A little appreciation goes a long way

You probably thank your clients in some way as a matter of course. It’s definitely the polite thing to do (my Mom told me that). But it’s more than that. Studies show that a simple thank-you has a significant impact in both social and business settings. In short, gratitude is a big motivator of behavior (wait, Mom told me that, too).

A few examples:

• A study in the Journal of Personal and Social Psychology looked at the effect of a job applicant’s gratitude. Sixty-nine people were asked to help a fictional applicant with his cover letter. He thanked just half of them. Only 32 percent of those he didn’t thank helped him a second time, while 66 percent of those he did thank helped again.

• Restaurant customers who get a handwritten thank-you on their receipt leave bigger tips.

• The owner of a small jewelry store ran an experiment in which some customers got a phone call just to thank them. Another group got a call in which they were thanked and alerted to a sale, while a third group got no call. Business increased that year—with the thanks-only group accounting for 70 percent of the increase, and the second group accounting for 30 percent.

What might some extra thank-yous do in health care, for example? We’re not talking about a great deal of time or money here. How about a thank-you card in the mail after a new patient’s first visit? Or a postcard or email after that annual checkup: “Thanks for coming in!” Be sure to make the thank-you the sole purpose. Patients may well be more inclined to come back—which is good for the practice and for them.

By the way, true feelings of appreciation (and other positive emotions) can actually boost the immune system and increase heart-rhythm coherence, according to research at the Institute for Heart Math. Other benefits include fewer health complaints overall and protection against heart attacks. So when you do a little more to say thanks, you just might get healthier too.

Ben Franklin’s Marketing Tip

When you like someone, you do nice things for them, right? Not necessarily. Psychologists tell us that it can work the other way around: we like people more when we’re nice to them. (The reverse is also true: we come to hate those we treat badly.)

This doesn’t seem to make sense until you look at it through the lens of cognitive dissonance, which is the mental discomfort that comes from holding conflicting thoughts. Your subconscious thought process goes something like this: I just did something nice for someone I don’t like. What?! Why would I do that? I guess I do like him.

The phenomenon is called the Ben Franklin Effect. Franklin was a keen observer of human nature (and “master marketer”). The story goes that he once turned a detractor into an ally—“without paying any servile respect to him”—just by writing to the man to ask whether he could borrow a particularly unusual book from his library. Franklin was known to be a book collector, so the rival was flattered. He sent the book, and Franklin returned it a week later with a thank-you note. Subsequently, the two became good friends.

Can we apply the Ben Franklin Effect to marketing? We should of course keep striving to serve our customers and clients, but maybe we should also consider what we can ask them to do for us. I don’t see this magically converting people who just don’t like or want what you have to offer. But I do see it as a way to strengthen engagement with, and positive feelings for, your brand.

How to go about doing this? Typically, we ask customers to do something for us in return for something. But it may be better if you don’t return the favor immediately. That leaves some space for the effect to kick in.

For example, a bread bakery in my town closed for a number of weeks to renovate and expand. The owners made a special appeal to their customers to help them through the income gap by purchasing “bread futures”—to pay them now for bread they would get later, when the bakery reopened. I’m sure this was a purely practical request on the part of the bakers. But it was also good marketing. Anyone who bought bread futures was probably already a regular, but I suspect that they felt even more devoted to the bakery after extending themselves in this way.

What can your customers do for you?

In marketing, critters can be an asset or a liability

Animals loom large in human culture and consciousness. That’s not news. At my house, Dudley practically runs the place (poodles are that smart). What is news is that our brains are very specifically wired to pay attention to animals of all kinds.

Recent research has revealed that some cells in the amygdala, a deep part of the brain known to process emotions, are specialized to detect animals. (The research appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience; read an NPR story here.) Scientists studied several parts of the brain, but only in the amygdala did they find cells that responded just to animals, not to people or objects. This makes evolutionary sense: animals can mean food or danger, both extremely important. (though Dudley is neither…go figure)

Earlier work hinted at this. For example, behavioral studies showed that we keep track of people and animals better than things. In one study, people shown a farm scene noticed when a tiny image of person or animal changed, but not when an entire grain silo disappeared.

