Risk & Business Magazine Spectrum Insurance Fall 2019 | Page 23

BRAND ENDEARMENT
I
live on the road, in hotels and
airports. While some people keep
suitcases at the back of their closets,
I live out of mine.
So when I read about the Genius Pack
on USAToday.com I was excited to try it
out! I trusted the site, and the suitcase was
exactly what I’d been looking for. I ordered
one that day.
The case arrived quickly and had all the
compartments and fancy add-ons I had
hoped for (better pockets, phone charger
built in, dirty laundry compartment). I was
a happy customer and decided to tweet
about it.
new suitcase-of-awesomeness, packed it up
for the trip and away we went.
However, by the time I’d reached security
at my first airport, I was already frustrated
with my new suitcase.
It tipped over. Many times.
It tipped over in line. It tipped over when
I let go of it for a moment to take off my
jacket. By the time I had finished my
trip, the front pocket zipper had broken.
(It wasn’t over-packed by far.) I couldn’t
wait to throw the thing out and use my
old suitcase again. The case had been
expensive and instead of making my travel
more comfortable, it was more difficult.
Because I hadn’t built a connection to the
company, I had no problem voicing my
issue publicly.
A bunch of my followers jumped in and
replied, some of who were also looking for
suitcases. Travel, and anything to make
it more comfortable, is a popular topic on
Twitter, and the tweet lead to
a great conversation.
You know who didn’t join in, though?
Genius Pack. The company remained quiet.
When would-be or happy current
customers mention your product or service,
they are putting up their hands for a high-
five. It’s not to say when we compliment
a brand we must get a reply, but when
we make an effort to include the Twitter
name, it shows we are including you in
the conversation. (I still remember my
first reply from the brand, Cirque du Soleil.
Love them.) This is an opportunity for
engagement that is all too often ignored. 
As businesses, we are quick to reply to
angry customers, but often leave happy
ones hanging.
Genius Pack wasn’t listening. Or, if they
were, they weren’t interested in talking
with me, or the other would-be customers
putting up their hands.
At the time, I didn’t think too much
about them not replying. I gave them an
opportunity, and shared my excitement
about their product, but I wasn’t sitting
around waiting for a response. I took my
People replied that they were also looking
at this particular suitcase and were glad
I saved them the hassle after seeing my
original tweet.
When we are endeared to a brand, we
seek out private and personal channels to
manage resolution. With a brand I know,
like and trust, I will email or contact them
privately first, rather than publicly, when
I’m unhappy. Since @GeniusPack hasn’t
followed me, I couldn’t send them a private
message, even if I wanted to.
Unlike the non-reaction to my first tweet,
Genius Pack did reply to my second
very quickly.
We went on to email and their CEO was
apologetic and very efficient at processing
the refund for my purchase – but not
before the issue was shared publicly online.
I was very impressed with how great they
were after the problem, which confused
me as to why they had no response before
the problem. There weren’t hundreds of
mentions of the product, actually none
other than mine that day.
If you only pay attention to your customers
when they are angry, you are only going
to have angry customers publicly. You will
miss the chance to engage with the happy
ones and create brand evangelists.
Here are the four steps to create
Brand Endearment.
LISTEN. You need to be paying attention
to what people are saying about your
brand and industry online. There are
some great tools out there to help you
keep up. It can be as simple as setting
up a Google Alert or using keyword search
on Twitter. Use a listening tool such
as Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or BuzzSumo.
Paying attention is the first step.
OWN THE GOOD YOU DO. Value the
positive voice. It’s too easy to only focus
on the negative. You need to make time
to thank customers who love what you
do. Be proud and say thank you. (And
by “thank-you", I don’t mean only RT’ing
positive compliments about yourself.
Avoid the humble brag). I try to do this
with people who tweet compliments
about my books.
Don’t leave all those high-fives hanging. 
Take time away from fighting fires and
seeking out new customers to thank
the ones you have. This is where
the opportunity for brand endearment
begins. Don’t value your customers based
only on purchases already made. A happy
customer is your best marketer. Grow
those relationships.
ENGAGE.  Social media is just a fancy term
for talking to other people. When you
listen and value your customers, you can
create content and products that give value
back to them. Be a part of the conversation;
find out what they like to chat about.
Care about what they are looking for.  
And then be there, to have a conversation
that matters to them.
When you do these three things, your
customers will become endeared to you.
As customers, we feel like we know
an engaged brand, because we do. 
Brands who connect with their customers
online earn a face, a personality, and
a reputation for listening.
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