All brand characteristics can be conventionally divided into rational and emotional. Despite the fact that a brand is a conventional category, we easily give it human characteristics, we bring it to life. We think Coca-Cola is bright, positive, youthful and at the same time quite conservative and traditional, we appreciate the confident dignity of Mercedes and the daring character of Honda.
How imperative is the emotional perception of the brand? Perhaps it is enough to communicate to consumers the rational characteristics, what is really useful and in demand in a product? Surveys conducted by the owners of the brand Harley-Davidson gave surprising results: buyers of motorcycles of this brand differed by age, income, education and even lifestyle, but for almost all of them this brand was the embodiment of freedom – speed, reliability, prestige, everything receded into the background before the desire to feel free.
History shows that the first brands, which were almost always the names of the creators of the goods, craftsmen and owners of the workshops, also contained an emotional component. At least the brand owner promised a certain quality of the product, counting on the trust of customers. By and large, nothing has changed: trust, loyalty, customer loyalty – that’s what the producers of goods and services are looking for.
We see that it is not just about the emotional coloring of the brand, the desire to look attractive to consumers, but about the relationship.
Yes, branding implies a relationship with the consumer: the brand attracts attention, tries to interest, intrigue, it promises a set of certain values, which customers will receive together with the product or service, and they in turn fall in love, trust, attachment, respect. Yes, even respect. We say that we respect IKEA for attentive attitude to customers, for the opportunity to express our creative abilities, for impeccable business reputation, and it does not seem strange, because IKEA is not millions of cabinets, not thousands of meters of selling space, and not even hundreds of designers. IKEA is a brand.
What lies ahead of us? After the consumer boom, which the Western world experienced in the 60s and 70s and Russia in the 2000s, there has been a reassessment of values: consumers have begun to prefer real properties to far-fetched benefits. Does this mean that we are ready to abandon brands, primarily their emotional component, and buy goods and services guided only by their consumer properties? Of course not. It’s just that the relationship between brands and customers has entered a new phase, we expect from our favorite brands more simplicity and sincerity, less pathos and empty promises. It has become important for us if the production of certain products is not harmful for the ecology of our planet; we want to know in what conditions people who produce the goods we need work; we appreciate if the brand declares its social responsibility, takes part in charitable projects. Is it possible to say that emotions left from our relations? No, they have only become deeper and more serious.