ideas without borders: F**k-Buddy Branding
Choose me...
Cherish me...
Forever.
We all want to be wanted. Though most of us would never actually say the words above, we construct and present ourselves with these supplications at the back of our minds. For romantics, at the front.
Whatever role you wish to play in a hoped-for relationship (personal or professional), it helps to play the part; to demonstrate the value you would add to the other party’s quality of life without being explicit; to show but don’t tell. This means keeping your mind-blowing bedroom skills to the realm of intention.
The question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately is 'Why don’t brands do the same?' If you tune into any of the advertising taglines heckling our brains constantly, you’ll hear brands overtly demanding affection, while others smugly assume they already have it. They dare to actually tell - but what are they showing?
A wise woman reminds me over the phone on most Sunday afternoons that “actions speak louder than words.” This implies that the above take on showing and telling is correct – that it’s what you do that makes a lasting impression (or a deep footprint as it were), not what you say. In the world of marketing, products in any given category can be just as good as each other – so it’s up to the messages around them, i.e. the branding, to introduce differentiation, making it clearer who best deserves to be chosen. And as with first dates, there's a long way to go 'til happily ever after.
Experiences with the brand after making an initial purchase, invariably determine whether or not it will become a cherished entity in your mind. In most categories, this has very little to do with the product you have bought – unless quality control is inherent in the brand’s upfront promise. Products disappoint all the time – but it’s how the brand behaves in wake of your disappointment, which will prove whether or not you’ve picked a keeper. When it comes to getting prospective partners to fall in love with you, it’s all about service.
As a reformed shopaholic, I speak from experience when I say that in the ballroom of consumerism, window-shopping is a slow and sultry tango. And as a brand strategist, I am also a student in the art of this particular kind of seduction. Brands aim to win hearts and magnetize followers – and I’ve noticed a growing trend in fetishizing the product experience, in order to do so. Attractive design almost certainly assures a first date and will go some way towards ensuring you interact with a product more frequently, but what about the third supplication – what about choosing and cherishing forever?
Increasingly I am hearing and experiencing a disconnect between what brands say they want (your custom forever) and what they act like they want (a convenient bang with no commitment or follow up). The clearest sign of this kind of ambiguous behavior is warranties. In this country they’re not free, they’re never for a reassuring period of time and loop-holes that release companies from the responsibility of ever replacing faulty items, abound. Imagine being under the impression that you’re in a healthy long-term relationship - then one day you need your partner to help you with something major and they act like they don’t even know who you are. It sounds melodramatic I know but in many cases, searching for and selecting an item you intend to have for a long time, is a considered and intense process – and typically the bigger the investment, the longer the period of time until something goes wrong enough to prompt a re-assessment of the relationship. So being dismissed after a number of years, when you’re expecting to at least renew your vows – is a big deal.
We live in an era where the term “friends with benefits” (or f--k-buddies) has become acceptable, but only when this status is conferred mutually by consenting adults. What hasn’t changed however is our disdain for those who use the language of romance to rack up bed-post notches. It’s disrespectful and unhygienic – which is exactly how I regard brands that treat me like a one-time customer.
If this all sounds a bit too idealist for you then you’re probably not British. I come from a land where growing up, the siren call of marketing mermaids lay in phrases like “repair or replace,” “no extra cost,” and my granddad’s personal favorite, “lifetime guarantee.” Many brands and even entire department stores, still uphold the promise of customer satisfaction for as long as your item pleases you - with all relationship-building initiatives entirely woven into the price at purchase. Yes, this leaves the retailer open to abuse at the hands of a minority of unscrupulous opportunists – but it also cultivates a sterling and unshakable reputation: your brand becomes the marrying kind.
Giving to get would appear to go against the way our capitalist society has developed thus far – but the growing clamor for meaningful experiences over material goods, demands a conscious evolution of services surrounding the products we buy. Example: if you tell me I’m buying a laptop that won’t last more than 3 years, I’ll prepare to cherish it for that finite period of time and bear in mind that my search will probably start again from scratch when it dies. Alternatively, if you acknowledge that I’m always going to need some form of portable computer and make a long-term commitment to reward my loyalty with discounted product upgrades, then no matter what your future product line looks like I will take that leap of faith and pay you handsomely for the opportunity to do so with my very first purchase.
And that’s the beauty of forever – if you really mean it, you only have to say it once.
