Brandcurve - branding and marketing

Understanding the Emotional Brand Benefit

by Ron E. on March 14th, 2007

Much has been written and talked on how to build a true brand benefit that the consumers will recognize as something important and make it part of their lives, helping revenues and brand equity to increase. Researchers and experts have different ideas on what a brand benefit is, segmenting it into three or four categories. These are the three I find to be most appropriate:

• Functional Benefit - Actual benefit from the brand. (ie. Low Fat)
• Emotional Benefit - Benefit felt in the heart and mind of the consumer. (ie. feeling light and healthy)
• Social Benefit - Benefit acquired by the consumer, only once it comes in contact with other people (ie. being a healthy person among a group of friend.)

In this post I’ll focus on the Emotional Benefit, since I believe there is a great chance for many brands to improve in it.

However, only few brands (worldwide) have been able to translate the functional benefit into something consumers understand and are able to deal with emotionally, moving them to adopt it as part of their daily lives; hence, starting a new relationship with a brand. Some examples of such brands are: Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Singapore Airlines, and recently Apple.

When we speak on emotional benefits, the benefit gotten by the consumer isn’t something material they can show off as an Oscar statue. Instead, it works more directly into the heart and mind. The key here is that in most cases, even though it isn’t a material good, it can be showed off as a batch of honor or status. (…arriving to the creation of a social benefit…)

For example:

• Singapore Airlines allows their users to have fun, test new business models, be the first ones to discover new airline paradigms, and enjoy their ride as no other brand allows them to.

The tricky part on establishing an emotional benefit for consumers is the transition and translation of the functional benefit into something that consumers can experience emotionally that will leave them touched with the brand’s benefit itself. How to do that?

Through relevancy and consistency.

A benefit will never attract the emotional side of a consumer if it isn’t relevant to her. Singapore Airlines offers the functional benefit of high quality, innovative, different and even ‘fun’ flights around the world; all of which are relevant and important to consumers, that is what they’re looking for a in a 12-hr flight. But they take it a step further by utilizing communication strategies like advertising branding, and positioning through various mediums to connect emotionally with their users. By putting forth, what I’d call, a ’cause-effect’ strategy they target consumers both ways, through advertising (prior to service delivery, promising great things) and then finally connecting the dots with the amazing experience they provide to the users once on-board.

How to keep it going? There is actually no other way to keep the brand benefit rolling like a snowball but through consistency. To stick with the example, Singapore Airlines have continuously stayed on track with what their brand offers. No tactic or strategy of theirs deviated from their original brand benefit and positioning.

By having strategies (all around) that are relevant to your consumers (or potential ones), and then keeping the promise through a sustained period of time, you will be able to tie in the emotional brand benefit that consumers get from your brand experience.

This is for sure a very juicy topic on which we could all write for days, so I will keep it to here for now. Later I will surely discuss the other two types of benefits brands provide to their consumers, and how to make it right. Cheers!

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POSTED IN: advertising, brand, brand benefit, consumer, engagement, innovation, relevancy