision-making comes into play. The most ridiculous decisions are made when there’s a perception of ‘no limit’ – just look at the world’s depleting fresh water supply. Humans don’t really see water as being a limited resource. Once they do however, decision for its use will be a lot different than it is now, a lot less care-free.

Summary 

Abundance –> No limits –> Triggers sense of control (become the cause not the effect or the reactor) –>  Freedom (deep human desire) –> Care-free decisions!

(Think of this concept and the super-rich of our society…)

When a brand is synonymous with ‘unlimited’ amounts of service or products that’s FREE ( because money limits)… they will attract everyone… those businesses thrive and can SCALE easily (Google, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)

Most businesses can’t offer abundance to their consumers.

No Abundance  –> Feeling of being limited –> Loss of sense of control –> No longer in power (become the reactor instead of the cause) –> No freedom –> Decisions are now very well thought-out and restricted

Your Brand Marketing Strategy

So knowing that your audience will generally be a reactor to your brand, which influences the decision your customer makes in relationship to your brand, you must leverage the psychology of HOW your consumer reacts, so you can strategically position your brand marketing strategy.

control - timeConsider this – the things that usually limit us are those things that are FIXED. Taxes are fixed. We have no control over taxes. The amount of time we have in a day is fixed. We have to work around these things that are fixed. We don’t like having a limit of time and we generally aren’t fond of paying taxes. So what’s the core reason behind this?

The reason is because we are more inclined towards being the CAUSE, not the EFFECT. We like to impact, not be forced to react. When things are fixed we are no longer the controllers, we are reactors. For example, seeing how time is fixed and that we only have 24 hours in a day, time is out of our control – we can’t pause time or speed it up. Thus, we react to time by organizing our lives around it.

Your audience will primarily be either 1 of the following 2 Types of Reactors:

1) The Planner

Planners will look at the entire 24 hours as a whole and divide up the day in chunks of what they’re going to do – they plan it out step by step.

2) The Freethinker 

The Freethinker will realize that there are 24 hours in a day, acknowledge that it’s limited, and will decide to experience every second as much as they can – and the only way they can do this is by trying not to think about it at all or by only thinking about what they will do an hour or two from now.

Besides time, another thing that is fixed in our lives is space – and just like with time, we react to the space we live in, as either the Planner or the Freethinker.

Ever heard of the idea that a person’s environment is a direct reflection of their mind’s environment? If someone likes to plan their time out and keep their experiences very structured, that’s probably how the space around them is going to be. Their desk will be organized. Their room will be neat and tidy.

Planners live there life according to a plan that they have strategically set out. They love schedules and timelines. They tend to set rules and regulations. You can guess what positions they probably hold in the corporate world. They will not be pleased with anyone who breaks rules.

Freethinkers are more spontaneous. They live more ‘in the present’. They adapt to changes as opposed to having changes adapt to them. This isn’t the same differentiation between the right-brain and left-brain theory you may have heard of. Although some similarities exist, this is specifically to do with the way people deal with the time and space around them.

organizedPlanners are all about:

  • Rules and regulations
  • Being on time
  • Making hard decisions; only changing them based on facts
  • Cleanliness and organization
  • List-making
  • Planning
  • Schedules

Freethinkers are all about:

  • Going with the flow
  • Don’t care about time
  • Impulsive decisions
  • Despise rules
  • Cluttered environment
  • Agendas and schedules are scary for them
  • Flexible in their decisions

Brand Marketing Insight

Understanding whether your consumer is primarily a PLANNER or FREETHINKER can give you a point of leverage that is extremely beneficial as you create your brand marketing strategy and build your brand. The way in which your consumer organizes time and space in his or her life, DIRECTLY influences the decisions that they make.

This can also give you significant insight on the types of people working in your business, representing your brand. This can give you significant insight if you’re a start-up brand and need to pitch your business to an investor. You can cater your brand’s message, positioning, and strategy for your audience; whether your audience is your customer, your manager, or an investor. You can draw out the decision you want them to take based on their psychological profile, based on whether or not they are a Planner or Freethinker. And here’s how you can do that:

Your Brand Marketing Psychology Strategy

Before you begin assuming whether your audience is a Planner or Freethinker, you need to do something called market research – you may have heard of it. As a brand consultant, I rarely see businesses approaching market research in the most effective way possible, let alone actually doing it enough or recognizing its immense value.

Anyway, if you have been interacting with your audience long enough, it is highly likely that you can make the assumption of whether or not they are Planners or Freethinkers. Regardless, testing and research should never end. I would suggest you still try to identify who your audience really is to confirm your assumption, or at the very least you will gain some insight that you may have overlooked.

So how can you identify your audience type?

One way is to observe their behavior.

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” – Marilyn Vos Savant

If your audience are those working with you in your company for example:

  • Observe their desk, is it clean or messy?
  • Observe their timing, are they rushing to make it on time or arrive quite early?

