"The New Goal Post for
Marketing Is Advocacy”
Brand Equity Based on Brand Characteristics
Many marketers distinguish brands by personality type
of which there are ten known archetypes. Remember that despite a brand showing
one or several of these characteristics, some more popular than others at the
end of the day the success of that brand does not fall upon the specific
character archetype but definitely on the brand voice and the
consumer’s loyalty and number of brand advocates spreading the good
news about that brand!
According to the ‘Brands & Branding in South
Africa 2012’ publication The Top 100 Brands in South Africa have the following characteristics
resulting in strong equity:
Brand Archetypes with Strong Equity
Seductress – being desirable, sexy
Wise – being trustworthy
King – being in
control and assertive
Mother – being generous and caring
Brand Archetypes with Growing Equity
Dreamer – being idealistic, different and creative
Hero – being adventurous and brave
"The brand characteristic and archetype ‘Maiden’
being innocent and kind has the least amount of appeal with little equity"
Marketing Experts
There are several very well known authors active in
business and they are respected and admired around the world. These authors share
their insights in their best selling publications touching on brand advocacy,
the groundswell of public opinion (which is related via social media) and the
brand voice all components of and playing vital roles in the Digital Media
platforms of Twitter and Facebook. My own experience and focus is primarily on
the Social Media platform of Twitter.
Brand Advocates – Rob Fuggetta
"Turning enthusiastic customers into a powerful marketing force – from awareness
to advocacy"
Rob Fuggetta author of ‘Brand Advocates’ explains how “advocacy
has zoomed to the top of the marketer’s agenda. He states that in a recent
global study by IBM, CMOs said advocacy is their top priority”.
Loyalty and Advocacy
“Loyalty has been considered to be the Holy Grail for
customer relationships. However, just because customers are frequent buyers
doesn’t mean they’re Advocates. You may belong to a
loyalty programme sponsored by airlines, retailers and credit card companies.
That doesn’t mean you go out of your way to recommend these companies. Advocacy
on the other hand, is the true litmus test for loyalty. When you recommend
something to a friend, you are putting your personal reputation on the line.
Getting customers to recommend you is having a virtual sales force,
promoting your products to family, friends, peers and thousands and
millions of buyers”.
Groundswell – Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
“The Business World Can and Must Take Advantage of Social Media”
“What happens when ordinary
people are given a voice, when information is no longer filtered and packaged
by marketers and media manipulators?”
“The result is a groundswell
and power to the people”
I am of the opinion that it is a win-win situation,
brands start engaging and many relationships are won!
This publication explains that “the value of the brand
belongs to the market, and not to the company. The company who has developed
the brand is a tool to create value for the brand. The company is a closed
structure but the brand is an open structure that engages with the world”.
A very valid question should be asked of all marketers
and brand managers – are you creating and enabling value for your brand via
social media? Are you using every possible medium to create value for your
brand? Are you engaging with the public creating loyalty for your brand and
turning awareness into advocacy?
Social Media
Charlene and Josh in ‘Groundswell’ detail what Social Media can be used for in respect
of your brand:
Listen to better
understand your customers. Insight can be used for future marketing and product
development.
Talking – spread messages about your company
Energizing the brand – find your most enthusiastic customers and use their loyalty and brand advocacy to supercharge the power of the word of mouth
Talking – spread messages about your company
Energizing the brand – find your most enthusiastic customers and use their loyalty and brand advocacy to supercharge the power of the word of mouth
People who don’t use Twitter tend to write it
off. Twitter
is rapidly becoming a key part of the groundswell – driving, reporting on,
spreading news and extending activity in everything from blogs to social
networks.
Twitter is at the centre of a whole ecosystem of interactions. Unlike Facebook,
Twitter
allows anyone to follow anyone else (unless the person being followed blocks
you, which is rare). All twitter updates are public which makes them
searchable. More than 70 percent of twitterers say they tell friends about
products that interest them, which is far above average. Once your company
starts to connect, people will expect you to listen and respond, not just
broadcast.
Social Marketology – Ric Dragon
Get Customers to Stay Forever
Ric’s publication ‘Social Marketology’ has an
informative section on Brand Voice. The various voices
comprise maven (expert) voice; promotional voice; customer focus voice, voice
of community love and voice of passion and voice of advocacy. Ric states that
“one of the most interesting brand voices is the voice of passion”. This is the
voice that speaks with enthusiasm and promotes the feel good factor behind the
brand. Similar to the voice of passion is the voice of advocacy
and can speak on behalf of a cause, or company brand.
Multi-Screen World
We now all live in a new world, a world where multiple
screens are used by the multitasking audience. In the multi-screen world,
creating ‘social engagement’ has great value. It’s fun, social and uplifting!
“At the heart of a
great brand is a great product or service”
Share the good news
about your brand on Twitter AND Instagram
