Strategy: How to Build a Brand that Emotionally Connects with Users? Ask the Right Questions

August 3, 2008 by anne

A recent TechCrunch post reflected on the reasons Facebook and MySpace have failed to emotionally connect with Japanese users, commenting:

Mixi, the country’s biggest social network, positioned itself as a tool for communicating at a distance through diaries and communities to meet like-minded members. It doesn’t primarily exist to make new friends (poking is restricted) or as a platform for public self-presentation.

A perfect example of a cultural misconception: Mark Zuckerberg recently said in Tokyo one of Facebook’s unique selling points is the usage of real names and photos in profiles. This may be true but it’s exactly what Japanese web users usually try to avoid.

Whether or not TechCrunch’s observations are correct, it is a fact that all too often a company cobbles together a brand positioning statement based on superficial or incorrect perceptions of their target audience, whether the users are global or local. The company’s tribal knowledge, assumptions and incomplete or poorly executed research masquerade as insight. This makes it unlikely they will be able to establish a framework on which to emotionally connect with their target audience.

Building a brand that resonates emotionally with users requires the leadership team’s commitment to the overall branding process. It also means the company must consider perspectives which may be different from their own. And it also requires an ability to ask the right questions.

I can’t help you with the first two requirements. But I can suggest some questions that will help you understand your target user’s cultural, emotional and attitudinal perspectives regarding the category and category brands. Keep in mind that you may need to utilize indirect, as well as direct, questioning techniques since the target audience may be unable or unwilling to express their perspectives.

• Identify the lifestyle motivators behind your users’ decisions to help you understand the role your brand can play in their lives, i.e., why do they choose to live where they live? Why did they choose the type of car they drive? Why do they dress the way they do? Try to ascertain what drives their decisions…status, self-expression, security, etc.?
• How do your users wish to be perceived by others? Which brands assist them in attaining the image they seek?
• What are the emotional drivers that influence the target’s use of brands in your category? If your brand is a line of baking mixes, for example, determine what emotions motivate target users to bake. Is it love for their family, self-expression, etc.? What emotional benefits are most important to them? Do any of the category brands deliver the emotional benefits they’re seeking? If so, how?
• What are the specific features and functional benefits that ensure emotional satisfaction with the brand? How well do brands in the category, including yours, deliver these features and functional benefits?
• Also ask users what they dislike about brands in the category and what emotional needs are unmet so that you can understand how well your brand resolves their issues.
• What proof do users need to trust your brand will deliver what it says it will deliver?

One critical result of a well-defined target audience is understanding the emotional benefits that are important to target users and how your brand delivers on these emotional benefits. This does not preclude the importance of identifying demographic, geographic and technographic attributes. But keep in mind that you don’t want to amass a laundry list of information.

Ask questions that reveal opportunities to emotionally connect with your users and you’ll be well on your way to developing a richly compelling and successful brand.

See also:
brand – what is it?
positioning statement
point of difference
pain point
target audience
frame of reference
reason to believe
brand essence
portfolio architecture
commoditization

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