During my PhD, I created a measure of online consumer engagement. In other words, it is a list of questions that people answer to help gauge their level of engagement with a brand, product or even community.
With this tool, we can find out how emotionally, behaviourally and cognitively engaged consumers are. This is really useful, because most online metrics at the moment only allow you to say how engaged people are by counting “likes”, “comments” or “shares”… If this was enough to know how people REALLY react to marketing content, we would live in a dream-world!
My results show that people with high online consumer engagement are more likely to trust, commit and be loyal to a brand.
The tool is therefore useful for managers who want to find out the engagement level of their audience and improve it to sustain their growth.
The infographic belows explains what my metric of online engagement is about and how it works. 4 years of hard work nicely summarised for you!
To find out more about the metric, the project and related publication, you can go on the blog of The Journal of Marketing Management, here or get in touch with me directly.
Consumer’s choices are driven in large part by their emotions and unconscious, not their rational mind. Attributing meaning and emotions to a brand is therefore key to activating consumers’ gut feelings and inner self. One popular way to create this emotional connection that recently caught my attention is the use of archetypes.
Are you using archetypal branding? Now is the time to start!
What are archetypes?
Archetypes were first introduced by modern psychologist Carl Jung as images and thoughts with universal meanings. They are extremely powerful because they are anchored in collective unconscious and experiences, meaning that they should appeal to any consumer from any cultural, social or demographic background.
Why use archetypes in branding?
By developing an archetypal brand, you answer basic questions about your brand like: “who am I?”, “what is my story””, “what are my intentions?”, which help consumers see you like a person and identify with your brand. Based on Jung’s work, 12 brand archetypes have been developed by Dr Carol Pearson, and they are now in use (as such or in modified versions) by a lot of branding consultants and creative agencies.
12 brand archetypes
Examples
Most brands we know can easily be matched with an archetype. For instance, Nike is a pure Hero, LEGO is an Explorer, Dove is a Caregiver and Alpha Romeo a Lover. Can you think of which archetypes best match brands like Microsoft, or IKEA? And which brand is a Sage or an Outlaw?
Finding an archetype that describes your brand will help you articulate your meaning and provide a strong basis for your storytelling and content strategy. It will help you differentiate from competition and create a stronger internal brand as well.
What is your brand archetype? And if you had to match your own personality to an archetype, who would you be?
Personal branding is not new, but it’s still all the rage. After a couple of months of its existence and incessant reminders to try it out, I decided to give in and create a branded.me page. It took me 15 minutes. I just had to choose a layout and it basically imported everything from my LinkedIn account.
At the cross-roads of finishing my PhD and looking for a job, it is the perfect time to create yet another ego-centred page, I told myself. And if even a Business Insider article says that it’s what every job seeker needs, who am I to disagree?
But mainly, seeing just how far we can push personal branding fascinates me. I certainly have nothing more special than the multitude of others to tell, mind you. But, hell, if someone is going to make it super easy for me to have a sexier version of my electronic CV, I’ll take it.
A decade back, the idea that brand had personalities and human-like traits emerged from the wonderful minds of Jennifer Aaker and Susan Fournier. This was, and still is quite controversial to some, but I think that if you take it with a pinch of salt, brands do have personalities and can be anthropomorphised.
Personal branding functions the other way around, claiming that individuals can manage themselves like brands. Celebrities are a good example but now we see it being applied to just anyone. Branded.me is only one way to democratise and spread the creation of personal websites but if you think of it, your every move on the social web defines your brand, who you are, and how people perceive you.
In an era where actual brands are loosing control and consumers are more and more empowered, is the balance of power reversing back with businesses making money out of the personal branding trend?
Let’s see how useful this branded.me page is then. You can see mine here, and I’d love to know if you find it useful if you have one.
A recent article about the downfall of the Abercrombie and Fitch brand in The Guardian highlighted the importance for brands to have depth in order to remain relevant. This got me thinking about what depth could possibly be, and what it takes for a brand, of apparel or other, not to fall into the category of the soulless and meaningless. The explanation for the sheep picture comes right after this, I swear.
Brands need to have depth in order to remain relevant
Storytelling is a way for brands to maintain depth. By creating a carefully crafted narrative around a brand, its origins, evolution and meaning, marketers can create more than a shallow, meaningless brand. They can create a brand that consumers can relate to, and that goes beyond the products or services they offer.
I wanted to give you an example of a brand that represents storytelling, without falling into the usual case studies of Apple or Coca-Cola, and the idea came as I was scrolling down my Instragram feed and saw this, posted by Cherchbi:
Cherchbi is a leather goods and accessories brand, and the picture represents all 12 locations in Britain where parts of the bags are sourced, designed and produced.
I follow and like Cherchbi since I attended a talk by its founder Adam Atkinson last year, because the brands rests on very strong pillars, which I think the story conveys beautifully. This Instagram picture is part of the storytelling: it shows the importance of the British heritage of the brand, and gets you to travel around the British isles where local producers contribute to the making of the goods (and, yes, there is a step in Scotland!).
The story, which you can read in full on their website, is that of the Herdwick sheep, which produces in Cumbria, North England, a rough fleece that goes through multiple stages before becoming the brand’s emblematic tweed bags.
A story with guts and soul make for the depth of the Cherchbi brand
I find Cherchbi to be a brand with guts, because it thrives to make locally produced goods and rely on strong ethical standards. I find Cherchbi to be a brand with a soul, because it is ingrained with years of UK manufacturing tradition. These guts and this soul make a story worth believing in, that I am sure will get the increasing attention it deserves.
More to be discovered about the Cherchbi story on this short video by Decree Magazine, and on their website.
Country branding has been on the agenda for a long time. Whether it is to create a tourism advertising campaign, stand as a strong political ally, or simply generate economic wealth, countries are more and more consciously working on their national brand.
In the wake of the Scottish referendum for Independence due to take place in just a few days, my marketer mind, all political thoughts aside, boggles at the idea of the future of brand “Britain”, should Scotland go its own way.
What would happen of the Union Jack, the “logo” of the brand? As we know, it combines the flag of England (a red cross on a white background), the flag of Scotland (a white saltire on a blue background) , and the red saltire representing Northern Ireland.
Designers have apparently started thinking about the issue and proposed version of the flag that remove the Scottish elements and add green sections instead in a way to make Wales stand out. A change of flag would however cost millions of pounds and likely be highly unpopular.
Yet, the question remains: would brand Britain suffer from a Scottish independence? What would it mean for the brand’s values, the way it is perceived by the public and its long term credibility?
We shall find out soon enough! Stay tuned next Thursday to know if the Union Jack should still bear the Scottish blue.
Dr. Laurence Dessart 