——"Brand experientialization" is the core of building a consumer psychology mechanism
With the advent of the era of experience economy, customer needs have gradually shifted from physical factors to emotional factors, from Mas The lowest level of Lowe's hierarchy of needs theory moves to a higher level (such as self-actualization needs), and marketers re-understand the role of irrational factors in customer purchasing decisions, cultivate good customer experience, and carry out experiential marketing, thus becoming an enterprise Another new appeal point for implementing brand differentiation strategy.
1. Brand experientialization and experience branding
In our discussion and exchange with Sean Smith on "Customer Experience Branding", we also felt that brand experientialization and experience branding are Although experience branding takes different paths, the two approaches lead to the same goal. The former starts from the brand value, transforms the brand value into a promise for target customers, and then delivers the brand promise through every interaction between customers and personnel, processes, and products. The latter is to first design a new experience for target customers and then develop the corresponding brand.
The happy-imaginative brand experience has made Heineken popular in more than 170 countries.
Augute brand experts personally experienced and comprehensively and systematically inspected the development history of the Heineken Beer Group, the brand growth process, the overall production line, the beer culture experience museum and the Heineken Beer Bar experience activities, etc. . Heineken has developed into an internationally renowned beer brand. The world's fourth largest beer company has become the world's top beer brand by virtue of its excellent brand strategy and excellent quality assurance. Visit the Heineken Beer Factory in Amsterdam and complete the Heineken Beer brand experience journey, which is a profound experience. Heineken says: “We create joy.” For the pursuit of joy and happiness, there is Heineken beer; experts from Augute believe that Heineken beer's brand strategic management strategy based on the segmentation of emotional release of the consumer public is indeed worthy of our research, analysis and reference. Happiness - expresses the eternal theme of life. Those of us who are practitioners of brand building should seriously understand and understand the hearts of consumers - people's inner motivations and desires.
Although Shaun Smith has not defined or classified experience, he has given four criteria for judging experience brands. Through case studies, it was found that only when it has the four characteristics of sustainability, purpose, difference and value can it become an experience brand. Because there is no continuity and purpose, all we get are accidental experiences. Even in the same store, the services provided by different salespersons at different times are very different from each other.
2. Characteristics of experience brands
What is "experience brand"? Enterprises use services as the stage and goods as props to surround consumers and create activities worthy of consumers' memories. It should be distinguished from goods and services: on the one hand, goods are tangible, services are intangible, and the experience created is unforgettable; on the other hand, goods and services are external to consumers. , but experience is inner, stored in the heart, and is the result of human participation in body, emotion, and knowledge. We believe that according to two dimensions: whether consumers participate actively or passively, and whether customers integrate into the situation or just absorb information, the experience is divided into four categories: entertainment experience, educational experience, escapism experience, and aesthetic experience. We believe that it covers all four categories at the same time. Dimension, that is, the "sweet spot" where the four dimensions meet, is the richest experience. For example, Apple, Starbucks, Disneyland, Haagen-Dazs, etc.
In a different study, Professor Bernd H. Schmitt, who first proposed the experiential marketing theory, divided experiential customer experience into five different types: sensory, emotional, and thinking. , action, and association are called strategic experience modules. It is further divided into two categories: one is the consumer's unique psychological and physiological experience, that is, personal experience, such as senses, emotions, and thinking; the other is the experience that must be generated through the interaction of relevant groups. Instantly enjoy experiences such as actions and connections. In reality, there are few marketing activities with a single experience. They are generally a combination of several experiences, that is, experience hybrids. Only when all five types of experience are involved at the same time can it become a comprehensive experience. Although Shaun Smith and Joe Wheeler have not defined or classified experience, they have given four criteria for judging experience brands. Through case studies, they found that only when it possesses the four characteristics of sustainability, purpose, differentiation and value can it become an experience brand. Because there is no continuity and purpose, what we get in the mass commodity market are accidental experiences. Even in the same store, the services provided by different salespersons at different times are very different from each other. In contrast, experience brands will purposefully standardize the customer experience through employee training, setting standards and work procedures and other management methods to make it consistent with the brand and transform it from an accidental experience into an experience that customers can expect. At the same time, a successful customer experience must also be different from competitors. Only by distinguishing yourself from competitors can customers choose you instead of your competitors. However, this difference must be a valuable difference. In other words, this difference must be recognized by target customers and can bring value to customers.
