I’ve written about brand trust before and now I want to talk about the other side of the coin – brand love.
Brand love is an incredibly powerful marketing strategy. It’s based on building an emotional connection with your customers that goes beyond simply filling a need. Instead, they have a deep and compelling connection with your brand.
Although most people like to think they make logical purchase decisions, the reality is that emotions play a big part. Purchases are often influenced by a brand’s values and how you connect with them.
The world’s most loved brands
Recently, Talkwalker, released their Brand Love Story 2020 report. After gathering data on over 750 brands from around the world, they were able to produce a definitive list of the world’s most loved brands. Some of the top 50 brands (in no particular order) are:
- Adidas
- Mac Cosmetics
- Lego
- Tiger Beer
- Billabong
- Red Bull
- Mattel
- Cadbury
- Four Season Hotels
This is a small sample of brands that are well-known in New Zealand. Some brands, like Lego, are universally loved. But the results differ by region. Take the example of Cadbury. It may be a well-loved brand overseas but they’ve had several missteps in New Zealand with the closure of its Dunedin factory and controversy around changing its recipe to include palm oil.
How do you inspire brand love?
Talkwalker’s report included some excellent tips on building brand love which is focussed on the digital realm. I wanted to bring the discussion back to my area of speciality – branding. So here are my top tips on how you can build a brand that people love.
Be consistent
To inspire brand love, customers first have to trust you. One of the easiest ways to establish trust is being consistent in everything you do. Make sure all your communications have the same message and use the same tone of voice, whatever the channel.
This includes ensuring your offline and online personas match. Your business needs to have one look and feel whether it’s in-store, your website or a brochure.
Get your employees on board
This is one from Talkwalker’s list and in my opinion, one of the most crucial. You can’t build a brand that people love if your employees aren’t on board. They’re your best advocates and the ones your customers interact with day to day. Happy and valued employees equal happy and valued customers.
Surprise and delight
Going over and above for your customers is a surefire way to inspire feelings of love and trust. These gestures don’t have to be expensive or elaborate.
Recently, I purchased a bouquet of flowers. After the delivery, I received an email checking that the flowers arrived safely and in good condition and a $10 voucher for my next purchase. I’ve bought many bouquets but have never had this type of post-purchase follow up and the voucher was the icing on the cake.
To sum up
In these turbulent times, inspiring brand love and trust in your customers one of the best things you can do to get through the global recession intact. Customers who love and trust your business will return time and time again, consistently choosing you over your competitors.
These tips should be enough inspiration to get you started on your brand love journey. If you would like more help, get in touch with us, our experts can solve the toughest brand challenges and get your business on the track to becoming one of New Zealand’s favourite brands.
If you want to see the full list of the world’s 50 most loved brands, you can download Talkwalker’s report here.
