In our latest Linkedin Live Event, Notepad Founder Naeem Alvi and Lead Strategist Jonny Keys analysed the importance of brand within the customer experience, and how to create an immersive world that engages audiences.
If you haven’t seen it already, check out the full recording on the link provided, for an entertaining and insightful discussion… that may cause offence to British Airways workers! Only joking, constructive criticism never hurt anyone. In future, don’t offer Naeem a bottle of mineral water in apology for a 6-hour flight delay. Anyways, link below ↓↓↓↓
Building upon this conversation, today’s blog will be exploring some of our favourite organisations who have mastered brand experience. There’s a magic created when striking brand strategy meets a fine-tuned customer experience to create something new, memorable and unique.
Firstly though, let’s examine the component parts of BX to understand why it’s needed and why it’s so effective.
What is Brand Strategy?
At Notepad, we define brand strategy as a plan for brand management that answers all the big questions: who, where, why, what and when? Articulating the qualities that make an organisation unique and giving audiences something they can believe in. It’s not just a logo, it’s a consistent attitude and a carefully managed experience that meets or surpasses consumer expectations.
So what is CX?
Customer experience (CX) is a totality of cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioural consumer responses during all stages of the consumption process including pre-purchase, consumption, and post-purchase stages.
It’s “the sum-totality of how customers engage with your company and brand, not just in a snapshot in time, but throughout the entire arc of being a customer.” – HBR
However a lot of companies are falling down when it comes to CX… “80 percent of firms believe they provide exceptional customer service, but just 8% of their customers agree.” – Accenture BX
What’s causing this disconnect?
Whilst CX optimises customer touchpoints around the consumption of a product and service, through avenues such as CRM, marketing and sales functions, this side of proceedings places more of a focus on securing transactions. Neglecting vital interactions that occur outside of the sales journey that help to create an immersive experience and build lasting connections.
We need to unite Brand Strategy and CX.
This magical merger is now being dubbed Brand Experience, or BX. When BX is done right, it helps to heighten the emotional response from audiences towards a brand and gives them a more authentic, holistic experience.
Exploring BX in more detail
Brand experience is the powerful combination of brand strategy, customer experience, and user experience. It’s the emotional, sensory, and tangible experience a customer has before, during, and after interacting with any facet of a brand.
So now we’ve got a feeling for BX, let’s look at a couple of organisations we feel expertly marry brand strategy and CX to bring their brands to life. Using brand strategy to drive their customer journey and elevate experiences.
Lego – brand-led world building that translates their mission and values into memorable experiences
The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the company has since been passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, grandchild of the original founder.
That’s some serious longevity, and it’s no coincidence that Lego are leaders in brand experience. BX places great importance on a company’s ethos and what they stand for and Lego always uses their brand to guide the look and feel of experiences. This ensures consistency as their creative vision is brought to life through all customer touch-points. Lego’s theme parks, stores, movies and perhaps most importantly their product all contribute to the immersive world they have created.
Everything Lego does helps audiences to engage with the brand’s mission, values and mission, “Inspiring the builders of tomorrow” whilst promoting creativity, fun and imagination. Even The name ‘LEGO’ is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well”, and the feelings of joy associated with the brand are simply undeniable.
Red Bull – the power of experiential events and positive association
Red Bull are just as famous for their ambitious sports and cultural projects as they are for their products. This is testament to their highly connected brand experiences, which harnesses the power of positive association to shape audience perceptions. Through their experiential events, Red Bull has become synonymous with feelings of thrill and excitement which are central to their brand mission and values.
Greg Jacobs, ex-Head of Revenue at Red Bull has stated – “It’s [about] having the right events, with the right feel, at the right time, with the right consumer and audience. At the end of the day, we’re storytellers. It’s about telling your story in an authentic way that drives engagement.”
Whether you are watching a breathtaking cliff-diving event, a world-class DJ set, or some nutter hurtling down a hill at 30 mph in a cardboard box on wheels, ultimately, you feel a lasting, emotional connection to the brand after your senses have been engaged and your synapses have been firing. You think of Red Bull and your mind is stimulated, this is the exact outcome the organisation wants from their brand experience as it makes them hard to forget.
In Conclusion
Ultimately, brand building is about establishing memory structures, we always want people to think of our brand first as opposed to our competition. To achieve this we need to create holistic experiences that audiences can engage with throughout the customer journey, and if we are to create experiences that are meaningful and consistent across all touch-points, then the solution can only be BX.
Brand experience brings strategy to life whilst ensuring customer experiences are unique and aligned. It’s what customers want, whether on a conscious or subconscious level, and it’s precisely what brands need.
Thanks for reading, if you’ve liked what you’ve seen today then keep your eyes peeled for Notepad’s upcoming white paper on Brand Experience. Also, if you’d like to receive exclusive Notepad content then be sure to sign up to our Noteworthy Newsletter here.
