On the 14th of April 2023, Phoebe Pappoe, a PR consultant, had the opportunity to share insights on emotional branding with the Master of Arts in Brands and Communication Management students at the University of Professional Studies. As a former student of UPSA and part of the first cohort to pursue the same course, Phoebe was delighted to engage in the insightful conversation with over 100 students who are also professionals in various industries.
The discussion centered on the theme “Using Emotional Branding to Change your Company’s Customer Experience Narrative.” During the presentation, Phoebe shared insights and experiences from her work with various indigenous and multinational organizations who have successfully utilized emotional branding. Participants also shared their experiences and how their various companies are using emotional branding to gain customer loyalty and retention. Dr. Ibn Kailan Abdul-Hamid, Head of the Marketing Department at UPSA, who extended the invitation, also shared very insightful tips on how SMEs can use emotional branding to promote their business.
The seminar focused on the steps required to implement emotional branding successfully. The discussion also covered things to consider, companies who have been successful and those who failed at emotional branding, and why they failed. Here are a few tips on the steps to consider when implementing emotional branding successfully:
- Identify Your Brand’s Emotional Appeal: The first step in emotional branding is to identify the emotional appeal of your brand. What emotions do you want your customers to associate with your company?
- Understand Your Customer’s Emotional Needs: You need to understand the emotional needs of your target customers. What emotions do they seek when interacting with your brand? What pain points do they want to alleviate? By understanding your customer’s emotional needs, you can tailor your customer experience to meet those needs and create a positive emotional connection.
- Align Your Brand Values with Emotional Messaging: Your brand values should align with the emotional messaging you want to convey. For example, if you want to evoke trust in your customers, your brand values should revolve around transparency, reliability, and integrity.
- Tell Authentic Emotional Stories: Storytelling is a powerful tool in emotional branding. Share authentic stories that evoke the emotions you want your customers to associate with your brand.
- Create Memorable Experiences: Customer experience plays a crucial role in emotional branding. Create memorable experiences that evoke positive emotions in your customers.
- Foster Customer Engagement: Engage with your customers regularly through various channels such as social media, email marketing, and customer surveys.
- Consistency and Authenticity: Emotional branding requires consistency and authenticity. Make sure your emotional messaging and experiences are consistent across all customer touchpoints, from your website to your packaging to your in-store interactions.
In conclusion, the seminar successfully emphasized how using emotional branding effectively can change a company’s customer experience narrative and create a loyal customer base that is emotionally connected to the brand. The students engaged meaningfully with the speaker and asked probing questions.
