MARKET RESEARCH
Brand Love In Good And
Bad Times: Keeping The
Vow
By Enock Wandera
W
e are all in relationships of
varying forms - one would
theoretically
argue
that
relationships should ideally start at the
basic level of ‘relationship with self ’ and,
a divine higher being. This then can be
followed by relationships with others -
parents, siblings, friends, spouses and so
on and so forth.
In business terms, the relationships a
brand builds should always start with the
brand knowing itself before moving on to
connect with its target consumers. It is
critical that what the brand is and stands
for is very clear at the fore to enable it to
build a strong foundation and confidence
to take the ‘vow’ before the target
consumer in form of a USP.
Once the relationship takes off, just
like in ideal human relationships, the
moments the brand creates and shares
with its consumers would be very central
to the long-term stability or growth of the
relationship.
Moments that are emotionally touching
and mutually unforgettable help deepen
the love - consumers hardly forget how
the brand made them feel. Further,
exploring ways of keeping the spark alive
is fundamental to growing the connection
- creating instances along the relationship
with consumers to re-ignite the bond.
Whenever there are issues in the
relationship, saying ‘sorry’ and seeking
forgiveness in an authentic way builds
Whenever there are issues in the re-
lationship, saying ‘sorry’ and seeking
forgiveness in an authentic way builds
trust and by extension, some form of
protection against any future disaster in
the relationship. This is a critical point
in this era of growing role of customer
experience in driving brand growth. We
always remember how brands treat us
whenever there is an issue that relates
to how we have been served or quality
of the product.
30 MAL33/19 ISSUE
trust and by extension, some form of
protection against any future disaster in
the relationship. This is a critical point
in this era of growing role of customer
experience in driving brand growth. We
always remember how brands treat us
whenever there is an issue that relates to
how we have been served or quality of the
product.
We also know that relationships go
through ups and downs - and in well
deepened relationship, the vow holds -
the brand and the consumer stay tightly
hinged no matter what the good times or
the tough times bring their way.
A more relevant tough situation is
our current challenging economic
environment. In recent months, we have
been reminded almost daily about this.
In fact, recently in church, there was a
request for congregants to improve the
tithe amounts which have been observed
to be steadily declining over the months -
could this be an indication of hard times?
During what is seen as tough economic
times, both sides - brands and consumers
adjust - in trying to ‘survive’. Businesswise,
marketing strategy, tactics and budgets
get revised to protect the overall business
performance.
Without going into details of numbers,
we have seen companies report revenue
declines, cost cutting measures, run short
term consumer promotions, postpone
business investments such as new hires,
new products to a later - and hopefully,
‘better’ days.