It’s no wonder that marketers have instinctively turned to animals again and again. Take the MGM lion, which goes all the way back to 1916. Or the Firefox logo, or the Taco Bell Chihuahua. At Bidwell ID, we created a hummingbird logo for Glenmeadow, a retirement-living community. And think of all the sports teams that identify themselves with strong, threatening animals: eagles, hawks, tigers, lions, panthers, bulldogs, bulls, bears.

Still, be careful about associating an animal with your brand. Remember that disappearing grain silo? Just like sex and cuteness, animals are great attention-getters, but they don’t like to share the stage.

Consider these two dog-ad campaigns:

Traveler’s Insurance. Dogs and insurance are not a natural match, so I have to wonder whether the audience remembered what was being sold, never mind the specific brand.

Subaru. I’ll bet that their 2010 “dog-tested” ads were more successful, and not just because US News and World Report named one of them “Best Car Commercial of Superbowl XLIV Sunday.” We strongly associate dogs with cars. And Subaru knew that 7 out of 10 Subaru owners have pets. In contrast, check out their 2007 shark ad. Cool, but how many viewers remembered the brand?

Whether an animal serves as your logo or merely makes an appearance in an ad, it has to support the brand, not steal the show.

Is Status Quo the Way to Go?

You’ve just been paid, and you’re feeling pretty flush what with all that cash in your pocket (so to speak). So the next time you’re in CVS, you go ahead and do it: you pass over the cavity-fighting toothpaste for the whitening toothpaste that’s going to turn your teeth into dazzling instruments of seduction!

If you’re thinking that doesn’t sound quite like a splurge, you’re right. For one thing, it’s subconscious.

I recently came across a University of Utah study that found that consumers’ motives—and their responses to advertising messages—change depending on “payday proximity.”

When we’ve just been paid, we’re more likely to buy “promotion-focused” products and services: those that ostensibly make our lives better in some way. Such as toothpaste with a whitening message. Or a slab of cake (fun!). As payday fades in the rearview, we’re more likely to buy “prevention-focused” things: those that preserve or maintain. Such as toothpaste with a cavity-fighting message. Or a double serving of bean sprouts (sensible!).

Just to be clear, we’re talking about the time that has passed since your last paycheck, not how much money you’ve actually got in the bank. And we’re talking about the underlying promise of the product, not how much it costs.

Admittedly, this information might be a bit tricky to make use of, since not everyone is on the same pay cycle. But I find myself wondering: In a down economy, with unemployment claims still rising and wages falling, is every day a prevention-focused day? Should we give more of our messaging a prevention slant?

We might even speculate that prevention-focused products/services and messaging always have an edge. The prevention focus, after all, sounds very much like loss aversion, the very well documented tendency to perceive loss much more strongly than gain. Losing what we have is really painful—every day.

Tip: In the study, consumers were asked whether they had “aspired to buy” (promotion) or felt they “ought to buy” (prevention) their purchases. Take that as your cue if you want to look at your marketing through the promotion/prevention lens. I aspire to/would like to buy this; it will improve my life, make it more fun: that’s promotion. I should buy this; this is the smart, responsible thing to do: that’s prevention.

Hire a Consultant to Challenge Your Reasoning—Not Support It.

Reasoning didn’t evolve to get at the truth. It was designed to help us win arguments. So argues Hugo Mercier from the University of Pennsylvania.

This is the confirmation bias at work, which I’ve covered before: we unconsciously look for evidence to back up what we already believe. That can be a problem when developing a brand, or marketing campaign. Even when you believe you are pursuing the truth, you are more likely to end up continuing bad habits unless you get some fresh insights from outsiders.

This is a big argument for bringing in outside branding and marketing consultants. Companies and organizations may try to avoid this, wanting to make the most of their internal resources, but the price may be insanity, if you subscribe to the definition that insanity is repeating the same mistakes.

