The Aspects of Branding - Part 4: The Myths of Brand Engagement
How does a brand engage the consumer? In the past article I gave an example of a company who uses their visual branding elements to do that but what else is involved? I also mentioned how the Mayfield Farms company was working on me even though I have been a fan of another brand most of my life.
Earlier in that article I gave the senario of labels being ripped of the milk cartoons in the dairy section of a grocery store. In such an instance the purpose of a brand is to connect and respect the customer.
Wikipedia defines Brand Engagement as
a term loosely used to describe the process of forming an attachment (emotional and rational) between a person and a brand. It comprises one aspect of brand management. What makes the topic complex is that brand engagement is partly created by institutions and organizations, but is equally created by the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of those with whom these institution’s and organizations are communicating or engaging with.
As a relatively new addition to the marketing and communication mix, brand engagement sits in the space between marketing, advertising, media communication, social media, organizational development, internal communications and human resource management.
The Media Guerrilla blog pretty much nails it when it says that people don’t really want to engage a brand. They want to engage the people or rather the company behind the brand. I tend to agree. A brand is nothing more than a promise that a company will deliver. As much as I love brands like Apple, Toyota, Oreck, etc. I will not stay loyal to them if they go back on the promises of their product.
Steve Rubel of the micro persuasion blog goes on to say that “brand engagement” is a myth and is like searching for bigfoot.
Finally, Cam Beck at the Marketing Profs web site talks more about the Myth of Brand Engagement and how engaging the customer is more important that dressing up your marketing with prettier language and pictures.
Sure you can have someone on staff or hire out an agency to use various techiques both old and new to grab the attention of current and potential customers but if product or service is not delivered the engagement will be a short one.
