We live in the age of the consumer. It’s everywhere. Hundreds of articles and series of books discuss it: “The consumer should come first.” Brands need to be customer-centric. Or rather, customer-obsessed.
When did this change happen?
There was a time when customer focus was not an issue. Small shop owners knew the regular customers by name, knew what goods they were looking for, and talked to them often.
With the spread of mass production, facelessness and impersonalization appeared, together with the comparison of product features and the listing of benefits in marketing communication.
Today, after the digital transformation, we live in an age of “mass personalization”. The possibilities have multiplied, the old methods no longer work. Consumers can make their voices heard online without a hitch and if something doesn’t win their liking, they have the power to turn away from a brand en masse.
People don’t just want to be passive recipients of messages, they want to converse with companies just as much as they do with their friends. And their adherence to brands can be influenced by much less tangible qualities.
These times are for brands that can connect with their target audience by human feelings. Brands that can communicate as if they were human.
Brands which communicate with consumers in a way that feels more human will have better engagement, leading to improved business results.
Dipanjan Chatterjee
This assumption is supported by specific data as well: the software company Braze, with the help of Forrester Consulting, has conducted several studies in recent years on what characteristics provide the emotional connection for the consumer in relation to a brand.
What makes a brand human?
The Braze Humanity Index survey in 2018 with thousands of participants put the following characteristics on the top list:
- Responsive
- Social
- Friendly
- Thoughtful
- Helpful
- Personable
- Intelligent
- Honest
- Reassuring
Traits like surprising, glamorous, funny, and weird came to the bottom of the list. So the main point was support, assistance, and credibility.
In 2019, the list changed as follows:
- Understanding (New)
- Friendly
- Comforting (New)
- Personable
- Reassuring
- Surprising (New)
- Thoughtful
- Responsive
- Happy (New)
Functional characteristics were also examined, in three categories (natural, personal, considerate), this list was the list in the first year:
- Speaks like a regular person would (natural)
- Shows they value my time and business (considerate)
- Communicates with me in the tone I want them to (natural)
- Is responsive to me when I need it (considerate)
- Sends me clear, understandable messages (natural)
- Shows they understand what matters to me right now (personal)
- Communicates with me at convenient times (considerate)
- Communicates with me using my preferred contact method (considerate)
- Provides great recommendations (personal)
- Understands my preferences and avoids what I don’t like (personal)
The list for the second year included the following:
- Speaks like a regular person would (natural)
- Is responsive to me when I need it (considerate)
- Is a brand I would recommend to friends/family (personal)
- Shows they value my time and business (considerate)
- Communicates with me at convenient times (considerate)
- Shows they understand what matters to me right now (personal)
- Fits my lifestyle (personal)
- Communicates with me using the contact method I prefer (considerate)
- Understands my preferences and avoids what I don’t like (personal)
- Gets me and what I care about (personal)
Notice that the number of personal items in the second list has increased compared to the first list.
The best brand strategy
Specific steps we can take
1. Harness the power of brand personality when creating your brand strategy
Brand personality relies on psychology and offers consumers a sense of “it’s something familiar”. It weaves through the entire brand experience and results in an instant connection (mostly not even conscious). Today, most love brands take the opportunity and use the power of brand personality.
2. Build your brand even more empathetic perseverantly
This is not a task we do once and then forget about. As more and more companies realize how important this is, the bar is getting higher. Keep finding new ways.
3. Be an ally
Emotions are what move consumers the most, encouraging participation and loyalty. People clearly want a brand to show that they are understanding and friendly. (In terms of emotions, storytelling can also be a great help.)
4. Incorporate empathy into your processes
It’s not an easy task, but the best brands clearly demonstrate that they listen to and understand customers, and act accordingly. (So they are authentic too.) Companies that want to skip the rising bar need to incorporate empathy into their operation so it’s important that their employees keep this in mind.
5. Be consistent
Top brands do not build relationships with their customers on their own terms, but take into account what the latter want. In addition, it is essential that this personal communication be operated across platforms.
All of these suggest that we should never forget that we find a human being on the other side. The keyword is empathy. It is essential that we also involve our employees in this transformation and shape the whole operation of our company interwoven with the awareness that empathy and personality are essential elements for gaining trust. It may not be an easy transition, but its impact will be felt in the year-end statements.