Depending on your relationship, asking questions can be an option. This would work well for service oriented firms with clients that they have good relationships with. There are countless ways to literally just directly ask your customer about themselves. Whichever way you choose, try to find out if they live their life spontaneously or according to a set plan. Try and find out how often they change their mind once they’ve made their decisions.

Applying the Insight Gained After Identifying Your Audience

At the end of the day, you want to create a connection with your audience. You want to relate to them. You want to speak to their personality and show them that you get who they are. We give our attention to and are influenced strongly by those who are ‘like’ us.

If you realize the majority of your audience are PLANNERS – reach out to them in a planned and methodical style.

If you’re a marketing consulting firm servicing a personal injury law firm – let’s make the generalization that your audience (lawyers) will be primarily PLANNERS – therefore make sure you start and finish all meetings ON TIME. Make sure to be prepared to get a hard YES or a hard NO. You’re not going to get any wishy-washy answer. And if you get a NO, having identified your audience beforehand, NOW you can have a back-up plan. NOW you know that perhaps all you need to push them to that YES is some more relevant facts and data.

Also, be mindful of the way in which you present yourself; be organized, clean, and neat. If you’re a CEO and realize that there are individuals in your business who are Planners, provide instructions on a time-lined basis and in a very logical fashion. Provide deadlines.

If you realize the majority of your audience are FREETHINKERS– reach out to them spontaneously! Out of the blue encounters will be memorable and highly accepted.

Be creative in your message. Be FREE in your approach. Display an openness and ability to be completely flexible with outcomes and processes. Expect constantly changing decisions – the best you can do is lay out all your options. Remember to tailor these recommendations specifically for your brand, product, or service. These are just general applications of this branding psychology insight.

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Brand Building Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology Marketing Psychology

Marketing Psychology Secrets: Building Brand-Consumer Relationships

One of the best known theories of motivation in psychology is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The hierarchy of needs is organized in a way where the most basic of needs are placed at the bottom and the more complex ones at the peak.

The Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid

hierarchy-of-needs
What I find most interesting about this theory of motivation is that its evidence is clearly reflected in our current lives as humans and as a society.

If you look at the bottom 3 most basic needs, we have physiological needs which are rooted in survival, safety needs which are rooted in security, and love/belonging needs which are rooted in social connection.

In business market terminology, these needs are:

  1. The ‘Health/Well-Being’ Market (physiological)
  2. The ‘Career/Wealth/Business’ Market (safety, security)
  3. The ‘Dating/Relationships’ Market (love/belonging/connection)

It’s no surprise that these 3 categories are responsible for over 80% of sales that take place online. When people are lacking in ANY one of these three basic needs, the mind is unable to really focus on anything else. The pain, urgency, and irrational passion to find a solution to the lacking need is the driving force behind many consumer decisions. It takes priority over anything else.

The order makes a lot of sense – Health & Wellness is the first most essential need because without food, an able body, a working mind, we are incapable of doing anything else or even considering any other need. That needs to be taken care of first. Career & Wealth is second because once we have our health, we need to maintain and ensure our continuous survival through having the security of a home, consistent food and water, etc. In today’s world, security means a source of income which enables us to maintain continuous growth in our life. Third is Relationship because once we have those basic needs covered, we automatically look to connecting with others, looking past ourselves, realizing the joy and growth that being part of a society, having friends, and family can bring to us.

I believe that we’re progressing on this hierarchy not as individuals, but as a species. We’re constantly evolving in every way. There was a time when our focus was on only our survival – we were hunters and focused on  trying to figure out where our next meal would come from. Once we had a firm grasp on that, we moved up with a focus on maintaining our security through our best known method – through an income – and this gave birth to time periods like the industrial revolution. As we continued to evolve, I believe we’re now focused on relationships and social connection – hence the uproar of all the social networks that dominate the internet and people’s time and attention. Whereas once upon a time, the human species time and attention was mainly focused on making money and creating an income which ensures safety – this is why the older generation’s viewpoints conflict with the younger generation. This is why parent’s still want their children to become doctors, lawyers, accountants, whereas children want to pursue whatever they are passionate about. The focus has shifted from Safety to Belonging & Connection. (Again, I’m talking about the human species as a whole and referring mainly to the developed countries.) I would argue that this shift in focus initially started with the rise of the internet, which enabled ‘connection’ on a massive, global level.  That connection has been improving in speed, ease, and convenience DRASTICALLY ever since. Today, we have access to global social connection 24/7… in our pockets.

What does this mean for marketers and business owners?

Well firstly, GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA if you haven’t already. But secondly, think about this:

If you can understand what the world currently values and better yet, what the world will value in the next 10 – 20 years, and if you can manufacture your marketing and brand strategy accordingly, what could that mean for the long-term success of your business?

For marketers and brand builders, it’s important to know about the basic needs that fuel our motivations, because we can leverage our consumer’s desire to fulfill these basic needs when creating our marketing strategy.

