“At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou
This applies to your business as well. The creative process that brings your business from an idea to reality is never void of emotion. The trick is finding what feelings you want to convey to your audience and the best way to go about it.
Identity vs Experience
Successful brands don’t focus on simply what the brand will look like, but it will also consider the experience that people will have with that brand. That experience includes everything from the more obvious, customer service experience, to the less obvious, mood impact of colour choices. When the creation of the experience is done correctly, a client is able to understand “who” the business is. That feeling, good or bad, creates a connection between the business and the client.
Think of the best interaction that you had with a business. What comes to mind? You are likely thinking about the way that you felt after you completed your transaction with that business. Those positive emotions are what shapes your idea of that company and their position in the market. Now think about an interaction with a business that was less than stellar. Those negative emotions cause a completely different picture of that company. You may not remember the exact words that caused these emotions, but you can easily remember how that business made you feel, and that in turn will affect your purchasing decisions in the future.
As a business you can design and execute a plan for creating a positive experience for all your customers. Start with the basics and work your way up. You’ll be happy that you spent the time and effort streamlining your branding to create a emotional connection between your customers and the business you have worked so hard to make a success.
Emotional Connection
“The most startling truth is we don’t even think our way to logical solutions. We feel our way to reason. Emotions are the substrate, the base layer of neural circuitry underpinning even rational deliberation. Emotions don’t hinder decisions. They constitute the foundation on which they’re made!” – Douglas Van Praet
Even the most logical of us are influenced by the way that a product, a service or a brand makes us feel. When you’re creating your business and designing your brand, are you thinking about the way that you want to make people feel? Building a brand that will have strong brand recognition and stir genuine loyalty in customers has to have an emotion.
Despite what you might think, studies have shown that positive posts are shared more frequently on social media than negative posts. So why not take a page out of the happiness book and build that right into your brand?
http://www.livescience.com/46609-facebook-emotions-contagious.html
Here’s an example of a brand that creates emotion through their advertising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ3k6BFX2uw
Take a moment to wipe your tears away and finish up that phone call with your mom. Now how do you feel? What is your perception of P&G and their brands? Effective isn’t it?
If you’re just starting out and your brand is undefined, or you are looking at re-branding an existing company, Hiilite can help. Let’s get your business up and running the right way, with the right feel and an emotional connection. Reach out and let’s have a coffee today!