Is Your Brand Sticky?

At last week's DMA09 Conference & Exhibition in San Diego, I led a session that explored ways for multichannel marketers to effectively use consistent brand experiences to engage and sell to consumers across all channels. Here's a recap of that presentation.

The competition is on. In this economy, marketers are scrambling to find the most cost-effective methods for capturing, communicating and engaging customers and prospects. But they're forgetting that the channel chosen is only part of the equation. Marketers must create unforgettable brand experiences, no matter the channel of communication, to be effective or even survive in our ever-evolving world.

To create an experience that fosters loyalty and advocacy, intimately know the hearts of your customers, and engage them in personal and meaningful conversations. Brand is your customer’s perception of who you are; if the customer experience isn't managed, then there'll ultimately be a gap between who you think you are and who your customer thinks you are.

To manage this important dynamic, consider the following steps:

1. Discover. First, understand your customers beyond simple demographics. Know what they believe about your brand and the competition. Understand their lifestyles, what motivates them, what their belief systems are — even how they talk.

There are dozens of ways to learn this information using surveys, conducting one-on-one interviews, executing lifestyle overlays, reading customer feedback and simply listening to them. Never make assumptions about who they are — prove it. Then, make sure your entire company intimately knows who they are by sharing a detailed description and even a picture of what they might look like.

2. DNA. Understand your own brand DNA, and be able to clearly articulate what problem you solve on an emotional level and why it matters to your customers. A great brand understands the “one thing” it owns and, more importantly, the “higher order benefit.”