The 3rd Basic and Currently Most Important Need for Businesses to Leverage – Relationships/Connection

Establishing a relationship between your brand and your consumer is the first step to increasing brand equity and creating brand loyalty. The urge to be a part of something, to feel a sense of belonging and connection, is very deep-rooted in human nature. More importantly, the factors that create a sense of belonging and connection that lead to establishing relationships, are also deeply rooted in human nature. Therefore, if we’re going to be strategic, these are the factors we must leverage to enable our consumer’s to feel a sense of belonging and connection with our brand.

One Crucial Factor To Use In Your Strategy

Robert Cialdini identified an important concept that relates to relationship-building when he created his 6 key principles of influence:

The Concept of RECIPROCITY.

Professor Regan at Cornell University displayed the power of this concept when he conducted an experiment where different subjects were rating paintings with a ‘perceived’ partner (the research assistant). Throughout the experiment, the assistant would give some subjects a drink and wouldn’t give anything to other subjects. At the end of the interaction, the assistant would ask if the subjects were willing to buy raffle tickets from him, and of course, those subjects who received the gift of a drink were more willing to purchase tickets – even though the tickets were a lot more expensive than the drink itself!

Humans are naturally inclined to give back when they have been given FIRST. Rarely does anyone take the first step – but the one who does, creates a momentum. The act of giving and serving others inspires that behavior naturally. Which is why when people see others doing something good, they automatically feel the need to good as well. Giving creates a positive emotional momentum.

law-of-reciprocity

Leverage the Concept of Reciprocity

Leveraging this natural human tendency in your marketing strategy accomplishes two things for your business:

1. If you provide your customer with some form of value, they will be a lot more likely to provide you with their business – even if the value of their business is more than the value you provided to them! But also be strategic and keep in mind the ‘value’ of your ‘value’ that you provide. What does that mean? Let’s say you offer a free promotion of some kind and your company is the first to do so. You will do very well. That is until your competitors start doing the same thing. When everyone is doing it, the value of the ‘value’ you are providing, no longer fuels the principle of reciprocity.
Reciprocity-in-College-Advertising2. Creates a strong relationship between your brand and consumer. Relationships are strengthened through the act of service and the act of giving. (Enter free prizes and giveaways – Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim contest,  WestJet giving free stuff to passengers on Christmas, etc.)

Keep in Mind & Key Takeaway

Keep in mind that as humans, we are not only compelled to return the favor when we receive value, but we’re also inclined to not have to feel obligated and in-debt towards others. Therefore, as a business you should make it a point to always be the last to give something of value to your customer, so it’s on them to always take action in your favor. If your customer has already bought your product or service, give more value by sending an appreciation email, or by sending a follow-up bonus, or by having exceptional after-sales customer service. At the very least, a thank you in some shape or form is a no-brainer, because even ‘thank-you’ is reciprocated in the form of a ‘you’re welcome’. Even if the customer can no longer buy anything you, they WILL give back value through recommendations, referrals, likes on your Facebook page, etc., which is how your brand and your business grows. Understand your consumer, their psychology, their motivation and provide them with value to evoke their willingness to take action towards your brand – that is what brand marketing psychology is all about.

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Brand Building Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Promise Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology Marketing Psychology

Brand Revitalization: Leveraging Psychology To Shift Consumer Demand (CASE STUDY: Kellogg’s Special K)

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The value of your brand is based on how much your customer wants you. Brand equity relies on customer demand. If your brand won’t care about your consumer, your consumer won’t care about your brand. If your consumer doesn’t care about your brand, if your product lacks appeal to the consumer, your brand will fail in shifting demand.

Apple captures more than 3 times the market share of the number two company in the MP3 player category – and this is if the price and other features are completely equal. Even if Apple doubled their price, they would still have market share equal to its competitor brands! That is the power of building brand equity. That is the power of understanding your consumers to such a degree, that your brand is like a magnet that pulls consumer demand towards you.

Long-established or “mature” brands often find themselves asking brand oriented questions when sales are lagging and competitors are thriving. They ask questions like:

  • “Should we re-brand?”
  • “Are our brand’s lagging because of ineffective marketing tactics?”
  • “Are we not advertising enough?”

In reality, these are questions that revolve around creating customer awareness. Customer awareness is already there. Customers already know of your brand’s existence if your brand is a long-established brand.

Instead, brand managers need to have a demand oriented perspective on the purpose of a brand. The focus needs to be on the end goal – the consumer. It’s the message that your brand is sending out that doesn’t speak to your customer’s priorities. It could also be that your product or service is flawed and is not creating recurring customers. Either way, your resources are much better spent on understanding what the customer wants, not on more advertising and on more marketing tactics.

When creating the strategy to build brand equity and shift consumer demand, you are essentially focusing on building your brand’s competitive advantage. Logically, if you’re shifting consumer demand to your brand, you’re also shifting consumer demand away from your competitor’s brand.