As consultants, our business is no different. In our 11 years of business, I can safely say that all our greatest changes were sparked and instituted with the help of outside consultants. As the bumper sticker says, “you don’t have to believe everything you think,” but it usually takes a good bump to make us see that.

Virtually You: How Online is Radically Changing Our Offline Personality by Elias Aboujaoude, MD

Author and psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude, MD has released Virtually You: How Online is Radically Changing Our Offline Personality, a curmudgeonly book about how spending so much time online is making us vicious, childish, and narcissistic. I must confess that I’ve read only a review of the book in the recent issue of Psychology Today, but I got the gist. In a nutshell, online is ruining our moral fiber.

I don’t believe it. Aboudjaoude implies a golden past when we were all polite to one another. When was that? When were we all perched on the pedestal of civility? People behave badly.

More to the point, this supposed recent degeneration en masse flies in the face of branding and interactive communications. All the organizations we work with are working double time to engage with prospects and clients in a more authentic, friendly, responsible, and responsive way. Organizations are quickly learning that being too self-centered is bad business.

This is a far cry from Aboujaoude’s claim that if things continue as is, “we’ll become a nation of spoiled, sheltered brats.”

My ultimate point is that I think cranky generalizations lead to faulty assumptions about customers and audiences, especially younger cohorts. I subscribe to the idea that communications is changing. It is not better, it is not worse. It is only changing, and understanding that change, without the filter of negative perception, is what will best serve our branding and marketing efforts.

Surly Brewing Walks the Walk

Are you living your brand? We have said it before: the best—and easiest—way for a business to appear authentic is to actually be authentic.

Meet Bidwell ID client Surly Brewing Company. This Minnesota craft brewery with a cultlike fan base may have tapped into a whole new level of authenticity.

Surly has been brewing up plans to build a 60,000-square-foot restaurant complex complete with a bar and an event center. Public response to the $20 million expansion has been tremendously positive. However, under Minnesota law, the new “destination brewery” will be too big to sell beer on the premises.

Why not fight the system? Why not get surly? That’s exactly what owner Omar Ansari is doing.

“Get Surly” is no longer just a tagline or branding tool; it is the vehicle by which the company is lining up support for overturning the law. Surly is combating the law with a PR effort that resembles a grassroots campaign. It is driving followers to get “GET SURLY” and take action. Surly enthusiasts are knocking on doors at local bars and encouraging them to join the fight. Employees are also getting fans emotionally charged and devoted to voicing their opinions. Surly’s blog outlines the situation and encourages followers to write to their representatives.

Might the “too big” law fail? Unlikely, but possible. Either way, Surly will come out on top. By living their brand, Surly continues to deliver fans exactly what they want.

A new lens on how to appeal to your best customers

Are you exciting or sincere? I know, you want to be both. It’s better to cultivate one when it comes to your brand, though. At least that’s what seems to work with the people most likely to become your biggest fans.

Remember my post on brand attachment? Quick review: some of us are more influenced by brands than others thanks to an “anxious” attachment, or relationship, style formed in infancy.

Of course you want to court this set of people. They are potentially your most enthusiastic, loyal customers, your brand ambassadors. But what kind of brand personality are these anxiously attached people into, exactly?

The answer, apparently, is either a) “exciting” if the person is wary of other people (“high-avoidance”), or b) “sincere” if the person seeks out others (“low-avoidance”), according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Anxious types with a high-avoidance relationship style are independent. They value self-reliance, self-assertion, and autonomy. All of which is expressed by an “exciting” brand personality: one that communicates vitality, independence, and uniqueness. Think Mountain Hardwear.

Anxious types with a low-avoidance style are more inclined to pursue connection and intimate relationships. They’re drawn to a “sincere,” down-to-earth brand personality: one that communicates honesty, nurturance, warmth, family orientation, traditionalism. Think L.L. Bean.

This either/or classification might seem simplistic, but the researchers, from the Katz Graduate School of Business (Univ. of Pittsburgh) and the Carlson School of Management (Univ. of Minnesota), say that “exciting” and “sincere” pretty much capture most of the dimensions of brand personality.

