Brand Contact
- Point of Contact – Everywhere your audience experiences your brand
- Examples include –
- Purchasing and using your product
- Advertisements
- Promotions
- In the news
- Home
- At the retail store
- On the web
- Company’s character
- The walking brand
Product itself as a point of contact
- Major brands set themselves apart from their competitors and give themselves “permission” to charge a premium price
- Perceived to have an outstanding product or service
- Experience of buying, using, enjoying, even servicing the product is superior
Character vs. Image
- According to Jill Griffin, author of Customer Loyalty – How to Earn It How to Keep it
- Traditionally, advertisers busied themselves creating a brand’s image
- Focus is on the message the manufacturer wants to get across-one-way communication
- Passive
- Today, companies are seizing the opportunity to build credible relationships by expressing their character
- Active and involving
- Expresses desire to create a dialog
- Instills pride in employees
- Unique character is difficult for competitor’s to emulate
Walking Brand – A Retailer’s in-store Sales Force
- One of the often-missed opportunities for a brand is the ability to leverage its in-store sales force as a living, breathing-walking-embodiment of the brand
- Training is the key
- Brand must have a worthwhile distinction, cannot make brand believers without having something to believe in!
- Two examples –
- Disney theme parks-Employees are called “cast members” who are trained to make your experience of the park special
- Land Rover Dealerships-sales floor employees called “sales guides” and are trained to drive and demonstrate their cars’ extreme off-road capabilities.
