Brands That Boost Confidence
In my classes at NYU, we talk all the time about the difference between a product and a brand. In a nutshell, a product is a functional benefit...it performs a specific duty for its customers. A brand, on the other hand, is an emotional benefit. A brand is all about how it makes its customers feel and about how the brand fits into its customers lives.
Think COCA-COLA. The product is a beverage that quenches thirst and provides caffeine, depending of course on which version of Coke you're drinking. The brand, however, is all about happiness, and the brand's marketing is all about delivering and highlighting happiness. Coca-Cola is very much a part of its customers daily lives, whether at home, work, or with friends...providing happiness all along the way.
The emotional benefit is what pulls us into a brand, and keeps us there. We can buy lots of different kinds of beverages, but we buy Coca-Cola because it makes us happy.
Here are two brands whose recent marketing activity is delivering on two different versions of an emotional benefit that I think is so vitally important, especially in today's world: building confidence.
IKEA. The brand installed a "motivational mirror" in at least one of its stores to boost the confidence of its customers, and then filmed shoppers reactions to the compliments it dished out. The rational being that looking into a mirror is one of the first things we all do in the morning, and getting our day off to a good start is essential to a productive day. Talk about boosting confidence in a hurried world! Take a look:
TIFFANY & CO. Such an iconic brand! Girls everywhere dream of getting a little Tiffany blue box from the boy who loves them. Well now, Tiffany is saying that the same can be true of boys. For the first time ever, the brand is featuring a same sex couple with Tiffany wedding bands. As the brand says, a little Tiffany blue box is the first sentence in any couple's story. Surely any young (or older) person struggling with their identity and how they fit in will feel a boost of confidence from such a brand leader. I certainly would have felt better had I seen such an ad back in the day. Take a look:
Not to mention that the couple featured is a real New York City couple. Congratulations to the couple and to the brand.
Brands boosting confidence. Isn't that what any brand should do for us?
What's your experience? JIM.
Think COCA-COLA. The product is a beverage that quenches thirst and provides caffeine, depending of course on which version of Coke you're drinking. The brand, however, is all about happiness, and the brand's marketing is all about delivering and highlighting happiness. Coca-Cola is very much a part of its customers daily lives, whether at home, work, or with friends...providing happiness all along the way.
The emotional benefit is what pulls us into a brand, and keeps us there. We can buy lots of different kinds of beverages, but we buy Coca-Cola because it makes us happy.
Here are two brands whose recent marketing activity is delivering on two different versions of an emotional benefit that I think is so vitally important, especially in today's world: building confidence.
IKEA. The brand installed a "motivational mirror" in at least one of its stores to boost the confidence of its customers, and then filmed shoppers reactions to the compliments it dished out. The rational being that looking into a mirror is one of the first things we all do in the morning, and getting our day off to a good start is essential to a productive day. Talk about boosting confidence in a hurried world! Take a look:
TIFFANY & CO. Such an iconic brand! Girls everywhere dream of getting a little Tiffany blue box from the boy who loves them. Well now, Tiffany is saying that the same can be true of boys. For the first time ever, the brand is featuring a same sex couple with Tiffany wedding bands. As the brand says, a little Tiffany blue box is the first sentence in any couple's story. Surely any young (or older) person struggling with their identity and how they fit in will feel a boost of confidence from such a brand leader. I certainly would have felt better had I seen such an ad back in the day. Take a look:
Not to mention that the couple featured is a real New York City couple. Congratulations to the couple and to the brand.
Brands boosting confidence. Isn't that what any brand should do for us?
What's your experience? JIM.