The Key: Develop Competitive Advantage (through demand-oriented perspective) –> Shift Consumer Demand –> Build Brand Equity

The Question: So how can you specifically develop a strong competitive advantage?

Here is how Kellogg’s Special K did it…

CASE STUDY: Kellogg’s Special K

Special K

Special K is a cereal that was introduced to the US in the 1950’s. If you’re familiar with Special K now, you’re well aware of its strong association with weight loss. You might have seen the multi-level marketing campaigns Kellogg’s has launched with this brand, especially through social media. Special K was connected with the weight loss idea from the 80’s, straight through to all of the 90’s. Back then, it was just the one flavor of cereal described as being ‘bland’. The taste was bland. The brand was bland. There was no innovation. Competitors wouldn’t look twice in fear at Special K. This is because all throughout the 80’s and 90’s, no one at Special K had a DEMAND-ORIENTED perspective. They didn’t look to understand their consumer as much as they should have.

Towards the end of the 90’s, a brilliant mind at Special K began understanding consumer priorities. They began constantly acquiring feedback to gage if consumers are getting the right experiences with the product. It was only when Special K began focusing on the consumer and asking questions like:

  • Do our consumer believe what we say about weight loss?
  • How should we deliver our promise to our consumers?
  • What makes consumer’s think about our brand?
  • What benefit are our consumer’s seeking?

This consumer-oriented perspective led to the initial process of creating a competitive advantage. This led to the process of Special K beginning to connect more powerfully with their specific target market (women aged 25-45).

Successful brands share a similar focus when it comes to developing strong competitive advantages – that focus is on TWO extremely important elements:

Vision and Innovation

Everything begins with a compelling vision. Your vision is your heritage. It’s your purpose, your identity, your central idea. New brands must develop their vision before anything else. Long-established brands have their vision in place. For long-established, mature brands however, it often becomes difficult to adapt and change with the market because the brand is so rooted in what has been ‘working’, that sticking to tradition is perceived to be the best way to go. Long-established brands feel that they need to choose between ‘change’ and ‘tradition’. The answer however, is to have a BALANCE of the two; a balance of tradition and change, in other words, of vision and innovation. In around 2000, when Special K disrupted the cereal market, I believe they shifted their focus and began fostering this balance.

They zoomed in on their vision: “to empower women to take control and maintain a healthy weight”, and leveraged it to create a measurable, specific, and direct PROMISE that resonated with the consumer.

The promise: Eat Special K two times a day for two weeks, and lose up to six pounds.

They understood that the consumer was looking for a simple, easy, solution to their dieting needs. They understood that the consumer also wanted to feel like they overcame a challenge on their journey to success. Thus, they framed their brand story as a ‘2-week challenge’.

Special K 2 Week Challenge

Finally, after years of remaining stagnant in the cereal market, Special K began aligning its vision with the consumer, and the Special K flight had taken off and was at an altitude higher than its competitors. Now it was all about maintaining that altitude and rising higher. Now it was all about INNOVATION.

Innovation is what keeps brands and businesses alive and thriving in a highly competitive environment. If your brand is defined as an innovator, it is pretty much understood that you brand has been around long enough to develop strong core values that define it, values that stood the test of time, values that have roots in a solid VISION.

Special K’s innovation started with Berry Special K – which allowed Special K to dive into the ‘good-tasting’ cereal market. Since then, we have seen Special K protein bars, shakes, water mixes, cereal bars, crackers, chips, fruit crisps, etc.

Innovation at Special KSpecial K recently:

Aug 2013 – According to market research firm Euromonitor, cold cereal sales in the US have increased only 6 percent. However, Special K has been a standout for Kellogg, with the brand’s market share increasing to 5 percent, up from approximately 3 percent a decade ago.

Aligning your vision with your consumer shifts your consumer’s demand because your brand becomes highly valued and relevant to your consumer. Aligning your innovation with your consumer shifts your consumer’s demand because your brand remains highly valued and relevant to your consumer.

The marketing team at Special K realized this and today, Special K continues to be a leader in its market.

Special K Variety

 

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Brand Building Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Promise Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology Marketing Psychology

How to Evoke Consumer Motivation Through Strategic Delivery of the Brand Story and Promise

White clock with words Time to Buy on its face

“Marketers sell the drill. Consumers buy the hole.”

No matter how great a product is, it will never sell itself. People never buy the product itself – nor do they buy the brand. People buy the benefits and solutions that the product or brand will provide. Their motivation to buy comes primarily from the expected benefits and solutions.

Throughout my marketing consulting experience, there have been too many incidences where I have seen companies with well-established, iconic brands, forget that today’s consumers are generally well-informed and won’t give in to buying a common product with a recognizable name attached to it. Most business owners still think that they’re just selling a product or service.  When business owners attempt to sell just products or services, they focus on portraying facts and informing.

