If You Want Real Relationships With Your Customers, Start Being a Better Partner. About 25 years ago, a simple yet compelling proposition was introduced into the world of branding by a group of academics, with Susan Fournier at the forefront: People form relationships with brands like they form relationships with humans. Because marketers love to think that their brand can be as important as a human in somebody’s life, and because it follows from the theory that the more human your brand, the more likely people will want to form relationships with it, seemingly every brand has gotten the memo to try and “be more human.” After all, the evidence seems clear: Whether it’s Amazon’s Alexa learning to whisper, Warby Parker’s upbeat conversational tone at every touch point from the website to the box their glasses arrive in, or Google’s April Fools' Day pranks, the cool kids’ success seems to prove that the more human your brand, the more customers will flock to it. -- you know this is you), to outright abuse when they think no one’s watching (think United), there’s no shortage of brands lacking key characteristics that would distinguish any good human relationship from a doomed one -- honesty, vulnerability, fessing up to your mistakes, listening no matter what. With 40 percent of millennials not even feeling taken seriously by brands, you might just want to start taking a good, honest look at how your brand is stacking up as a partner -- or risk being ghosted. So, what can you do to make your brand a better partner? Start by understanding your customers -- and who’s missing in their lives. If you get this right, they might even want to introduce you to their friends and family. Now comes the key: Actually, truly own that role, especially in bad times. If you want committed customers, start taking relationships seriously.
About 25 years ago, a simple yet compelling proposition was introduced into the world of branding by a group of academics, with Susan Fournier at the forefront: People form relationships with brands like they form relationships with humans. The idea took both the academic and corporate worlds by storm, with hundreds of articles and books published, and brands everywhere starting to think and talk differently about customer relationships.
Because marketers love to think that their brand can be as important as a human in somebody’s life, and because it follows from the theory that the more human your brand, the more likely people will want to form relationships with it, seemingly every brand has gotten the memo to try and “be more human.” After all, the evidence seems clear: Whether it’s Amazon’s Alexa learning to whisper, Warby Parker’s upbeat conversational tone at every touch point from the website to the box their glasses arrive in, or Google’s April Fools’ Day pranks, the cool kids’ success seems to prove that the more human your brand, the more customers will flock to it.
And clearly, there is something to this — not only do original academic studies on the subject show this, but every year the increasing role of authenticity and recognizing and rewarding loyalty to customers is shown. As is the importance of speaking in a human way and taking them seriously in your communications. In fact, just in 2016, 86 percent of consumers said their brand loyalty is primarily driven by likeability, with 83 percent stating trust.
Why is it, then, that building long-term customer relationships — especially with that ever-elusive creature, the millennial — still seems to be the Holy Grail, desired by many and achieved by few? Why have customers recently been heard urging brands to “quit trying to be my best friend?” Is it because of that much-bemoaned millennial fickleness and inability to commit? Or is there something else at play?
I’ll wager to say that most brands are just bad partners. From bad apologies (VW, I’m looking at you) to surprise price hikes masquerading as the customer’s best interest (Spectrum — or should I say Time Warner Cable? — you know this is you), to outright abuse when they think no one’s watching (think United), there’s no shortage of brands lacking key characteristics that would distinguish any good human relationship from a doomed one — honesty, vulnerability, fessing up to your mistakes, listening no matter what.
And just like when it comes to the actual humans in their lives, millennials are (thankfully) empowered enough today and have sufficient options out there, thank you very much, that they just have no reason anymore to stay in a dysfunctional relationship. With 40 percent of millennials not even feeling taken seriously by brands, you might just want to start taking a good, honest look at how your brand is stacking up as a partner — or risk being ghosted.
Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe in brand relationship theory. It’s just that like so many great academic concepts, it has fallen prey to that time-honed but ill-advised practice of companies taking the parts that suit them, while disregarding the rest. Instead of creating meaningful relationships and adding value to people’s lives, they are making customers feel like the only woman in a crowded bar. It’s not just about acting like a human: it’s about figuring out how to be a good partner to them – “in sickness and in health” (notice how sickness comes first?).
So,…
COMMENTS