The frustrating part about knowing everything is that no one else sees it. Things would be so much easier if everyone just agreed with me (all the teenagers reading this are nodding their heads right now). I think every self proclaimed genius goes through this, thinking that if everyone could just see things the way they do everything would just make sense.
How often do we say this with OUR brand? How many of us think that we are in complete control of our brands? (this is where the teenagers check out and the adults start nodding) Everyone that just said yes, you're wrong (trust me I'm always right). The reality is that we are in control of guiding our brands but the people who really control it are, the customers/users/readers/whomever your target is. The reason for this is they are the ultimate decision makers when it comes to brand strength. Everyone reading this that thinks they're always right may be disagreeing with me right now, but let me ask you this, how well does a product or service do if no one is talking about it? How successful is it if there are aspects that people don't like? No matter how badly you want people to get past their grievances these feelings damage brands, ultimately putting brand power in the hands of consumers.
What do we do now? How do we get everyone to pay attention to what we have to say?
You make the loudest statement by LISTENING!!! (this is where everyone that is always right just called me an idiot and went back to chasing their tails trying to figure out why everyone else doesn't see it their way, at this rate I'll be lucky to have one reader left by the end of this post) When developing and promoting a brand you HAVE to listen to the consumer cause they're in charge. A company can have the best product in the world but without listening, customers will find replacements elsewhere.
Let me paint a picture. You've just discovered the greatest doughnuts in the world, so naturally you want to get your hands on them. Driving up, you notice the line up is literally around the block and getting longer, but you decide to wait it out. An hour later you're going crazy cause it's taking so long but the doughnuts are just to good to turn away. 45 minutes after that you finally get your doughnuts and they were worth the wait cause they're so delicious, but now you've killed roughly two hours of your day getting doughnuts. That's ok though cause you're sure the next time you go the lines will be better, today was just a fluke. Next week nothings changed but you suffer through the wait again but this time the doughnuts don't taste quite as good. Your third trip to the doughnut shop shows the same lines, and this time you say to yourself "it's not worth it", and you keep driving. So how do companies learn from this? They must figure out how to get to your inner dialog, when you get frustrated. Brand managers need to know that there is a problem that must get fixed.
The doughnut brand is tarnished because of the poor experienced, showing us how the customer controls branding even though the company may feel that they are in control. So how do we listen to our consumers? Don't guess social media, don't guess social media........ Alright you guessed it, social media. Getting information from customers can be difficult especially if you don't ask the right questions or use social media properly. In an earlier post I talked about engagement with customers and this is why engagement is key, because without knowing what's wrong you don't know how to start fixing the problem or even know there is a problem.
Companies attempt to learn about their customers through market research, polls, questionnaires, and studies potentially sinking large amounts of money into these resources. These investments will help companies learn peoples patterns, but it DOES NOT tell them what consumers are thinking. These tools don't give an opportunity for customers to explain how they feel in the moment which is extremely valuable information and exactly what brand managers need.
In steps Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Yelp, and every other social media/ratings site and all of a sudden we have access to instant information from customers as they experience things. Proper use of these tools will give incredible feedback to to managers trying to better their brands. When developing a brand no one can afford to ignore problems or arrogantly say that they have all the answers. They can try, but will ultimately find themselves chasing their tails trying to figure out why their brand is spiralling out of control. LISTENING to the people that control the fate of your brand is kind of a big deal.
Any questions or clarification Please leave a comment.
Chasing tails looks exhausting and who's got time for that.
