The Meeting

People are usually attracted to what resembles them, and what adds to them a feature that enhances their visible social status; such as associating with the thing or person they like to see themselves with. Therefore, it is smart for you—embodied in your brand—to be that striking person. To be striking, you should not rely only on your visible assets, nor on commonalities, but on being inspiring to others, so that the consumer feels that your products are ”designed specifically for them.“ After all, consumers are not just numbers, but interactive personalities who feel and respond, and your job is to make them eager to meet you and stay by your side. You can achieve this goal by engaging in dialogue and representing your brand in a fitting manner, so as not to lose your ideal opportunity to build a purposeful and meaningful relationship that can withstand the fluctuations of the market and circumstances.

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So, what are the factors that reveal an ”unforgettable meeting“? 

There are several factors, including—as Tim Halloran points out in his book (Brand Attachment Secrets): the perceived brand reputation before the meeting, previous ”relationships,“ physical proximity, and others. The meeting at this stage is a major step to start the relationship, and based on the commonalities, we will move from the acquaintance category to the friends category, and perhaps cross those boundaries if we reveal our advantages and convince the other party of their need to integrate with what we possess. 

You might be wondering now how to make this leap from one category to another, and then, how can we—practically—strengthen the relationship? Well, if the brand can achieve the following, it will ensure that the meeting and the subsequent initial interactions go in a highly satisfying way:

• Make consumers feel special

The first meeting is an explicit entry ticket and a perceived message that there is something you like about this brand.

• Maintain contextual relevance

Naturally, the environment of the meeting affects the course of the event, and therefore the consumer should be in the appropriate frames of mind, and the context should be consistent. Take Nike, for example; selling at Walmart does not align with the brand image of a luxury sports brand, so a low-price mentality can damage the brand image even if the material returns are appropriate.

• Stay alert

You must be alert regarding the essence of building your brand, making every detail revolve around your single message. We all know Disney, the famous brand in its field. Have you ever wondered about its single message associated with all its works and outputs? True, it is ”magic,“ which is the prominent feature in its communication with the consumer.

• Build bridges of affection

At some point, it will be smart to go beyond the ”greeting“ and build a bridge that makes the idea of returning impossible. Think about what you can share with the consumer to spark their interest and arouse their curiosity about you. Think about what drives you to reach a deeper level in a short period.

Meetings come in various forms; it could be a direct encounter between the consumer and the product, or it could be through a series of written and spoken recommendations. Often, the written and spoken encounter leads to a direct encounter if it is impactful, honest, and consistent with the brand's essence. To ensure maximum impact, you must choose the selected promoters wisely, who in turn will contribute to passing the experience to those around them seamlessly in their realistic, personal templates. Absolutely everyone who receives such customized recommendations will view the experience with utmost seriousness and credibility due to their solid relationship with the original consumer. So, what is the selection criterion in this case? 

• The promoter must reflect the brand message with credibility. If you are a brand whose message is health and good appearance, these features should be visible in the promoter's personality to possess the necessary objectivity, and thus have a deeper impact.

• It is important for the promoter to have a friendly, interactive, and genuine personality, not a superficial or reserved person; in order to maintain excellent customer communication and add value to the brand that relied on them as a media face.

• Loyalty should start from them personally, so that the brand accompanies them spontaneously, indicating its quality and influence in their life in an unannounced and unpretentious way, which is more conducive to influence through the factor of recurring presence with a calm visual language.

Based on the above, unless the brand's characteristics match in clarity and honesty with the needs of the recommender (the media face) and their individual traits, the relationship is doomed to fail.

We have now moved past the first meeting, and perhaps we have managed to set up regular meetings to present our brand's key features in an attractive environment to stick in the minds of consumers. What else do we need? What we need to realize at this stage is that the success of the meeting and permanence in the memory of the other does not mean permanent interaction and influence; rather, more effort must be made to put the relationship on a path that works on enhancing and developing a growing and sustainable emotional connection, which is not achieved through individual effort, but is a reciprocal process between both parties. The most important 8 stages of the customer journey to your e-store

Building

Relationships succeed when they are based on the principle of reciprocity. In a commercial context, the reciprocity process involves benefiting from the product and returning the appreciation, either through repeat purchases or by recommending it—under the umbrella of one's own personal experience—to those who align with the recommender's standards. Both cases are aspects of the loyalty that the consumer derives from a brand that is conscious and professional in its essence, direction, and communication.

