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Vol. 15, No. 3, Summer 2004
Michael Eckersley, Principal, HumanCentered; William O’Connor, President, Source/Inc.
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"Causes of brand failure," writes Michael Eckersley, "are always more complicated and varied than are the reasons for success." Eckersley, principal of HumanCentered, a design consultancy in Salt Lake City, thinks of brands as a variety of conversation: a two-way conversation between company and customer. And it's a metaphor that works. Think of how many companies play the part of the bore whose conversations are all about himself. As Eckersley puts it, "There might be a feigned interest, but you get a clear sense that they're simply not built for input. Eventually you walk away or change the channel." The currency of brand conversation, he explains, is genuine interest in what your customer has to say. In fact, your customer's story should alter the course of your brand's conversation. Rather than centering upon the enterprise itself-its industry and competitors, its offerings, and its various value propositions-branding should take advantage of the customer as the ultimate knowledge resource.
Well, how do brands learn to do that? Eckersley recommends a periodic immersion into the world of the customer-a "deep dive" process of research and discovery, which he says, "is where the branding process should begin." HumanCentered sends out small, interdisciplinary reconnaissance teams to spend a day, a week, or a month in the life of customers. Such research, along with some "big-picture consumer market data," should produce the kind of fine-grained data that truly informs a branding process.
Knowing your customer well also contributes to a greater understanding of your own brand and how its offerings fit into the customer's world. You may be able to spot connections and imagine opportunities to serve the customer better. Eckersley cites the success of Scott Bedbury, a force behind the branding success of Nike and Starbucks, who insists that "a brand must develop a clear sense of itself and how it connects with people's lives, both practically and emotionally."
The article offers a case study, contributed by Bill O'Connor of Source/Inc., of a large global marketer of hardware and fixtures that hoped to break into the world of high-end custom homes. The primary audience was actually the select interior designers managing the projects. But the deep dive that was involved included the consumers who were constructing or remodeling these high-price-point homes. The team needed to experience their thought processes, collaborations, and conversations with the interior designers in order to build a brand meaning and story that could take part in those conversations.
Eckersley ends his article with a reminder that customers are the final arbiters and co-creators of a brand's value. Companies that keep this in mind are likely to make the kinds of changes to their brands that will shift the odds in their favor.
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