In my recent post I talked about the ability of a brand to hold supposedly opposite personality attributes, but this indicates that you can’t mix and match attributes willy-nilly. Pairing “exciting” with “sincere” could backfire.

Questions

• Can this dichotomy be carried through to other attributes? For example, are there parallels with what is seen as conventional and what is rebellious? How far can Harley-Davidson push itself into the mainstream before its brand becomes muddled and lost?

• What percentage of your consumer base might be defined as anxious? To what degree should they be considered?

• What other third-rail dichotomies exist?

Don’t limit your brand to one word

Branding tries to simplify an organization’s personality. The idea is to boil down the essence of an organization to one logo, one adjective, etc. A common branding exercise is to ask people, “What is the one word that comes to mind when you think of____________?”

The idea is that a brand wants to own a word. Companies want customers to equate that one word only with them. To back up this branding bias, we cite examples like Volvo = safety.

I say, good friggin’ luck. It is not going to happen. There are too many companies and too few adjectives, and a few successes are not going to change that. Even if the numbers weren’t against you, it is simply an unrealistic goal. Let’s assume that a brand is an organization’s personality. What personality can be reduced to one word? It is not the human condition.

The human condition is characterized by a balance of opposites, and that, we find with most branding exercises, goes for the brand condition too. You can find many more examples of this balance than of a brand owning a word.

For example, we work with a retirement community that needs to balance the concepts of dependence (aid, care, support) with the residents’ desire for independence. A college client needs to balance tradition (to appeal to alums) with cutting edge (to appeal to prospective students).

But let’s turn to my bathroom. I shave with Edge, which at first glance is the epitome of manliness. The macho name, the bold colors … I like that! That’s me! I’m a man’s man, and that is reflected in the products I buy. Yet read the copy: “cooling,” “sensitive,” “closeness,” “comfort.” Gads, I’m being pampered!

But I like it. Because I’m a guy, and being a guy means facing the fact that I’m tough, yet sensitive. I’m a bundle of contradictions. So is your brand. Embrace it.

Brand attachment is not about the brand

It’s obvious enough that people can develop strong bonds with brands. But a recent USC Marshall School of Business study revealed the real power of “brand attachment.” It found that when people are deprived of their brands, they can actually suffer separation anxiety and will sacrifice quite a bit—in time, money, energy, and reputation—to get them back.

I can understand getting attached to your iPod, and even your university, but your oatmeal? Yet this study found strong attachment to all of those things. What is this brand attachment? This thing that makes strong men quake when deprived of their Quaker Oats?

The idea that brands are vehicles for expression of the self is old. But the new understanding of brand attachment is that brands can serve as an extension of the self. Brands don’t just reflect us, they are us.

This may not be what the USC authors had in mind when they used the word extension, but I think it’s useful to note that extension is part of what makes us human. We overran the planet not by evolution of our bodies, which takes eons, but by evolution of our extensions: tools, basically. Sharp rocks and lasers extend our hands; bicycles and space shuttles extend our legs; calculators and hard drives extend our brains. Arguably, extension applies to our emotional and psychological selves as well.

Think of cell phones. They extend both the physical self—our voice/ability to communicate—and the emotional self—via their direct role in mediating and managing our all-important relationships with others. Is it any wonder people are so devoted to them?

More insight comes from a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research showing that subconscious relationship styles developed in infancy affect brand attachment. “Anxiously attached” individuals, who at a deep level hold a negative view of themselves, are apparently more influenced by brands because they’re looking for external help to enhance their self-worth. Brand personalities let them project their ideal self-concept—as opposed to their actual, negative, self-concept—to others.

So if we want to create brands that inspire strong attachment, we need to come at it from the right angle. Remember:

• Your brand is not your brand. For your most devoted customers, your brand is literally them.
• Instead of asking what image you want to project, ask what image your customers want to project.
• Make sure that in addition to knowing who your customer is, you know whom he or she wants to be.