March 5, 2019
Would you date a brand? It seems like a silly question but think about it. We all have deep and meaningful long term relationships with our favorite brands. I personally will not get out of bed unless there is the possibility of Starbucks in the very near future. My evenings are made more enjoyable by Netflix and I count on my Apple iPhone to connect me to the world. All of these actions could (and should) also be done by a significant other. In our competitive marketplace with all of the engagement choices we face every day, brands need to compete for attention and dollars by building long term relationships with customers that are similar to the relationships they have with the people in their lives.
Smart brands understand that your brand is more than a logo and a tagline. In order to build a dating relationship with customers, smart brands create a very deliberate brand personality, sort of a dating profile for a brand. A brand personality is a set of human characteristics associated with that brand. It sounds farfetched but think about it. If someone said a common brand name to you in a conversation, you would have an immediate reaction, a feeling, a word, a thought or description. That’s the brand personality. Try it. Here’s a brand name…..Red Cross.
As you can see, a brand personality can be applied to not only for-profit organizations but also nonprofits as well. It’s imperative that nonprofits distinguish themselves from others that have similar missions or services in order to find donors, volunteers, employees, even clients. A nonprofit’s future may depend on whether or not these critical constituents feel positively about the relationship and want to deepen or prolong it. What do you feel when you think of Red Cross? It is positive? Do you feel like your relationship with the Red Cross is donation or volunteer worthy? That’s your response to the Red Cross brand personality. It’s your perception of the brand and it tells you whether or not you are inclined to engage with it.
How does it work? Not sure where to start? Imagine you were setting your organization up on a blind date with a friend, who is a potential supporter. How would you describe your organization to your friend? What words would you want them to use to entice that person to meet you? Answering this question is a good place to start. Think about characteristics as well as physical details. Are you a women? How old are you or are you ageless? What kind of car do you drive or clothes do you wear? Are you honest, sensitive, fun, thoughtful, or dynamic? Are you scientific, smart, set in your ways, or faithful? All of these qualities can be attributed to a brand. It’s the list of your attributes that makes your organization unique.
Next, ask important stakeholders how they would describe your organization. This includes board members, employees, long term volunteers and donors, and even community members. Ask them to be as specific and honest as possible. It is ok to be negative. These are traits you’ll learn to downplay, change, or debunk.
A note here, while it is not a good idea to exaggerate or be untruthful when describing a friend you are trying to set up on a date, it is ok to be somewhat aspirational when crafting a brand personality. After all, your organization’s brand personality is a perception and can be changed over time. Just don’t be so aspirational that your personality is not authentic. Your supporters will see right through that.
If it helps, try to think of your brand as an actual person. In other words, if you were casting a television or radio commercial, who would you choose as your spokesperson? Who would best represent your brand? The characteristics of that person could give insight into your brand personality.
Once you have your dating profile or list of characteristics in place, this brand personality becomes your bible for messaging strategy. Your personality affects the tone and words you use in all communications, both internal and external. It’s critical that you are consistent in using your brand personality across every form of communication. You should not be curt and short in email but chatty and breezy in social media. That type of disconnect will confuse and alienate those critical constituents you are trying to build relationships with.
If you take the time to think about how your brand would fare in the dating world and write your dating profile or brand personality, you’ll be one step closer to ensuring your value as an organization is clear to the people who matter.
#brand #brandpersonality #brandmanagement #strategicmessaging #marketingstrategy #nonprofits
Note: A portion of my organization’s brand personality is Thoughtful, Dynamic, Innovative, Fun/Engaging, Accessible, Faithful, Loving
