In the last of my series of articles on engagement, I want to look at how you get people to make the transition from being a customer to being a true believer in your brand?
For many organisations it might seem like an unattainable goal. But it doesn’t need to be. Sometimes a leap of faith is all it takes.
Many high profile brands which successfully achieve this ultimate level of customer engagement are run, or were founded, by a confident, far-sighted individual: think Virgin and Apple. The purpose and vision of that one person permeates the organisation, enhancing the customer experience to engender passion for the brand.
Apple has managed to achieve this in one of the most commoditised of marketplaces. It’s evident in the way people refer to their products – not ‘my mobile’ but ‘my iPhone’ not ‘my laptop’ but ‘my MacBook’.
So what practical measures can other brands take to make experiences more meaningful and turn customers into believers?
The smallest steps can make a really big difference. Take Starbucks. I go in for my usual Latte, they take my name and scribble it on my cup. When the order is ready, instead of yelling ‘one Latte’ the barista calls ‘Fox’s Latte’. Now admittedly, Starbucks has had a record number of Hans Solos, Darth Vaders and even Voldemort lining up (apparently the latter being called out with ‘one Latte for he who shall not be named’).
Nevertheless, it’s simple and effective. What better way to make buying a coffee more personal, and ensure customers feel more engaged? And apart from briefing staff to take people’s names, it doesn’t cost a penny.
Initiatives like this are just waiting to be discovered, and brands of all sizes from all sectors can tap in to them. So what is preventing more organisations from taking proactive steps to embrace the currencies of experience and meaning? It often comes down to cultural and insight issues.
Consider your standard, independently-owned SME. Under pressure from cash flow imperatives (especially these days) and forced to operate tactically in a sales-driven culture, they fight fires to sustain shareholder value, cash management or stock and service control. They don’t have (or make) the time to take a step back and consider the bigger picture. They are too concerned with what people are spending today and tomorrow to consider the more difficult insight of future value.
Yet this insight is essential to break the cycle and establish what investment can be made to forge longer, more meaningful (and valuable) relationships with the brand. Even at a £2 per unit level, brands like Starbucks understand this idea better than most. But then Shultz was always clear about where the profit lay.
In order to stay afloat in the short term and achieve engagement in the longer term, brands need to find ways to drive both habitual behaviour and emotional adhesion. Habitual behaviour – or day-to-day spend, if you like – is essential. Nobody can afford not to make money. But this needs to run in synergy with a deeper strand of engagement activity that will bear fruit further down the line.
In the end, it comes down to acumen and insight. It’s not about who’s got the biggest budget anymore. It’s about knowing your customers, the role your brand plays in their lives, and how you might make their lives better in some small way.
Neil Fox is a founding partner of GillFoxJames
