Going further than the relationship between a brand and its users
Nowadays, every brand is looking to deliver an experience of its own. Personnaly the first memory I have is from Coca Cola’s ads. But I’m not even 30. Most probably others publicly earlier on. Still, today a hairdresser opening a new salon in Paris wants to offer an experience for the opening event.
But how can they create this memorable experience, when we live in a day where there is so many competitors, at ease if copying each other’s features to stay in the leading group ?
What brands have started to look for is to build trust with their clients. To do that, communication about shared values comes first. But buying is not the most valued act of engagement anymore. Sharing about its effects on our live is. Just like :
- I don’t speak about Spotify because the new search is great. But I could after I ask a friend to join me at the next Rone event, which I discovered by accident, browsing on Spotify’s search by concerts.
- My girlfriend would have never spoke about Fempo if the feeling to not use hygienic protection was really enjoyable.
- Never a friend would have speak for a week about her new scissors from Japan that make haircuting more comfortable if it was just another pair !
Small or big, the changes in our life are what we talk about.
For the 4 years I’ve designed for various companies, we were most successful when we spend time to consider what idea, feeling, statement were ours, and how could we helped the people looking for these specifically identify us, and get through with the higher satisfaction.
But it can be tedious to explain to managers and board members why we should say no to potential clients. Same as it can be hard to say that before starting specs, understanding deeply why a new product will be a great fit with the brand promises (which is very different to «help the user»). The following will depict my view on the importance on being fully aware of a brand’s promises, what it brings to its clients, and from where it seems to be from. Starting by the latter.
Grounded to trust : the brand to advocate core values
For the decades brands had entered our day to day life, they wanted to make their mark, differentiate, appeal to the client as well as the talent, make themselves visibles, nearly unmistakables. It was a time where everyone could publish anything to differenciate, where a posture was as good as the money you invested in to promoted it. But after some cases lost due to lacks of ethic or healthcare, restrictions appeared. So, it took times, but today they found a new lucrative place, where politics, technologies and internal policies turn to economical growth at all cost layed the ground for masses looking for loud voices to represent them.
For anyone, it takes time to build a relationship based on trust. After having a first look, being excited to interact again is not enough. You help yourself, you discover deeper what this is about, which will lead to some disappointments as well as some hidden surprises. You’ll found out that some are as in love as you about it, and some will strongly advocate you to change immediately. For some you will, for others you won’t, hickups will be talked through, and you’ll live happily ever after. Yay.
In a world where global conflicts, uncertainty and limitation of society’s liberties happen faster and faster, we’re thriving to find our bubbles of reassurance to keep going. On one edge, governments are becoming more and more authoritarians to ensure safety for a few and selfcentered economical growth could still be a thing of their future. For that, their aggressiveness fades the hopes of better future together. On a second edge, most of the people working are either on one they don’t like, or in one they don’t have the conditions to properly do the job they love. The time where we work only to live is over, but things change so slowly than most executive are deaf are best. On the last edge of this triangle of societal bonds, studies show than more and more people feel loneliness on a day to day basis. So as it seems to be more difficult to meaningfully engage with one another… Brands will help us !
For years brands have nurtured this idea. The links are already becoming closer to the ones with have with each other’s as their use more human’s voice and human recognition is their interactions. In SaaS, Intercom and Mailchimp set a good example a few years ago by empersonating theirs, and as customer care and newsletters are becoming more and more important in CRM company’s strategies, it seems that the new way to stand out is to erase all signs of automatisations and mass communications. Just like if a friend was talking to you.
The power of one voice
Aiming for a relationship where truth is the key element have its reasons. I’d think it’s because when you have one, facts and innovations matter less than communication and empowering the people sharing your core ideas, and ideals. Which, in a post-truth society, where everyone seem to stay legit even so their arguments are proved false, and where its more and more difficult to live along other without technological filters, is a perfect marketing manner to reassure that, somewhere, there is people to look for when you’re looking to speak fiercely and positively about what you think is good.
As every technique and technology, its neither bad or good. It depends on what you do with it. And today I strongly believe that we could use it to do good. Three reasons for that :
- Where social medias made informations instantaneous and decentralized, the understandment of what we care is still very low, and the quality of most was drastically lowered. While this might have helped great sources to emerge, we still need to find a way to create online discussions that elevate the one engaging with those.
- Most of the brands I interact with, are either global ones (products/services not limited by geography + able to scale) or local ones. And the issues we face today, as a species, involve an understanding of these to scale. As every one of these could direct its voice to give us more than a product but a galaxy of nudge to deepen this feeling, it could also help us understand how they interact with the world.
- I just love how since the 60’s we can hear more and more voices, with different backgrounds, envies and pains. But, even so most brands see potential markets, they’re soon debunked and people move to the next, hoping to find what they were looking for in the previous : understantment and embodiment.
We trust a brand to deliver a service, but I think it’s obvious that we stay through the years because it gives us that empowerments we’re looking for, either its beneficiary to most on the long term, or only to us for a short period of time (hello fast fashion). Today, the transparence claimed is a mostly an echo to the voyeurism that gave him birth. Few are those opening their books, and fewer act legitimately when busted. I’ll continue to advocate for brands to aim for slowing down, and taking the time to understand more their users. Respect is the base for trust, and today, when I see Tim Goodman share when brands looking for organizing big events to promote X community, but contact an artist whom doesn’t fall on, but hey, he’s more reknown ! Thankfully, Tim is sensitive enough to decline by sharing other artists inside the community targeted.
But we should never forget that today brands activism must be followed up and reminded their sayings. If you’re a designer, asking those questions are important, but making sure the brand continue to acts on them is preponderant. This is not for your personal ethics. This is for the wellbeing of the brand itself. It’s not an error to say that some customers would be better with another brand. If the means are the same for both but the end different, you didn’t listen enough to your users. The gut feeling founders had is probably still valid.
What about Nike with this highly exposed campained with Kaepernick last year ? Will it become the brand that protect all athletes ? Well, a couple of months later, Allyson Felix had to leave the brand because pregnancy policies won’t assure her enough to have her child without any risks for her or her baby. Some times later, Nike changes its policy about it. Even though Allyson didn’t benefits of those changes, it’s still a move in the right direction for the brand, and Allyson made it happened.
If you want to build trust, don’t stop half way. Otherwise your communication will be just that. Vanishing until the next one comes.
What a product designer can do about it ?
During my last experience at LiveMentor, we helped entrepreneurs on their projects by having mentors help them focus during 3 months. There were 4 digital products to help the 2 of them. And all of the products goal was : make their life easier. Well alright, but to achieve what ? Our users were all at different stages of their projects, maybe it was only a side project they were dabbling on, maybe it was something already got making money to live and they were looking for growth. And the problem is when the answer is either «Everything» or «Doing their job». Because it only shows that no one knows who they’re talking to. Again, you’re ARE NOT looking for a step by step solution, but you need to ensure that the direction is clear for everyone.
We had this idea for a long time, to make entrepreneurs interact and learn from one another, without the control of their mentors. Not exactly a revolutionary idea, but it made sense. Because the goal of LiveMentor is clear : to open people at the act of initiate. With this set up, we had many ideas for the product itself, but also to integrate this new product inside the existing one, in a manner that would have been different is the goal was. And, we would have decided to engage with our user base in a particular way.
By not following this trail at LiveMentor, not only our users were glad to have this new way to interact, but the little addons are helping them beyond our product, to find inspiration, to create new bonds with others entrepreneurs, initiating new projects inside or outside their original project.
Thanks for reading all this ! What do you think ? Have you experienced this change already ?
