The Hindu Business Line : The easiest thing is to go with a trusted brand

MARKETS have sentiments, brokers would aver. However, try asking businessmen if feelings have any place in hardcore selling; they're most likely to say, "No." As if to shatter this common myth, here is a new book from Tata McGraw-Hill (www.tatamcgrawhill.com) : Emotion Marketing, by Scott Robinette, Claire Brand and Vicki Lenz. "Trust is the emotion of business," declares the preface, so this is no touchy-feely subject to avoid, but something Hallmark has used for almost a century to win customer loyalty.

"Strong satisfaction with a product or service, although a prerequisite for loyalty, doesn't guarantee committed customers. Something else is required — a bridge between satisfaction and loyalty," write the authors. `Emotion marketing' is that `something,' because it is "the enterprise-wide pursuit of sustainable connection that makes customers feel so valued and cared for that they'll go out of their way to be loyal."

Precariously like political parties, businesses too suffer from defection — customers are leaving "at unprecedented rates of 10 to 30 per cent a year." The solution lies in earning loyalty, but "many companies aim no higher than measuring customer satisfaction," without realising that customers consider "satisfaction is a given."

There are alarming results of a B2B survey cited in the book: "65 per cent of customers reported that they were either satisfied or very satisfied — with their former supplier. Simply satisfied, not loyal, they switched." The main cause of defection is the "company's attitude of indifference toward the customer." As if to aggravate the situation, "new customers get the best deals," and so there is an incentive to switchover to a rival.

Hallmark's model of `motivational framework' is called Value Star with five factors, viz. money, product, equity, experience, and energy. The last three are `the emotional Es,' because they drive the majority of purchase decisions and also "provide opportunities for clear differentiation from the competition." The authors define equity as "a combination of the trust a brand earns and an identity that allows consumers to feel emotionally connected to it." Experience is about "customers' interactions with a brand," and energy is "the investment of time and effort a customer makes in a product or service."

There's "the other Emotional E" that surfaces in chapter ten: `Employees.' The book argues a `business case' for employee loyalty because "the total value to the consumer comes from the combined value added by each employee." On this E, a popular myth is that employees rank `good wages' top in what they want from their jobs; and that the second would be `job security,' followed by `promotion/ growth opportunities.' Look at the irony: a survey found that employees ranked `full appreciation for work done' on top, and that was followed by `feeling `in' on things,' and `sympathetic help on personal problems.'

Don't underestimate emotions because they're "hardwired directly to the body through a fast-track neural network." In contrast, "rational thinking is indirectly connected with the body's functioning." As a result, emotions are capable of stimulating the mind "3,000 times faster than regular thought." Well, that's a passionate statement to think about.

As ads get "louder, splashier, more aggressive, and less avoidable," the consumer is working on a counter-strategy to "simplify buying decisions." How? "The effort it takes to research, experience, and evaluate many options is overwhelming compared to simply relying on a relationship that has passed the test of time — so often, the simplest choice is to go with a trusted brand." When you do emotion marketing, business relationship may begin to resemble a personal one, because "people come to rely on, seek out, and support brands much like they do certain friendships."

A book worth relating to.

BookMark@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Price pyrotechnics

Dead man selling!

A profile of the rural consumer

`Branding has moved to the boardroom'

Mr Speed

Direct to consumer

Enter the corporate brand

The easiest thing is to go with a trusted brand

Hardsell