Most marketers preach about how a product’s brand is it’s most valuable asset. As for myself, I can only agree with that philosophy to a small degree.
Yes, a strong brand gives consumers a way to identify your product. Yes, a strong brand helps buyers make quicker decisions on which product to buy when faced with an assortment of choices. Yes, a strong brand creates more sales, due to shoppers leaning towards the products the rest of the world is buying.
…Yes, a strong brand is valuable for a number of reasons; but don’t these rationales all seem to be quite superficial? Shouldn’t we buy products for reasons that exist outside of what a manipulative marketer dishes to us? The most rewarding purchaces are made when there is an emotional connnection towards the soulful qualities of a product. Do you remember when you bought that sweet Apple computer? …I bet you’ve spent many a night bonding with that machine like it was your most intimate lover. You’d cry if it crashed – I know you would!
A brand is often built upon consumer perceptions, instead of truths. It’s time to start creating our businesses with more quality in mind, and not as much psychology. If businesses continue to create below average products, and hire above average marketers to manufacture their larger than life celebrity, the marketplace is going to be flooded with well-crafted brands that are attached to substandard merchandise. It’s time for marketers to join forces with the research and development team, and begin formulating superior devices that also emotionally connect with its users.
This is why I’m pushing for a new marketing movement – A movement that involves accumulating sales via strategies that are less-dependant upon brands, and more dependant on the creation of emotion-filled relationships between products and consumers. Such a relationship can be developed when a product’s nuts and bolts are valued for their true quality, and its personality (brand) is also emotionally appealing.
I call this marketing principle that is based upon relationship building…
“BONDING”
Yes! Welcome to a new age in marketing where we focus most of our attention NOT on branding, but on…
“BONDING”
Bonding is the new branding. Marketers will no longer see branding at the top of the marketing pyramid; it will fall just below the top of the mountain where the most important element of a product exists… the bond it has with its customers.
Websters, go ahead and add this definition to the term “Bond” in the next edition of your dictionary…
(bond noun) / (bonding verb) – 1. A marketing principle in which an emotional relationship is built between a product and its customers.
People form meaningful relationships (bonds) with each other based upon qualities that are emotionally attractive. For someone to truly bond with you, you must be appealing both above and below the surface of your overall persona. Why can’t this same principle be applied to the person/product connection? All businesses must do to effectively bond their products is to simply develop widgets with both inner-quality and personality in mind. Once the product is strategically bonded, with both emotional elements in place, a person will want to form an long-lasting relationship with it.
This concept of bonding makes sense as the next step in the progression of marketing philosophy. Actually, marketing via bonding might be last possible innovation we will ever see as marketers. Our next marketing mission is to improve the operations of this new Art of Bonding. This exciting marketing movement is a call to all businesspeople to start brainstorming new ways to create stronger bonds between your customers and the products you sell. So if you’re feeling tapped out on new ideas to enhance your product’s brand, it’s time to get excited about marketing again. You have a new program to implement… your business’ bonding strategy.
Make sure to stay tuned to Small Business Branding because I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve about how you can improve your Small Business Bonding.
Wishing you continued success…
bizMAVERICK
Brad Williamson
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