Grow Brand Meaning To Grow Financial Value

Though times have changed, the foundational principles of good marketing have not. People still value things that they find meaningful and are predisposed to choose things that stand out from the crowd. Strong, profitable brands are meaningful to their consumers, perceived as different from the competition and are more salient – they come to mind more quickly and easily than the alternatives.

Brands exist in consumer’s minds as a network of associations and feelings. Marketing should seek to shape, enhance, and strengthen motivating associations, the ones that will lead to financially valuable behavior – a predisposition to buy the brand, pay the price asked, and a willingness to buy it again. To do that, however, marketers must see the world as their consumers do, not through the lens of personal objectives and experience. Market research of all kinds will help inform that viewpoint, but only if marketers are willing engage with that research to identify the opportunities to make their brand more meaningful and valuable to its consumers.

Importantly, however, the understanding of the brand’s meaning must be shared across all corporate and agency stakeholders in order to architect an experience that exemplifies its purpose. A clear, succinct statement of what makes the brand meaningfully different in the minds of its consumers is the standard against which all actions should be judged. Does an action enhance that meaning or dilute it? Failure to align the brand experience with expectations created in marketing communications will only undermine the long-term value of the brand as disenchanted consumers tweet their discontent and walk away. Successful alignment will result in satisfied consumers who are more than willing to advocate a great brand experience and pay for it.

Excerpted from my new book The Meaningful Brand with permission from Palgrave Macmillan publishing.