Facts and information rarely motivate us. People aren’t prospects when they’re not motivated. Especially with the social media boom, where there is constant communication between brands and their consumers, people are looking for brands that embody human traits and are more receptive to their emotions.

What do I mean when I say that people don’t want to buy products, services, and brands? When businesses and marketers try to sell products, services, and brands, they focus on selling the features and the results, not the benefits and the solution.

When you tell me your new ab workout product will help me get six-pack abs, that’s a fantastic result… just what I want – except that’s what every other ab workout product is telling me. What differentiates you? The new instructional online video feature that comes with your product? That’s great, I’ll think about it. The result you provided, nor the feature you told me, hit me on an emotional level. I don’t feel an internal motivation to buy your product. If my logical mind convinces me, I MIGHT buy it. Now how would a strategic brand marketer sell an ab workout product? By emphasizing the SOLUTION and the BENEFITS. The solution that I will FEEL the enjoyment and confidence from being more attractive as a result of having the six packs abs. The solution that I will be relieved from feeling unattractive. The solution that I will feel healthier and more energetic. The benefit that by having six-pack abs, I will attract more girls, impress my friends, and feel worthy in my own eyes.

As a consumer, when I hear the benefits and solutions, when you make me feel the solution of buying your brand or product, you’re not longer selling me something, you’re making a promise to me. Now I’m emotionally connected to your brand and product, now I can hold you accountable, and holding you accountable gives me a sense of security in buying from you.

So how can brand marketers strategically and successfully portray the benefits and solutions of their brands to motivate their consumers? As consumers, our motivation comes from the brand promise, which conveys the satisfaction and the avoidance of our pain that we’ll feel when buying a particular brand or product. And one of the major ways that brand promise is communicated, is through the brand story.

The Brand Story

Essentially, what people pay for when they buy your brand, is the story.  Brands that are successful in today’s world, are those that are embodying human characteristics. Just as how every human has a story behind them, a story that makes them who they are and who they are going to be, a brand is no different.

When we first meet someone who we’re genuinely interested in connecting with, what is the main thing that we’re trying to learn about them? When we ask each other ‘what do you do’ or ‘where are you from’ or ‘what got you into…’ or ‘tell me about…’, what are we trying to find out? We’re trying to figure out their story– because that helps us evaluate whether we can connect with them. And on a more superficial level, or even when company’s interview and hire, understanding people’s story tells us if that individual can be of value to us now or in the future.

Understanding people’s story can tell us, on a deeper level, how connecting with them will move us towards a solution or benefit that we want. In the same way, understanding your brand’s story gives consumers a sense of who your brand is, what you value, what they can expect from your brand in the future, and how your brand will help them reach the solutions and benefits they desire. If done right, you create a connection with the consumer, which is what successful brand strategy is all about.

The Life of the Party

We’ve all noticed that those individuals who seem to be the most interesting, most entertaining, most engaging, are usually those that are great storytellers. Your brand should be no different. The successful brand engages, entertains, intrigues, and connects with its consumer through storytelling. The successful brand is the “life of the party”.

If you think of your product’s category as a never-ending party, all brands in that category are essentially competing for attention. They’re competing to be the life of the party. The life of the party is the vortex that draws everything towards it. The life of the party connects with everyone – and the more it connects, the more it stands out to others.  Make your brand the life of the party!

When the brand story rings true for the consumer, it contributes to how they feel. This gives your brand authenticity, and it ignites engagement and strong emotion. This is where the motivation to purchase rises from. Ultimately, you shift your consumer’s demand… and your brand equity rises.

Lastly, remember that as a storyteller you’re also being held accountable for your promise. Sure great story tellers get hired. Sure great story tellers make a lot of connections. It’s clear that they have communicated their ‘promise’ successfully to a company where they got the job, or on a social psychological level, to their friends and connections. However, you will find that sometimes even the greatest of story tellers only deliver stories, nothing more. They don’t deliver on their promise. And at the end of it all, they fall faster than they escalated.

If your brand tells a story, makes a promise, connects emotionally with your consumer, but doesn’t deliver… your story becomes compromised and your brand plummets. Without delivery and evidence, your story is nothing but a fairy-tale.

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Brand Building Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology

How to Leverage Pricing Psychology to Influence Consumer Buying Decisions

Understanding your consumer to build a strong marketing strategy is fundamentally about:

  1. Understanding the psychology behind how your consumers make use of their time and money
  2. Understanding the psychology of where your consumers focus their attention

The amount of aspects which influence someone’s choices are endless.  The more we understand them, the more we as marketers are capable of influencing their purchasing decisions. It doesn’t help that consumers are horrible at explaining their choices. So asking them is rather pointless. They often find it rather difficult to explain why they choose one option over another.

decision-making

Traditionally, marketers use discrete choice modelling, conjoint analysis, or concept test to deduce decision drivers. However, if we can understand key psychology principles on how the human mind works, we can employ creative strategies to build brand equity by influencing the consumer’s decision in favor of your brand.

