Connection between your brand and the customer experience

07 Oct, 2022 - 00:10 0 Views
Connection between your brand  and the customer experience

eBusiness Weekly

Leslie Mupeti

Companies constantly try to foster a culture of trust, dependability, or goodwill in order to link their brand to a certain need or feeling. Brand experience is one kind of experiential marketing that uses a comprehensive set of circumstances made by a business to affect how a customer feels about that business.

The relationship a customer forms with a brand by utilising their five senses is known as brand experience (touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight). It develops over time as a result of numerous experiences with a brand, brand events, and goods through marketing. Creating a sensory user experience for a brand is how you make it memorable for customers.

The complete environment that exists around your brand is known as the brand experience. Brand experience is the entire ecosystem that lives around your brand. That gives a holistic appreciation to your audience about what your brand represents.

Customer service is a key part of brand experience and is as important as the product itself when it comes to your brand. Brand experience covers every interaction your audience might have with your brand. From your brand identity system to your website, your brochures, your events stand,  social media sites, etc. All these touch points together make up the brand experience.

Companies can develop a better brand experience by focusing on not just their products but their image, employees and the way a customer interacts with and experiences their brand. 70 percent of marketers say consistent branding is the most crucial factor when it comes to interacting with customers.

The basis of brand experience is associating elements to the brand that make it possible to draw public attention and generate value. With that, brand builders can build brands that include sensations, perceptions and a connection between company and consumer. When creating your brand experience design, keep in mind the 5 senses.

Why is brand experience important?

If you think of brands like Apple and Nike, they have people working within the brands analysing each touch point that their consumers come in front of.

They think about the experience the customer will walk away with and they design each touchpoint to contribute to that experience.

Overtime, the experience that the audience has with that brand becomes what the company wants them to experience and it crystalises in the customer’s mind.

If brands don’t take the time to work out what they intend their audience to walk away with, to analyse every single touch point and to design it in such a way which contributes to the overall experience, then the audience will walk away with a completely different experience.

That’s a very dangerous position to be in.

What is brand experience design?

Brand experience design is the design of the brand experience. It’s about identifying the experience that you want your audience to walk away with from your brand. This is done on all touch points from your social media pages, your website, your brand identity, packaging etc.

What do you want your audience to experience with your brand? What do you want them to remember? Design every single touch point to match that desired experience. Different brands have different touchpoints.

Examples of brand experience in action

  1. Coca-Cola

The share a coke campaign. The campaign was first launched in Australia in 2011 and involved changing the traditional wrapping around the Coca-Cola bottle to “share a coke with . . . ” and a popular name. The purpose of this campaign was to create a more personal relationship with consumers and inspire shared moments of happiness.

There is something special about people’s names. People react to their names when called faster than anything else. Calling someone by their name feels intimate and special.

  1. Harley-Davidson

Once a customer purchases a Harley Davidson bike, the company takes them under their wing. The customers are made a part of the 325k plus family of Harley owners’ group. The group helps riders connect with each other and with the brand.

It helps customers with general bike-related information, maintenance and other bike related issues. The personalised, warm approach works wonders for the brand as their customers can connect better with it and leads to increased trust among them.

Improving Brand Experience

  1. Through physical contact

A comfortable and inviting environment

A place whose ambient music communicates with the brand identity

A salesperson approach that creates a perception of the brand

An aroma that causes a natural association with the brand

Snacks and drinks served in the store

A branded tone of voice applied to a phone call or email

An effective, educational and friendly service

  1. Conveniences and facilities

Convenience is an excellent way to design good branding and can include:

  1. e-commerce that permits order pickups at a physical point
  2. Diversified payment options
  3. Products and services personalisation

Flexibility and convenience are huge selling points for your customers who will associate your brand with simple and easy shopping.

  1. Contact and Interactions

There are always these contact moments between consumers and brands. These moments can be in person such as a trip to the store or at a distance, through a telephone or email service.

For each of these contacts, there are also interactions which are exchanges of information, that is, natural conversations. For example, if customers go to retail, an ideal strategy is to welcome them with a series of special touches that make a difference such as: a comfortable and inviting environment.

Associations that generate awareness

Associations and relationships are key factors in the brand experience. If a brand manages to achieve a good brand experience, it will generate positive impressions among the public.

The client will quickly associate the brand with a certain point explored in this brand experience strategy. For example, if a clothing brand uses a specific perfume in its products, the customer will make a quick association between the brand and the perfume.

Brand experience vs User experience

A consumer’s brand experience will incorporate everything to do with their response to your brand.

It’s the overall impression that person is left with given the sum of all the feelings, thoughts, conceptions and reactions they may have had while considering  your brand, its marketing and products.

User experience on the other hand, refers solely to a consumer’s end takeaway after using a brand’s products, interacting with its sales personnel or customer care specialists.

 

Leslie Mupeti is a graphic designer and brand strategist. He can be contacted for feedback on [email protected] or +263 785 324 230. His Twitter and Facebook is @lesmupeti

 

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