In today's world, people have more information and choices than they ever had before.
New products are launched every day and advancements in technology are making many new options available to people on global platforms.
The successful brands of the future will be the ones that embrace brand experience by creating an ecosystem of captivating interactions with their audiences.
Brand experience drives word of mouth more than any other factor
Several definitions have been given to brand experience during the years by both researchers and industry leaders. According to a study published by Brakus et al., the brand experience is all of the feelings, cognitions and behavioural responses a customer has when interacting with an aspect of a brand, such as the packaging, communications or environments.
No study has accurately determined the stage at which present brand experience research stands, nor has any study in the past indicated the direction brand experience research is headed.
We believe brand experience is more than an attractive logo, lofty promises or catchy advertisements. You should look over brand experience with every active and passive engagement your audience has with your brand.
65 % of consumers say that a positive experience is more influential than marketing
Although user experience (UX) principles help organisations worldwide to improve the way people interact with digital or physical products, there's a need to rethink experience in its broader term which means going beyond the usability of the product.
We believe Brand Experience (BX) should be used as the universal term to address all the engagements a brand has with their audience which includes but is not limited to their customers.
A brand experience starts long before people interact with a product. It embodies everything from an advertisement to the look and feel of packaging; from surfing a website to the support received from a customer service representative.
Organisations that want to create an emotional bond with their audiences need to recognise the entirety of experiences their brand offers to all stakeholders within their range. This includes customers, suppliers, partners and most important, your employees.
Organisations should recognise that every interaction with their audience is a critical opportunity to showcase brand values. Although customers typically get the most attention, brands should aim to personalise their interactions with all stakeholders in order to foster brand loyalty.
Organisations are missing out great opportunities to engage with people on a deeper level. Part of the reason is due to the variety of touch points they have to manage and coordinate. This process is complex because it often involves multiple internal departments or external agencies.
A consistent brand experience creates a strong connection among stakeholders and should not feel like a patchwork of different interactions. By applying guidelines and policies across the entire organisation, your audience will experience your brand as lean, cohesive and consistent.
Your audience is more honest and straightforward with you when they have a direct interaction with your brand. In order to successfully deliver an effective brand experience, organisations should collect feedback, identify common themes and most importantly, implement change.
By training internal departments to actively listen to their audience, companies can transform observations and complaints into new ideas and opportunities. It's more important to rapidly make small incremental improvements than to design the perfect user journey.
Riccardo is a user-focused agile producer with 8+ years of experience in product management, operations and marketing, stemming from web development projects to 6-figure European-funded research projects. Riccardo's mission is to help companies uncover better ways to identify, shape and monitor brand experience in order to strengthen their position in the market. Proudly trilingual, Riccardo holds a Master's Degree in International Management and a Bachelor's Degree in Economics.
