A good brand is like a friend and friendship lies at the heart of good branding strategies, says Shane McGonigle.
We all know the value of a brand and there are a million books, if you care to read them, which will split the atom on this topic. So I'm not going there. If you don't believe in brands, good luck to you because I do.
A good brand is like a good friend, it's as simple as that. We have to stop thinking about ‘marketing brands' and start thinking about friendships and relationships. Consumers are people and we need to think about them as such. Nothing new in this, it's been mentioned many times before, but the practical day-to-day reality is that marketers and their agencies persist in viewing people as "targets" called "consumers". Real friendly stuff.
Leo Burnett was a master of understanding the innately human nature of business and communications. He recognised that advertising was simply the art of good conversation, people talking and interacting back and forth with each other. Unsurprisingly, we remember good conversations and the things being talked about stay with us for longer. If Burnett's record and success is anything to go by, then he succeeded brilliantly, ultimately creating brand icons that people still believe in today.
Our approach to branding in the 21st century must continue to recognise people first and not the technological changes in communication channels. The latter is a red herring. Good branding is not about the technology. Good branding messages get into your head and leave something of value behind e.g. this is why I should buy your product over the competitors. We must do this for broad populations and that is where great branded communications will play their part. For us, it means imaginative populism and that is what we strive for. The diagram below shows where we see it versus the traditional approach to advertising communications.
Understanding the Message
So how do we keep our focus on the person and make sure we develop communications that will generate conversations and ensure we leave something of value behind? We stay grounded in people with some practical and simple rules:
- I imagine myself talking to a real person and ask what it is I can do for you and why you can trust me.
- I personalise the brand in the conversation. So now I'm in a one-to-one dialogue.
- I write documents about people. My insights and creative briefs are written in the first person. You'd be amazed how quickly you stop writing marketing bullshit when you do this.
- I review our strategic direction, creative concepts and media planning in the context of the conversation with a person.
- I tear up a lot of pages because when you write the conversation as a person talking to a person, it really forces you to be honest, genuine and real.
- I ask myself if I like the person this brand is and have I articulated why it can be trusted.
- Is this the basis of a conversation within which I can leave something of value with the person? If not, you have to start again.
The last point here is fundamental yet it is the one that many people simply do not appreciate. As they don their marketing and advertising cloaks, somehow they lose their people skills. Just think of all those corporate websites and ads, stuffed with self-serving and introverted data. Would you want to chat to someone like that, and if you did would you agree to meet them again? I know I wouldn't. There is nothing less appealing than people who only talk about themselves.
So what kind of friendships can we hope to have with a person, one that we are trying to influence in favour of us (our brand)? Well, what relationships do you have in your real life - with the boss, the guy in the next cubicle, the girl or guy you try to score at a club, your wise old uncle - there are an infinite number of possibilities. Maybe that is why I have a job and Leo Burnett in Ireland is successful - we're good at figuring out the most appropriate relationship and how to stimulate that over the long term. I'm not afraid to outline how we do it, because I know after reading this (if you do) that most of you will nod and then keep doing it the way you've always done it.
Personally, the strongest relationships I have are with the people I trust - my family and friends, people I'd always go out of my way to help and do whatever it takes to build those relationships and that trust over time. As a 44 year old man I'm not interested in transient relationships, but then again if I'm selling an iPod I can be 18 again when I have access to the right intelligence. It isn't rocket science but it does require a sensitivity to other peoples needs.
One of my favourite friendships, and I'm going international with these examples or I could lose a few friends myself, is with Apple. Bleedin' obvious you say, but consider this in light of the fact that I don't own a single Apple product! I have an iPod still in the box for over a year, I'm pondering the merits of an iPhone and I feel that there is something inherently desirable about the Mac Book. It is bizarre but it is compelling nonetheless. And for the doubters, those that say the commercial reality of this relationship is worthless, think again. I'm already a friend, I feel close to Apple, I'd ask his/her opinion on stuff in my life from how to work something technical to what about green for the bathroom tiles. All this and I haven't bought a product yet (apart from an iPod still in the box). They may not want to be friends with me, but I want to be friends with them and that desire will pay dividends over the medium term. My next laptop will be a Mac and my next phone will be an iPhone (rendering the iPod in the box useless). Where we go after that is anyone's guess, but it'll be good business for them no doubt. More importantly, I believe it'll be good for me.
If I like my friend Apple, then who do I dislike, who am I avoiding at all costs when I go for a hypothetical pint with my friends i.e. who has annoyed me, let me down or lied to me? One good example is Aer Lingus and not Ryanair as one might expect. I expect very little from Ryanair, yet they deliver it consistently, and play a little trumpet to tell me we've arrived on time again. Once the plane arrives on time and in one piece, I'm sorted. I want Aer Lingus to be my friend but they keep pushing me away, letting me down on service that I expect and they deliberately avoid giving me my frequent flyer points (what is that all about?). They have commoditised the service in their rush for price competitiveness, stripping the brand of a core asset that was a foundation stone of its competitive success in the first place. Yet I've had such a strong bond over so many years with them, that I want us to succeed, but eventually we have to part ways except where I'm held hostage to a destination or a time. And that makes me sad. I suppose if I was asked to pitch for their business, we'd propose relationship counselling to repair the friendship.
The common perception is that Ryanair is a terrible brand, not to be trusted, out to get you, the wolf in sheep's clothing. It was never as good as the media made out, nor is it as bad. Ryanair is like my favourite taxi ride and cheaper than most. All I want is to go from A to B, safely, with an absolute minimum of conversation, and for a known price. I don't want to chat with the pilot about the in's and out's of the Irish soccer team or why Thierry Henry is a cheat. Michael and I have a distance friendship based on an agreed formula and guaranteed service. I contact him when I need him and he delivers. But is Ryanair a brand or a process? The definition is irrelevant because it is very successful and continues to fly people all over Europe. It's entered the public consciousness, it's even become an adjective.
Our approach to first-person marketing might sound very obvious, even juvenile, especially in this age of in-depth insight and analysis and psychographics and blah, blah, blah. But the simple truth is that it works for us as a business and for our clients and their brands. So, the next time you write a view on your consumers, start with ‘I' and not ‘he, she or they', it'll make a difference, ensure you stay away from the marketing jargon and hopefully help you to see people for whom you have a product or service that will be interesting to them. If that's not working for you, call me.
Shane McGonigle is managing director of Leo Burnett Ireland and has worked with and developed a number of leading Irish and international brands over the last 15 years.
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