BRANDING PSYCHOLOGY: THE GYMNASTICS OF CONSUMER NEEDS
One of the fundamental realities in marketing is that consumers do not build organizations but build brands. When you talk “brand”, certain questions come to mind such as;
What are consumers’ needs?
Are those needs important or do they just think they need it?
What is the driving force behind their purchase once the need is identified?
While Consumers give brands value by developing perceptions and expectations for the brands, companies enhance the value by delivering consistent brand experiences that can win consumers’ trust.
Branding requires a deep understanding of the consumer’s emotions beyond the aesthetics of the products or services. Branding contents and visuals ought to resonate with the consumer’s feelings beyond selling the product.
The basic truth is simple, if you can understand the customer on a deeper level, you can make a more effective Ad content that will appeal to them and cause them to buy your product.
Susan Gunelius in her article on forbes.com titled “The psychology and philosophy of branding, marketing, needs and actions”, narrows down the psychology of branding to the hierarchy of needs according to Abraham Maslow. She opines that how a brand appeals to a consumer largely depends on their level of individual needs. On the other hand, some of the brands Icohn Designs has created contents for, have given such feedbacks as; their consumers have attested to the fact that they had to go through the rigours of needs’ identification and satisfaction before taking necessary action and this process makes them repeat the(positive) action taken. This is illustrated in the Maslow’s Theory below:
Alternatively, John Campanella suggests that you can directly appeal to consumers’ emotions in four ways that trigger emotions when building contents and visuals:
1. Honesty
He opined that truth cannot be hidden when working your way into clients’ emotions. He illustrated this with the relationship that existed between the Philadelphian football team,” Eagles” and the city of Philadelphia.
The Eagles went through a tough time during 2013 4-12 football season because of the arrival of a new coach and new players and in order to win the hearts of their fans once again, they presented a campaign that likened their relationship with their fans to that of a family bond. The campaign was tagged; “The Eagles fuel Philadelphia and Philadelphia Fuels the Eagles”. This was a “truth” that the people of Philadelphia could not deny, thereby, triggering their emotions by pushing them out to rally round for the Eagles and breaking limits.
2. Authenticity
After telling a brand story, Who tells the story? A direct customer? A recorded voice over? You must be seen to be using the right source to pass the message content in order to appeal to customer emotions. For instance, when you advertise baby skin care products, you must use real babies with satin smooth skin that indicates the positive result of the product/s on the baby’s skin. It shows that is a right source and will quickly appeal to every aspiring and existing mother to purchase.
On a lighter note, our “Lift” Hydration Table water presents its authenticity with its slogan;
“Boosts Energy” and “Rich in electrolyte” to affirm the authenticity of its ability to rejuvenate the body and boost energy. Using a known athlete to present the ad copy would appeal to potential customers to purchase the water.
Lift Hydration Bottled water
3. Affirmation
” This Long grain rice is low on GI (Glycemic Index) and suitable for persons with Obesity and Diabetes”. This kind of slogan affirms the consumer’s belief that the Rice is safe for consumption especially as it takes into consideration his/her health needs.
In today’s world that there is so much emphasis on health, fitness and well-being, this slogan creates validation, empowers and build the consumer’s confidence. One of our brands ‘Alfa Chef Long Grain Rice’ has used the afore mentioned tag line to appeal to the emotions of consumers who are either obese or Diabetic that they can still enjoy their favourite meal (Rice) regardless of their health conditions.
Cil Alfa Chef Basmati Rice
4. Exclusivity
It is actually a very amazing experience when a product is so unique that it a mere look at it on the shelves would tell you who (class) it was made for. I remember a bank in Nigeria that started a service called ‘Exclusive Service’. This service picks outstanding performing customers of the bank and appeals to them with an exclusive customer service that gives them a personal and emotional endearment to the bank. In turn, the least performing customers were doing their best to fit into that level of service. You ask me the outcome? More money for the bank
On a different note, our exclusive Cognac ‘Jasmine’ has been tagged ‘The Aristocrats Choice’ , making it a drink that is exclusive for the elite in the society.
Jasmine Cognac
Branding really goes beyond beautiful Logos and robust websites but the psychological effect it has on the final consumer that will cause the needed action to take place.
At Icohn Designs, our branding process involves an in-depth evaluation of your company and the market and most importantly, your customers and the final consumers alike.
References
Gunelius, S.,(2014). The Psychology and Philosophy of Branding, Marketing, Needs And Actions.
Johnson, J., (2011). Design meets Psychology: Putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Work.
Campannela, J. ,(2015), The Psychology of Branding: How 4 Brands used Emotions to tell their Stories.
https://blog.hubspot.com/agency/psychology-branding-emotions-stories
Renaud, A. , (2017). Why we love Brands: The Psychology Behind Branding.
https://hiilite.com/agency-news/why-we-love-brands-the-psychology-behind-branding/
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