Creating Brand Loyalty in the Inundation Age
By Lorrie Bryan
…I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
A college student picks up a lug nut off the street and creates a ring from it. That experience is the spark that ignited the artistic genius of Scott Kay and the genesis of a jewelry company bearing his name that is today the bestselling bridal brand in America. In the world of luxury bridal engagement rings and wedding band jewelry, amidst a landscape of economic recession and declining marriage statistics, the Scott Kay brand stands strong with more than 2,000 retail partners, a number that is growing daily.
It’s not about the ring
How did Scott Kay become the industry leader? “We always shock new, retail jewelry partners, who obviously earn a living selling rings, when we speak five words: It’s not about the ring,” says Dan Scott, CMO of Scott Kay. “That’s right; it’s not about the ring. You see, it’s about the wedding proposal… ‘The most intimate conversation you will ever have,’ to quote CEO Scott Kay. We understand this is a life-changing time. At Scott Kay, we understand that the engagement ring is the period at the end of the sentence. It’s the I do—the symbol of all that is so magical at that moment.”
This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion…with these words, a band of precious metal is transformed from a pedestrian ornament to a sacred promise. Scott says that simply put, good branding is a promise as well. “Our brand touches people with an honest, memorable and emotional message, and as a result, we are the best-sold bridal brand in America. We earned that title by starting with a brand message so powerful and engaging it became a promise, an assurance: never compromise. We will never compromise when designing and crafting a ring of such utter importance. So our brand is about much more than jewelry—it has deep, life changing meaning. Find your brand meaning and you have your promise.”
Make it personal
Dr. Robert D. Winsor, professor of Marketing at Loyola Marymount University, says that in this age of information inundation making a personal connection with customers is the key to developing a brand that pays long-term dividends. “You have to make a personal connection with customers through your brand. Your brand has to connect with people on some level: emotional, personal values, or a sense of personal identity or community. People want to purchase, and own, and publicly consume brands that mesh with their own values or project an identity that they feel is flattering or empowering. This sense of identity or community is very potent for consumer brands.”
Scott says that branding is more personal now than it has ever been before and for good reason. “Effective branding starts with an easy to understand, consistent and appropriate promise that connects your product or service to the wants or needs of an individual. The result is like a relationship; one must know the other, have trust, respect and an attraction on some level for it to work. I often remind my department that we are not marketing to companies; we are offering a promise to each person within a company or consumer group. Get personal and your brand will experience growth.”
Wells Fargo, who enjoys the distinction of having one of the largest and oldest brands in the country, opted to make it personal when they were developing the brand for their new financial securities division, Wells Fargo Advisors. “We want our messaging to focus on our client and their needs, so we decided to use the word advisors rather than investments, securities or investing services. Advisors reflects the relationship that we have with our clients and the significance of our role in helping them achieve their personal financial goals,” explains Chris Moloney, senior VP of Marketing for Wells Fargo Advisors.
Branding is mission critical
Unfortunately, in today’s measure-to-validate world, branding budgets have frequently been cut. But as Winsor explains, spending money on an effective branding program actually leads to higher profits in the long run. “Branding is the most important thing a business can do. Branding does two primary things that are of great value to a business. First, effective branding has the ability to provide a company with what economists call monopoly power. This means that through branding, a product can be differentiated from its competitors in a way that essentially eliminates competitors from consumer comparisons. If consumers perceive your product or service to have many available substitutes in the marketplace, your price is limited to whatever those other companies
charge. In other words, branding allows you to charge higher prices because you have demonstrated to consumers that you are not merely a commodity. Thus, effective branding is a primary driver of profits because it gives companies pricing power in their markets.”
The second benefit of branding is that it facilitates brand loyalty, and this means you don’t have to spend as much time or resources in selling and promotion efforts, because consumers already seek out your brand. “Thus, your costs are lower. Loyalty also allows you to charge higher prices, so again, effective branding directly leads to higher profits,” adds Winsor.
Romance your product or service.
Ongoing branding efforts are important, because brand equity typically takes years to build, but can be destroyed very quickly, particularly in an age where news travels quickly. Winsor says it is essential to backup your branding efforts with product and service substance. “Brand image, or selling, or advertising might get you the first sale, but repeat purchases typically only come from positive customer experiences based on quality or performance. If branding efforts are great but the product is poor, the overall result will be ineffective. No amount of branding can save a terrible product. And, conversely, if the product is great but branding efforts are poor, the overall result will also be ineffective. Many great products have failed due to poor branding efforts. So, to improve buyer perceptions regarding your brand, you have to invest in both areas simultaneously.”
If you have a genuine, marketable product or service that is competitively priced, fills a void and offers truth behind a promise, Scott says you need to start romancing it. “Think of the benefits over features. Think about how your product/service is unique and, most of all, how it will affect a person’s life. If you will tell a story through your brand that touches a person (B2B or B2C) you will get them to buy into the brand promise because there is substance behind the brand.”
Find the best ways to tell your stories
With a multitude of media vying for attention, the rising relevance of social media and the diminished effectiveness of traditional media, companies are frequently scrambling to find the best way to tell their story. “Traditional branding tools don’t necessarily translate well to online markets or social media,” says Moloney, who has spent the last decade working with Internet marketing.
“The experience is different and the expectations are different. It’s dangerous to assume we know what works best today—what worked yesterday may not work today. A 30-second TV commercial seems intrusive when it precedes a one-minute news clip online, and might actually affect your brand adversely despite the relevance of the content. We are taking a test-and-learn approach and constantly evaluating customer responses.”
In a recent first for luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue and Scott Kay, they launched a website with Scott Kay preceding Saks in a sub domain:
www.scottkay.saks.com. “This is a branding dream,” Scott affirms. Likely the website is one of those long-term dividends resulting from years of good branding practices. Never compromise, Scott Kay’s brand promise, has apparently become a management maxim here as well. “Keep strong on the message with unwavering consistency, and ask your buyers how you are doing along the way,” Scott suggests. “After all, you can’t brand your product by sitting in a corner office or conference room all day. Get to the people who associate with your brand—they will appreciate you asking, and you will learn how to give them more of what they want and need.” Branding still creates the kind of success that lasts. In other words, having a brand that people trust and love will result in a relationship that exists ‘til death do us part.
“The result is like a relationship; one must know the other, have trust, respect and an attraction on some level for it to work.” - Dan Scott, CMO of Scott Kay