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Showing posts from August, 2012

The importance of brand empathy.

This piece from HBR corroborates they key themes I've advocated in my 4Es branding model. HBR calls into question the commonly accepted belief that customers want relationships with brands.  They don't.  It goes on to point out that what customers seek is a sense of shared values. That's why I've embraced a brand planning model based on the power of empathy. As I've written previously, I believe that the way in which we form brand relationships mirrors how we form personal relationships.  Forces such as empathy, experiences, energy and endorsement help form our real life relationships. Empathy tends to be the basis of our strongest and lasting personal relationships.  We connect with people who share our values, sense of style, even our sense of humor.  This holds true with brands.  Brand empathy occurs when customers project onto your brand their own attitudes and values. Like people, brands are judged by what they do, not just by what they say.  We ten

Nostradamus and social media

I've been in conversations lately in which people predict that social media will prove to be a marketing folly – a waste of time and money better spent in other channels. This may or not be true.  I don't know.  I'm not sure even the great 16th Century seer could give us guidance. However, I do believe that the way in which we'll use this medium in the future will be very different than how we're using it today.  It will evolve in ways we cannot yet see, and in doing so will become more useful for marketers. Why do I believe this?  Sometimes the past can give us a clue to the future. Back in the late '90s, and even in the early 2000s, the way in which agencies and marketers used the web bears no resemblance to the way in which we're using it today.  First of all, dial-up was the dominant access method, so it was unrealistic to use rich images and long-form video (the dominant form of interactive marketing today).  Second, we were very inexperienced