Talking to People

Why Human-Centered Marketing and Branding Connects.

There’s a new way to view marketing and branding. It’s not just about products and cool tech solutions but communicating and connecting with individuals, not just as customers but as people – the ones who are supposed to buy our brands and care about the company that makes them. It’s really time to keep this at the forefront of brand marketing and shaping the customer experience. 

Solving Real Customers’ Problems Builds Loyalty. 

Part of what drives new companies and many startups is their cool new technology. The revolutionary idea that changes everything. There is a constant tension between what the engineers want to design and what the customer actually needs in this process. Too many times the technology or numbers get in the way of understanding customers and their problems. Why do customers need your solution? The Apple Watch Series 7 ad connects technology to what humans do. Why list dozens of features, just show people doing real things that they love? Just show real experiences.

The Apple Watch Series 7 ad connects technology to human experiences. Why list dozens of features, just show people doing real things that they love?

It’s Not Just About Product Features. 

So much of brand marketing and business-to-business marketing is about the details that don’t seem relevant, things that many companies say are unique to their brand stand out, that look good, and want to sell a complex solution to a problem you didn’t know you had. What’s essential to understand is what matters is what actually affects people. Brands are solving people’s problems, whether technology-focused or not. It could be home security with Nest, getting you to the airport in a Lyft. Keep in mind that humans matter in these transactions. And for people who are customers, it’s essential that brands become even more important as more technology floods the market, offering new choices, simplifying transactions, and making our lives better. 

Making An Emotional Connection. 

The stories and brand representatives we speak through are incredibly important to how a customer connects to a brand. That emotional bond people have with Disney through all the years of watching and sharing experiences with family is what drives the connection and meaning of the brand. This emotional connection is built into all the experiences they create through the movies, videos, and theme parks they’ve created. Now, with Disney+, they’ve built this connection into all their content. Disney + is the leading subscriber-based streaming channel.

Paying Attention and Being Relevant. 

Getting through all the advertising and marketing to reach customers, like you and me, is so difficult with the clutter of clever but often irrelevant marketing and brand tactics shoved at us. What really matters is understanding consumers, and specific customer groups and relating to their needs and their values through shared experiences – this is how people connect and relate. This is why Instagram and TicTok have taken off as advertising mediums. They show experiences and mirror what people connect with.

Standing for Something. What Really Matters.

Lastly, I think more than ever companies and product brands will focus on building their brands around what they are committed to in the world and their values that relate to your values. Brands must keep their customers’ values in front of them and stay aware of why it’s important. This will build value and loyalty beyond the next quarter’s bottom line for companies.

Always keep in mind they are selling and marketing to humans who live in shared experiences that validate who they are and build connections to what they are.