Then when I noticed companies everywhere asking people to like them on Facebook, I realized that this âsocial featureâ is also accommodating and encouraging companiesâ naĂŻve time-old quest for love.
Working as a brand consultant Iâve come across more and more companies over the years trying to co-opt the power of love. From automakers to cosmetics firms, from the food & beverage sector (yes, the usual suspect and suspect) and all the way to the telecommunications industry (see below), companies everywhere increasingly urge us to love them, ourselves or each other.
A couple of years ago a â100 most loved companiesâ ranking appeared, and more recently a customized tool was developed to help companies measure love more accurately. So whatâs going on?
Well, itâs been proven time and again that companies need to build an emotional attachment to their brands in order to sustain preference and loyalty.
Numerous studies in recent years, including medical and academic research, have established that emotion rather than reason is the primary driver of buying behavior and brand preference. Indeed, Iâll be the first one to preach the importance of an emotional bond with customers, employees and other relevant stakeholders.
But is love that emotion? I doubt that. If anything, evidence suggests that these days consumers are falling out of love with brands.
So what kind of an emotional relationship should companies strive to have with the world? In my opinion, the relevant elements at play are feelings such as trust, respect, satisfaction, curiosity, and inspiration.
I refer to it as goodwill rather than love. People tend to love people, not companies. They can also love objects and ideas, but theyâre beyond the point of wanting to have a loving relationship with a commercial entity â even if that entity is their employer, and even if it produces beautiful smartphones.
This is not to say that companies should avoid building emotional relationships with their stakeholders; it just means they should keep it a bit more real and down-to-earth.
In order to do that, I believe there are 3 key things businesses of all kinds need to do (beyond the obvious of course, which is to offer great products and services):
An idea, a belief, a value â something thatâs greater than just making money. People (other than investors perhaps) have a hard time relating to sheer profit-making, though they accept that itâs an inherent part of doing business.
With your employees, customers, suppliers and anyone else that either matters to your business or is affected by it. Donât cheat and donât lie. This is not about being more Catholic than the Pope â itâs about being a decent human being.
Listen to their needs and concerns, and consider these in your decisions and actions. A dialogue differs from a monologue â itâs engagement rather than communication.
The above will not make everyone love you, but it just might make the relevant people have a positive opinion of you, and that would make them more likely to want to support your business.
Clearly, thereâs nothing wrong with engaging consumers on Facebook and gathering likes and followers as part of community-building efforts. But letâs not confuse this with love: youâll never be anyoneâs substitute for love, friendship, or religion, nor should you, so you may as well stop trying.
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