If we know anything about consumer psychology, it’s that consumers generally make irrational decisions. The human mind is fascinatingly irrational. Humans rarely make choices in unconditional terms. Understanding this idea can hold great benefits for marketers in employing strategies in each of the four P’s of marketing – especially when it comes to PRICING strategy. Why particularly pricing? Because as consumers, we don’t have an internal value measure that tells us how much things are worth. Instead we focus on the comparative advantage of one thing over another and assess value accordingly.

We see this pricing strategy in effect on a regular basis when we constantly observe the fuel price. There was a point in Canada when $1.20/L was considered expensive. But for the past two weeks, when the price jumped to $1.30/L, the amount of drivers completely filling up their tanks decreased, and the amount of people draining their gas meter to its limit increased. Two weeks later, after the PERCEIVED over-priced gas ‘fell’ from $1.30 to $1.25/L, gas stations were swarming with cars. I was one of them. I filled up a full tank of gas and I actually felt good about it! I felt like I was actually saving money. Why does this happen? We don’t know how much the actual price of gas ‘should’ be, but we know that RELATIVE to what it was before, it’s cheaper now, therefore I’m getting more value and I’m saving money.

The same thing happens when people are out looking to buy a car and end up spending more than they intend to, simply because the more expensive car has a greater overall discount. You can save 25% by buying the more expensive car, or save 10% when you buy the cheaper one. The one people generally choose costs more, but consumer’s are prone to not look the other way when they see more value for their money. It’s very true that as consumers, we don’t always make choices that are in our best interest.

Consumers are increasingly developing a need to attain the feeling that they are intelligent shoppers, that they know how to get the most for their money, that they know value when they see it. This is the reason why over the past few years, companies such as Groupon, Livingsocial, and TeamBuy are becoming more popular. Getting a deal makes the consumer feel good. Marketers are using these services by offering deep discounts, primarily to encourage people to go ahead and try their spas, restaurants, etc. They’re hoping for repeat customers. There is no doubt that this strategy is effective, especially in a time of economic downturn where price-sensitivity is rising and people are craving new experiences for a reasonable price. However, brand equity can be seriously hurt in the long-term, if companies continually rely on employing price-promotion strategies and continuous discounts.

There are much better strategies to enhance the perceived value of your brand, without having to offer deep discounts. My favourite is by using a COMPARATIVE strategy.

Take a look at the following diagram:

relativity

 

The middle circle in this picture doesn’t appear to be staying the same size;  when the middle circle is placed in between smaller circles, it grows bigger. When it’s placed in between bigger circles, it seems smaller. In both positions, the middle circle is the same size. Our mind creates the illusion of its altering size because we look at it in comparison to what’s around it.

Humans are always comparing. We compare our friends, jobs, relationships, and especially our POSSESSIONS (our cars, homes, wines, cell phones, etc.) Most of these possessions are branded. And for most brand-conscious consumers, the brand they choose is a reflection of who they are; their status, their personality, etc. Thus after making comparisons, consumers always want to feel good about their possessions by knowing that they have the thing with the higher value because that reflects high value in their sense of self. So how can we as marketers, leverage the comparative nature of humans to reinforce higher value in the mind of our consumer?

An easy way is by creating the expectancy of a higher future price. Like in the example with the gas prices. I figured that gas prices will go back up in a few days, therefore most people and I were more than happy to fill up gas as soon as possible.

Another way is by creating STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES. These alternatives are placed beside the intended sell to serve as a subtle influence. There are two essential methods to employing the strategic alternatives strategy. The first is by presenting an extremely unattractive alternative and the second is by presenting an incredibly high priced alternative.

Remember when Apple came out with the iPod Touch? This was their pricing strategy:

pricing strategy

  •  16GB for $229, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399
  •  The extra features are only available in the upgraded options (32GB & 64GB)

Which option would you choose? The majority of consumers would conclude that they attain the best value from the 32GB option. Some would buy the 16GB. Few would buy the 64GB.

The extra features on the upgrades makes the 16GB incredibly unattractive, especially when the next upgrade only has a $70 difference with double the storage capacity! The 64GB has no added features, but doubles the storage for $100 difference.

So the 16GB is unattractive and the 64GB is not ‘worth’ the value. This is the STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVE strategy in action. Which Ipod Touch do you think Apple was aiming to be its main sell?

Knowing these strategies can not only make you more strategic as a marketer, but more aware as a consumer.

Marketers should realize that coupons and discounts aren’t always the answer to establishing a certain value to influence consumer purchasing decisions. A lot of innovation and creativity goes into promotional, placement, and product strategy. Innovation in pricing strategy isn’t something that should be overlooked.Your brand can appeal to the mind of your consumer by understanding how their mind leads to the purchase decisions they make.

Understand your consumer’s psychology to build powerful, demand-shifting, and creative brand marketing strategies – that’s what Brand Marketing Psychology is all about.