It is worth noting here that according to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association—as stated in the book Brand Attachment Secrets—the average adult receives about 3,000 marketing messages a day, and three-quarters of these consumers doubt the integrity of brands that over-promote their ads across digital ad platforms and billboards. Meanwhile, the Keller Fay Group—a word-of-mouth measurement firm—indicates in their statistics that nearly 80% of consumers find word-of-mouth marketing plays an active role in their purchasing behavior, and for 20%, the purchase decision is based entirely on word-of-mouth marketing. On the other hand, despite our common perception that we live in an era of technological abundance and addiction to smartphones and tablets, most of our conversations about brands happen during the actual presence of another person around a direct encounter with the brand. According to TalkTrack, offline word-of-mouth marketing is responsible for 90% of all brand-related word-of-mouth, while social media represents only 2%. Based on this, building an effective, sustainable relationship with the other party still requires direct, face-to-face interaction, and the same goes for brands. This does not mean that remote communication is entirely useless; rather, it is an addition and not a substitute.

Remember that relationships grow and intertwine through simple daily interactions. Think of your brand's relationship with the consumer in the same way; it is not enough to give the other party a gift on your anniversary and holidays and rely on this to build a solid relationship, just as you cannot rely on two promotional campaigns during the year and go into hibernation for the rest of the seasons and days. Relationships last and grow through the principles of continuity and reciprocity in giving.

Growth

As with any relationship, a brand cannot ignore engaged customers as soon as it wins their loyalty and commitment to the relationship; rather, it is its duty to strengthen bonds and lock connections through the marketing team so that the consumer continues to feel special and favored by their favorite brand. As is common in various human relationships, if you are interested in the continuity and growth of the relationship, do not stop generating reasons of attraction once you have caught the initial interest and attraction. This is a branch of communicative intelligence with others.

Have you ever wondered ”what is the turning point by which you measured the continuity of a relationship?“ This is a common question, and what can be measured can be managed, as is well known in administrative fields. So, what is the metric here? Research companies whose focus was the ”Passion Index“ summarized the strength of the romantic relationship between the brand and consumers in 10 basic principles that can be measured, dividing these statements into four main dimensions:

• Consumption

• Generating new ways to make this brand a part of my life.

• Sustaining the hunger for this brand.

• Communication and Enjoyment

• The brand is designed for you.

• The brand inspires you.

• The brand enriches your life and makes it better.

• Community

• The brand shares your values and feelings.

• You feel better when using the brand.

• You feel loyal to the brand in good times and bad.

• Social Sharing and Advocacy

• You enjoy passing the brand to others and introducing them to it.

• You feel a sense of belonging with other lovers of the same brand.

Now that you know the most important principles for measuring your passion, you might wonder about the benefits of using these metrics, and here is what we think are effective ways:

• They help you discover your strengths and weaknesses in your brand's relationship with the consumer, and thus improve the experience.

• They help you understand how to develop your brand's relationship with the consumer over time.

• They make you proactively prepared to offer solutions as preventive therapy by anticipating the future through the available data.

• They make it easier for you to look at competitors' models and benefit from their experiences in what they excel at and what your brand lacks.

Just like our human relationships, the deterioration of a relationship begins with moving away from renewal and innovation. No relationship can grow without a prior willingness to improve and develop.

A Secret the Marketer Won't Tell You: (Relationships are a Decision and a Choice)

Our lives are a series of told stories, some ending happily, some contrary to expectations, and others facing obstacles and turning them—at the decisive moment—into a leap toward harmony. The same goes for relationships in emotional human contexts, and in the stories of brands and consumers; you have to choose your narrative.

Overall, you have 3 choices regarding the brand's relationship with the consumer, either to:

• Stay with renewal

Relationships are strengthened and developed as much as they are exciting and renewed. We go through experiences where we grow together side by side, keeping pace with the movement of the universe and flowing with changes that would improve our personalities and ultimately enhance our lives. Or:

• Change through recycling

Crises are often a turning point in relationships, depending on the mechanism with which we deal with them. They either grant them the opportunity to reconnect with double strength and maximum effectiveness, or contribute to cutting those bonds and uprooting them. Or:

• End with losing hope

It is okay for the story to end differently from what we predicted. Relationships can deteriorate due to boredom, dissatisfaction, and the lack of communication, which are explicit indications of their expiration. At such a crossroads, you face 3 choices:

• Rescuing the relation with the current consumer base.

• Focusing the brand's efforts on forming stronger bonds with a different group of consumers, so that the brand continues to flourish and grow.

• Making the difficult decision that the brand is no longer suitable and should step down.

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In conclusion, life experiences are educational tools that help us improve our subsequent experiences, so it is okay to stumble in our relationships. Perhaps it is an opportune moment to remind ourselves that a relationship is a connection and good communication, involving two conscious parties, each contributing to a beneficial reciprocity that leads to a good and fruitful life. As Tim Halloran states: ”By prioritizing consumers, and by making them feel special, the brand rises to achieve the concept of a relationship.“