3. Strive to exceed customer satisfaction
Modern marketing theory centered on customer needs believes that whether a customer purchases depends on whether he is satisfied, and defines customer satisfaction as the customer's perceived value. An emotional response made when compared with its expected value. The closer customers' perceived value is to their expectations, the more satisfied they will be. Higher satisfaction usually leads to repeat purchases or product recommendations to others, thereby enhancing brand reputation and loyalty, and turning new customers into regular customers.
The 3C model proposed by James C. Anderson and Jmas A. Narus in 1998 introduced the concept of competition into customer value theory and proposed the second frame of reference for customer value - competitors, emphasizing customer value. It's just a relative concept. They believe that only when customers gain more "net benefits" from the company's products than competitors, customers will buy the company's products and gain satisfaction from them. Sean Smith and Joe Wheeler do not seem to agree with this. They believe that (A) satisfied customers are not necessarily loyal customers. According to a survey by Forum, they found that 80% of customers who switched suppliers expressed satisfaction with their previous supplier, but they still switched to its competitors because satisfaction was taken for granted by customers. Clearly, achieving customer satisfaction alone is not enough to retain customers.
4. Repeat purchases do not equal loyal customers
Repeat purchases do not equal loyal customers. Many times I choose you just because of the inconveniences of switching to other manufacturers, far from feeling that it is you. Widely adopted customer loyalty programs may lead to repeat purchases, but they fail to create customer loyalty. In fact, most customer loyalty programs are just price promotions in disguise. Customers are more interested in getting better price discounts. Once other manufacturers offer greater discounts, they will leave you without any nostalgia. Their repeat buying behavior is simply a buying strategy aimed at maximizing returns, rather than a need for emotional belonging.
External behavioral loyalty measured through behavioral observations and statistical data is sometimes unreliable. Truly loyal customers will continue to purchase the brand's products and show extremely high emotional loyalty. In other words, only customers who have both behavioral loyalty and emotional loyalty can be regarded as truly loyal customers. Consumers' repeated purchasing behavior is just a purchasing strategy aimed at obtaining maximum benefits, rather than out of the need for emotional belonging.
We said that "brands can only come from customer experience" and proposed that this experience can be either a direct experience or an indirect experience. The former comes from the customer's personal consumption experience, while the latter is formed in the minds of potential customers when the company disseminates, strengthens, and accumulates the direct experience of existing customers through advertising, promotion, public relations, and a series of other marketing methods. The phenomenon that Sean Smith and Joe Wheeler mentioned that people who have never personally experienced a brand can become brand advocates is due to the role of this indirect experience. They believe that loyal customers should be brand advocates: "Advocates are those who are prepared to argue for you. They are not only willing to do business with you, but also willing to provide their support." If you can create a differentiated customer Experience, even people who have never personally experienced it, will become advocates and are willing to act as brand salesmen to protect product sales. Obviously it is consistent with the previous point.
5. Brand experience experience
Inadvertently, we have entered the brand era, and brand competition has become the theme of the economic trend of the times. How to effectively communicate the brand's core values ??to consumers has become an important step in promoting brand marketing.
1. Experiential-brand communication
When it comes to experiential communication, Disney cannot be ignored. In the 2004 "Business Weekly" survey of the "World's Top 100 Brands", Disney ranked sixth, becoming the leader among major brands in the entertainment industry. There are many factors for Disney's success, but the key to its success is closely related to their experiential communication approach to brand promotion. "It all started with a mouse!" This was Walt Disney's favorite saying during his lifetime. As we all know, Disney originally started its career in animation production. A series of classic characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Tarzan have become household names. Today, Disney has extended its tentacles to all information media, affecting almost every corner of the world. people. However, Disney has experienced ups and downs during its decades of growth. Fortunately, it has always been able to turn the corner at the last moment and spread happiness. This is all due to Disney's corporate spirit - "Happiness = Wealth". In order to convey this brand image more deeply to every audience, Disney has come up with a wonderful way to build a large-scale theme through experiential brand communication. The park implants the brand image into people's hearts.
2. Experiential-coffee culture
What Starbucks sells is service, not coffee. Customer experience creates the brand.