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Brand Building Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Promise Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology

How To Name Your Product Or Brand Using Psychology Tactics

brand-thot-baloon1

Being the creative marketers that we are, we love the idea of naming our brand. It feels like art to us. It’s one of the “fun” aspects of owning a brand or a company – coming up with the name, logo, tag-line, etc.

Well I’m here to tell you that although you should definitely indulge in the fun creative process, you should also remember that naming your brand, creating your logo, and coming up with the tagline, is just as much an art as it is a science.

One of the major mistakes most entrepreneurs and new brand owners make, is getting too excited with and diving into, the creative aspect of brand development. Before doing anything in terms of naming your brand, you need to first make sure you have completely developed your brand’s short and long term strategy. Why? Because the name of your brand has a strategic role to play – it needs to successfully communicate the positioning and personality of the brand.

If you haven’t developed the strategy behind your brand, if you haven’t completely understood your consumer, how can you create a name that will resonate with your audience for years to come? Your brand name needs to create an emotional bond with your customer. Thus, when considering a name, it is vital for us to understand our consumer’s thought patterns, to determine how we can create a name that is relevant, a name that has stretch, adaptability, and flexibility as your business and the market grows.

Establishing the strategic focus of your brand, before anything, is vital in the brand-naming process. At the end of the day, brand name generation mainly has to do with long-term strategy. This is because short-term strategy revolves around ‘survival’ – being unique, being first in a category, and ensuring that your brand possesses a specific WORD or CONCEPT in the consumer’s mind.

In long-term brand strategy however, all of those things vanish and what really matters is what your customers call your brand and what they call your competitor’s brand. Therefore, your decision on what you name your product, is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in the course of developing your brand. In the long term, the recognition of your brand comes primarily from its name.

Quite often founders and new brand owners have the urge to come up with descriptive names for their company. This isn’t always the best method. In today’s increasingly competitive environment, your brand needs to go beyond focusing on the physical attributes of the product or service itself.

What’s the difference between The Container Store and IKEA? Although they both sell storage boxes and baskets, who is more well-known amongst consumers? It’s easy to think that if your brand name describes what you do, then it will be easier for consumers to understand and choose your brand and therefore, you won’t need to invest too much in marketing. But descriptive names are limiting and don’t allow for you to have a strong competitive advantage.

What if Twitter was called ‘Status’ or if Ebay was called ‘Echo Bay Technology Group’? These are names that were almost chosen by both companies. Essentially what we must realize is:

Descriptive names are easier to REMEMBER, but creative names are harder to FORGET.

Research and test out your brand name with your audience before concretely establishing it. Figure out if it communicates desired attributes or specific benefits of your product or service. Ask people around you what they think. Your brand name represents your promise to your consumers. It differentiates the value your brand offers from competitor brands. Think of it as a recall and recognition device – over time and through continuous use, your brand name will become a valuable asset and intellectual property. Most importantly, be certain that your brand name is flexible enough to survive for decades to come.

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Brand Building Brand Differentiation Brand Management Brand Positioning Brand Strategy Brand Strategy for Start-Ups Branding Psychology Consumer Psychology Marketing Psychology

Brand Competition Psychology: How Consumer Choices Effect Demand and Why You Should Appreciate Your Competitors

pc vs mac

The goal of every brand marketer should be to build brand equity. What exactly is brand equity? It’s the ability of your brand to shift consumer demand. Consumers have a vast array of choices these days. Today, we walk into a supermarket and are actually confused by all the different choices we are bombarded with! Whereas not too long ago, we would be hoping for more products and as consumers, find ourselves disappointed with things that don’t really serve our needs. Today, brand strategy is not so much about creating demand than it is about shifting your consumer’s demand to YOUR brand.

Fact: Higher demand of your brand leads to higher market share.

Now logically, there are two ways to increase market share and become a market leader:

1)      Eliminate competition

“Well if I don’t have competition and I’m the only choice for my consumer, then I can have all or most of the market share.”

2)      Enhance brand equity

“I will make it so that my brand will shift consumer demand from my competitors to me.”

It’s surprising how the majority of companies today, choose Option 1.

Greed is not good, when your aim is to shift consumer demand.

The leading brand in a category habitually tries to stretch its appeal in order to seize every last bit of market share. What they fail to recognize is that when you stretch your brand, it deteriorates and weakens. The leading brand should endure competitors and also appreciate them. 

The entrance of Pepsi-Cola, was probably one the best things to have happened for Coca-Cola. Why? The competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola makes customers more aware of Cola. The Cola category has been growing ever since this rivalry erupted.

april-fool- ad

If you want to build market share, understand the consumer’s mind, where your brand lives, and leverage that beautiful asset to create a strong brand building strategy. How consumers respond to competition and choices is crucial for any brand marketer to understand.

