Endearing Brands

Becoming a preferred brand is about going all out to endear yourself to customers through the way you behave, your attitude and your personality. In fact, our research shows that people prefer certain brands for the same reasons that they prefer certain people - it seems it comes down to five things:

1. Get into the spirit of things
People are sociable creatures. They seek out the company of others who enjoy and do the things that they do.  So find opportunities to join in with what’s going on, or become what’s going on, but be genuine, don’t just sponsor stuff - participate.

2. Be conscientious
People also have a sense of what’s right and what’s wrong and prefer brands that conform to their own sense of moral conduct. This is about social responsibility, but importantly this behaviour should be visible and relevant to your customers’ day-to-day lives. A good place to start would be to tackle the negative social side effects of the product you supply: perhaps etiquette for mobile phone companies, or in-flight health for airlines?

3. Be thoughtful
We’re all drawn to people who are kind and considerate to us and we especially like it when people anticipate what we want or need, so brands that go a little bit further by providing useful things in unexpected places get gold stars!

4. Make us feel special
People we’re drawn to often make us feel special. We feel we’re important to them, valued, wanted. Brands can make us feel special by punctuating their customers’ service experiences with special touches. It’s the crumpled ‘I love you’ note Miss Sixty put in the pockets of their jeans for you to find or the chocolate on your pillow in a hotel room (provided you find it before you sleep on it!).

5. Want to really make a difference
People are attracted to people who are passionate about making a difference. Brands that champion a cause and stick up for something that they believe in - beyond money - are attractive. The point is here that ‘making a difference’ is also about driving a market - think about Virgin as the customer champion or Innocent, the fruit drinks, founded on the desire to make it easier for people to maintain their health.