Starbucks has successfully used this sales model to promote its coffee or coffee culture to the world.
In order to make Starbucks' coffee culture more deeply influence consumers, they used antique murals on the walls, pictures depicting the history of coffee, displays of coffee utensils, and a large bar that is easily accessible, filled with tools for customers to DIY. The unique small sofa, the green and dark red color tone that try to imitate the color changes of coffee, the sometimes dynamic, sometimes relaxing and soothing music, the Starbucks snacks that are always neatly placed, and the big white mug are all here Everything is being implanted into consumers silently, continuously and invisibly. They turned ordinary coffee into a very unique experience, and used this as a selling point to slowly promote their coffee beans to the world. They used their own coffee culture to slowly change people's consumption habits and create their own glory. .
3. Experiential - warmth and romance
Let us explore the example of Haagen-Dazs together. Although many "insightful people" and "informed people" have "revealed" countless times: Haagen-Dazs is only a hypermarket brand in the United States, but it is because of her marketing methods that it has become an experience brand. Branding becomes “branded experience”!
What consumers of Haagen-Dazs need beyond quality and place is the inner feeling brought by emotional experience. The happiness of tasting Haagen-Dazs with your lover; the self-rewarding and self-affirming satisfaction of an independent woman when purchasing; the excitement of a boy when a gift given to his beloved is accepted... Haagen-Dazs is It is necessary to create this high-level inner experience for consumers, which is different from the consumption experience of any ice cream brand. How does Haagen-Dazs do it? Paying attention to consumers' emotional loyalty to build! It's not just the almost demanding high-quality raw materials, it's not just the continuous introduction of new product series, it's not just the establishment of high-end consumption places in high-end business districts... Haagenda Sri Lanka pays more attention to appealing to the emotions of consumers, especially female consumers, arousing their needs for the beautiful things in life, through their favorite delicacies and the warmest places. Can you imagine what kind of effect it would have if H?agen-Dazs's advertising words were replaced with the brand names and products of "Mengniu", "Guangming" and "Yili"? Although their sales are larger and their sales range is wider, some consumers may eat several of the above-mentioned brands a day in summer. But they can’t call it an “experience brand.” Because they do not give consumers an inner experience, they only provide low-level physical satisfaction.
"If you love her, take her to Haagen-Dazs." Domineering! It's just so unreasonable! But from the perspective of consumers, there is nothing wrong with it. Because for Chinese consumers, especially couples, Haagen-Dazs is no longer the ice cream itself, but a love experience of "love me", "value me" and "give up for me". It’s a kind of “sweet spot.”
6. The brand mission of Augute Agency
Years of brand consulting services have made me and my team members deeply realize that it is impossible to truly implant the brand concept into the minds of consumers. How can consumers feel the unique charm of the brand without the experiential process. Only by participating in multi-dimensional experiences can the penetrating power of brand culture be able to leave a place in the minds of consumers. We have a clearer understanding of our own value, and we strive to help companies improve their differentiated advantages through customer service and spread the brand through customer word-of-mouth. A style brand advocate and practitioner who shares the value of experience.
At the end of December 2011, Ogut Agency and Mr. Bemd Schmitt of ACI Asia Consumer Research Institute in Singapore discussed customer experience management and branding experience at the Shanghai Marriott Hotel. had in-depth exchanges. Project cooperation in both theoretical and practical aspects will also be carried out in China. ACI provides the most cutting-edge research, the most thorough corporate strategies, and the most insightful networks and communities across Asia. Mr. Bemd Schmitt demonstrated the research results of customer experience management. The strong economic development of Asian countries has led to the rapid improvement of Asia's consumption capacity. Our in-depth understanding and research into the consumer psychology, consumer behavior, consumer motivations and consumer preferences of Asian consumers has become the only way for us and our companies to successfully enhance our competitiveness. Augute Agency will maintain close cooperation with ACI Asian Consumer Research Institute in the long term.
I believe that in the future brand building process of service companies, we will not only focus on the market, but also pay more attention to gain insight into consumers' mental journey and inner new desires...
Finally, we welcome colleagues in the industry and friends from the business community to communicate and discuss branding experiences and feelings.
Augute International Institution welcomes colleagues in the industry and friends from the business community to communicate and discuss.
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