Customers always have choices, even when no competition exists. They can make the decisions to choose beer, apple juice, or water to drink instead of cola. The reason is because increased competition grabs more attention of customers and has the habit of increasing sales in the category.

Choice fuels demand.

Choice is seen as a huge benefit. Without choice, customers begin questioning the category itself. For instance, customers begin questioning the price point, in wonder if they’re paying too much – “How can I judge the price if I don’t have anything to compare it with?”

The psychology of most brand marketers and companies is that they want to have an unfair advantage over their competitors. They can’t handle the idea of having an even playing field. So they come to the conclusion, that the only way to keep as much of the market share as possible, is to drive out the competition. That’s when they end up making horrible branding decisions and decide to expand, extend their line, etc., which only further weakens the brand.

Appreciate your competitors. Competition leads to increased choices.

There is however, a limit to how much choice there should be for a consumer in a particular category. Having too much choice can definitely be detrimental. Having too many brands can lead to having too much variety, which leads to greater confusion for the consumer.

What’s the right amount of competition? Two seems to be the best number – Coca Cola/Pepsi, Nintendo/PlayStation, Duracell/Energizer, etc. Too much choice leads to reduced consumption.

In the consumer’s mind, if there isn’t any competition they often think that companies could take advantage of them and rip them off. This is why we usually see competing businesses clustered in one area. We’ve all seen it – how similar businesses are usually grouped together in one neighborhood. This is especially evident in large cities. These business clusters attract more customers because now customers have more than one store to shop at, in one trip. Time is limited these days for the average individual. Moreover, customers can now easily make comparisons.

Healthy competition is good. No brand can ever be capable of dominating the entire market. Anything greater than 50% is extremely rare. If your aim is to gain market share greater than 50%, it’s more efficient to consider creating several independent brands (not line extensions).

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Luxury Branding Psychology: How to Implant “High-Quality” in the Mind of the Consumer

Is building a better quality product the same as building a better brand?

One would think so – and it’s not uncommon for new marketers to think so. But when creating a strong brand marketing strategy, this is not the case. There are almost no correlations between best quality and most successful brands. We’ve seen it many times –  where the most preferred brand, is not the leading one.

Why is the Pepsi Taste Challenge so successful? People enjoy Pepsi a lot more, yet Coca Cola is the leading brand. The reason is because the idea of quality is something that resides in the mind of the consumer. The idea of quality is something that is implanted in the mind of the consumer.

One of the surest ways to do this is through further constricting the focus of your brand. This is something I will cover in depth in a future article. For now, what you need to know is that by becoming an expert and by becoming focused on one thing as opposed to many, your brand becomes perceived as being of higher quality.

If you’re creating a soccer team, would you choose the athlete who plays every sport or would you choose the athlete who plays only soccer? Obviously the soccer player. That’s how consumers view brands.

A brand that claims to do everything is less trustworthy, than the brand who claims they are the best at one thing.

Be the best at one thing. 

Be a big fish in a small pond, not a small fish in a big one.

Another way to build the perception of the quality of your brand in your consumer’s mind is through high-pricing – something you may have already realized to some degree.

Below are examples of a few brands that the average individual would associate with being ‘high-quality’. These are also brands which profit immensely from their high price:

  • Mercedes
  • Montblanc
  • Jack Daniel’s
  • Rolex
  • Rolls-Royce

What often happens is that brand owners either feel that their brand should be a high-quality brand but are afraid to make the price equivalent to what they think their brand is worth… OR some brand owners feel that their brand is a high quality brand but in reality it isn’t, yet they still charge the higher price.

Before even considering charging a higher price, you need to be confident in the high quality of your brand. Quality comes first. 

If your brand has products and services with a high price but has a low or average quality perception of a brand, that will discourage consumers from sticking around for very long. That violates the idea of brand consistency. But if your quality is on higher level, don’t be afraid to charge a higher price for your brand. Having a higher price on your brand, can in fact be a benefit to the consumer. By buying a product of brand that is associated with high quality, consumers feel a certain level of satisfaction from the purchase.

The individual who purchases a Movado, doesn’t do so to tell time better, but to make others aware that he or she can afford it. There’s a quote I heard somewhere ; it goes something like… “if your watch costs more than $50,000, it’s no longer a time-telling device, it’s jewelry.” Also, don’t rely only on quality to develop a successful brand. At the end of the day, it is the brand with the better strategy that wins.

The other most important thing to think about when employing high quality strategy, is how you will justify the increase in price of your product or service? What can you emphasize? You need to pick one thing that you can be the best at and be a leader in – this comes back to the idea of constricting the focus of your brand.

Take a look at Whole Foods, who earns most of its profits in prepared foods, where the price premium is very high, with operating margins of approximately 7%. They justified their premium price by emphasizing luxury with organic food, sophisticated in store presentation, and knowledgeable staff. That was enough to convince customers to pay a higher price for prepared food.

Leverage the psychology of how consumers think to build your brand – that’s what Brand Marketing Psychology is all about.