Taste is for the bold
“Taste” is something familiar that feels new; it’s consistent and bold.
We can only understand “taste” if we understand human psychology and the psychology of the brain (known as behavioral neuroscience).
When we think about branding and experiences, there are a number of reasons you may buy/support one brand over another. Sometimes it’s your friends company or you love their organic no BS products. What about software experiences? Maybe its the micro community you’ve built on a social platform or when customer service has never been easier with a brand — why would you want to switch from something that you love?
When we talk about “delightful” experiences in tech, we’re saying we want to make our users feel something. It’s easier than ever to build products, businesses, and teams across the world — that used to be a differentiator for the few who knew how to do it.
It’s not a bad thing but it’s more important than ever to understand why you are doing what you are doing, who you are building for, and what you are about.
You cannot be everything to everyone. It seems to be common sense but it’s not.
Let’s step back
10 years ago — we saw the first influencers build their own brands.
Before from 2010–2015, you’d only see celebrity endorsements with established brands. Then, influencers starting working with brands which was controversial in itself. You’d then see influencers breakout to build their own product lines into full-fledged brands.
It was a powerful moment for the creator and something to understand as a significant piece to building a thriving, sustainable, legacy.
Influencers were a “new breed” of celebrity that had deeper connections to their fanbase — exciting for any brand looking to capitalize on that.
They had the fundamentals down:
- Community-minded
- Authentic
- Consistent
They knew exactly who they were and were not — unapologetically. It was refreshing and a theme we’ll continue to see in this write up.
“This is who we are — ”
Leaders of companies set the tone for their team, customers, and the market. It’s a trap to think we don’t have a say in where we stand in the market, amongst competition, and within culture. But it’s not a short-term fix but rather a long-term journey towards building, honoring, and living out our brand values. It’s the consistency that builds trust that cascades into the heart of consumers who will share with everyone they know. We all would love that but it takes having strong values that are often absent from many brands, companies, and teams.
When you get copycats and competition, it may seem like the end of the world but in reality it’s just another company building for customers that could end up switching to yours.
When we start to see the competition as another partner in marketing 😏, our perspective and strategy changes. Instead of trying to go fast and conjure up the biggest user base or customer base in the market — we see how we can find the customers that will love us for us. Plus, you can lose all the momentum just as fast. What’s the rush?
“Slow and steady wins the race” — we’ve all heard of a version of this saying.
Growth at all costs will end up costing you multiples when you’re trying to be something you are not — the house of cards will come crashing down one way or another.
When you grow fast without substance (or what many call ‘moat’), you run a higher risk of losing the grasp you’ve had on your messaging, your value, and the feedback loop on the experience.
The closer we remain to the “boots on the ground” and the voice of the customer — the more trust we earn, the better product we make, the more delightful the experience, and the more we’re solidified in culture.
Culture is created through community and the people who are part of it.
It has to feel real or we know its fake.
We can recall moments in culture where we could feel brand collaborations were a mismatch or were for pure profit — while we know bottom-line is important, there must be more to it.
Remember the famous Pepsi brand collaboration with Kendall Jenner? She popped open a pepsi to diffuse a protest in an ad.
Everyone was deeply confused on the connection between protests, pepsi, and Kendall Jenner. It was immediately pulled and both brands reputations were damaged.
Could this have been avoided? Absolutely — this is where having a diverse workforce across all levels with permission to push back aids in reinforcing brand values that connect with culture.
We won’t always know the right answers and sometimes we may make mistakes. We have an opportunity to respond in a way that honors the individual / user / customer as much as possible. Again — you aren’t here for everyone and that is by design.
Brand values are the blueprint.
Say another goodbye to politics and masking who you are — we’re all tired of the BS.
People crave real, authentic, direct, and helpful experiences.
It’s up to us to define who we are and what we’re about.
Working for Vitaminwater when it became the leader in functional beverage category, showed me what it took to build in a leading market driving experiential experiences that made VW “cool”.
It surprised me how calculated and strategic it was from the c-suite and marketing executives. We had pillars of focus, brand values, partnerships, and trusted to drive impressions that led to revenue everywhere we went.
Vitaminwater’s brand values: functional, authentic, bold, fun & playful, innovation, and wellness.
- Functional — our core value was hydration with added benefits & we all kept to a strict script when interacting with the public
- Authenticity — we were real people who were down-to-earth and relatable. All hydrators were friendly and approachable
- Boldness — everything from branding to marketing to stunts were bold, bright, and unconventional
- Fun & playful — lightheartedness with campaigns to drink labels were full of humor and made it fun to engage with
- Innovation — embracing being progressive and willing to lead new trends
- Wellness — providing better for you beverages that balance hydration, vitamins, and nutrients
Funny enough — my team and my bosses encouraged me to be my full self and loved when I wore hats. I noticed out in the field that certain demographics gravitated towards me and felt more comfortable because I was there. I was fascinated and I loved making people feel seen. It became part of my signature brand look.
Brand values are one step but how does that play out in the market — over time?
Well, that is entirely up to you. The power of brand values is in how consistent and authentic it is. This means that if you have desires to build for a community that you currently are not a part of…better start building relationships with people in it. Then start participating at all levels — visibility and substance will take you a long way when building trust.
For vitaminwater this meant, enforcing the little things like our brand style and how we write — everything was lowercase and I mean everything. It was hard sometimes but I loved to break the rules so it was fun to experience. You’ll often see this with gen z folk — brands like vitaminwater were out here making these unconventional ways of doing business cool.
In the field, we were expected to be stewards of the brand and business. We were faces of the brand and took responsibility for ensuring a lasting impact on consumers. Things like driving on the freeway in traffic, picking up ice at CVS, sampling on the red carpet at the Emmys, or sampling at the local skate park — every single interaction needed to be consistent, authentic, and down-to-earth.
“Wow — those vitaminwater people are cool!” — the expectation
I loved it. In traffic after a 9 hr day, we knew we were tired but everyone else around us were too. We had speakers on the van and would play music + dance. The smiles on faces, the honks, and the “WE LOVE VITAMINWATER!!” was infectious.
We were here to make sure you’re having a good time and you might get some swag out of it!
The product wasn’t the healthiest, many people could create a vitamin beverage brand nowadays, and the “fundamentals” seem so basic, right?
That’s the point — it’s not about the product or the tech but the people who build it, buy it, and experience it.
Consistency is all that matters in a room full of dupes.
Your messaging, branding, packaging, online experiences, customer service, social media, terms of service, job descriptions, mission statements, sales scripts, FAQs, contracts, partnerships, employee experience — it all must be looked at from the perspective of brand values.
The more consistent in experience in every touch point of the company — the better it is for the customer and your teams to enforce the brand values.
It’s a game of repetition that ensures standards are top of mind.
It can seem cold and calculated from a glance but can be integral to ensuring consistency in a dynamic, ever-changing world.
When you and everyone else knows who you & your business/brand stands for, the easier it is to repel opportunities that do not authentically serve who you build for.
Yes to what works within our values and the culture we’re a part of — no to everything else.
We can ensure we are a part of the conversation & protecting the spaces we play in.
If we can show we care in the ways that matter in the right places at the right time — we will continue to be a part of the future.
Taste is for the bold and courageous, only.
