A name is powerful as it evokes imagery and emotions. A name denotes the type of service or product that a customer is to expect.
Ever heard of Fong Kong? It’s street lingo for Chinese products which are deemed to be cheap replicas and are of poor quality. A name is everything. It speaks of character and integrity, quality and value. This is especially so in the corporate world. Brands should take serious note of how social media makes it easy for a brand name to be “blacklisted” by customers.
Some industry experts have noted that most social media posts about brands are customer service complaints.
“People are averse to paid self-promotion. Brands who do this risk negative backlash”
Authenticity and engagement
Whilst the power which a name carries seems to be a no brainer, a lot of companies are still allocating huge budgets to sleazy advertising campaigns to simply force their name on the customers’ consciousness.This is done at the expense of building an awesome experience for their clients. How ironic.
People are averse to paid self-promotion. Brands who do this risk negative backlash. Ask a local network provider who ran a lengthy brand awareness campaign only to be publicly humiliated through reports and paid banners of claims of poor service.
Whilst there is room for paid campaigns of this nature as they jump-start a branding and positioning strategy, what matters ultimately is the customer engagement experience.
Why is experience important? Maya Angelou captures it succinctly in her most quoted words: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
The power to evoke emotions
Emphasis should always be placed on engineering the right kind of environment and experience for the customers. Our long-term memories are triggered by emotions and this is why story telling has become a hot topic in content marketing. Good stories trigger emotional responses and this is what makes facts memorable. We only remember stats for so long but we still have a vivid recollection of our childhood mishaps!
One brand, in my opinion, that has mastered the game of evoking aspirational emotions is Mercedes Benz. Most men worldwide want to know what it means to own and enjoy the driving experience of the latest Merc.
We all salivate at the prospect of enjoying a bit of German luxury at its most sophisticated.
What are you doing to make your service or product truly memorable? I finish with this fact:
Word of mouth marketing has a trust rate of over 94%. Purchase behaviour across all demographics is influenced by one peer’s experience with a brand. Good experience with a product or service leads to a positive recommendation and no prize is offered for what happens if the experience was bad!
The best way of creating a name is by creating the right experience for customers.
About the author: Joseph Neusu is group digital marketing manager at Adclick Africa, an SEO expert, content marketer, author, speaker and consultant. You can follow him on Linkedin here.
