The Process of a Rebrand: Understanding Your Customer Part 1
Edgar Papke has an amazing book on how to generate alignment in a company titled “True Alignment: Linking Company Culture with Customer Needs for Extraordinary Results.” I’ve used his framework in many companies successfully so there is no sense in reinventing the wheel. The best thing to do is to put on your “teacher” hat and take your company to school.
Understanding Your Customer - Part 1
Ed identifies four elements of alignment within an organization: your customers, your brand intention, company culture, and leadership. When your company agrees on how your deliver on the promises you make to your customers across these four components, you will experience a unity of purpose that can’t be replicated by any other means. I’ll focus on each of these components in their own post, so today it’s all about how to understand who your customer is, or who you want your customer to be.
Ask, “Who is buying our product now.”
Start with your current customers and understand what motivates them to buy your product or service. Remember that they are people first and will act according to human nature. By that I mean human beings, in their default state, are constantly seeking to fulfill their needs. In that pursuit they are primarily motivated by emotion, and then rationalize the decision they have already made with data and reason. You can break down these core needs into three broad categories.
Inclusion - the need to be seen and feel part of a community.
Control - the need to have a sense of autonomy and confidence.
Affection - the need to be accepted in a compassionate and authentic way.
These needs translate to motivations that drive them to engage with your messaging and buy your product or service. Assess your customers and figure out what the majority of them value. For example:
If someone is motivated by inclusion then they will be attracted to brands that offer a sense of community. Being a part of a “tribe” of people who are like minded is highly attractive to them. Apple famously did this with their iPod campaigns in the early 2000s by using the image of white ear buds as a way to signal to the world that you were a part of the Apple tribe. It was cool to be an Apple customer back then because the brand represented something that you wanted to live up to and be recognized for. Creative, innovative, rebellious.
2. If someone is motivated by control then they will be attracted to brands that represent an aspect of preeminence or excellence. As successful and confident people, they can afford to have nice things, and the nicest, most expensive thing they can afford represents how much respect and admiration for their confidence they can get. These are the people that buy luxury cars to make a statement to the watching world. They don’t just buy a car, they buy “the ultimate driving machine.”
3. Finally if someone is motivated by affection, then they will be attracted to brands that care for them and others compassionately. They want to be accepted for who they are, but also want to improve their life and achieve self-actualization. They are willing to pay more as long as they feel cared for. You won’t see them shopping at Wal-Mart, instead you’re more likely to find them at Whole Foods.
Now, to understand where your customers motivations are you need research. And the more data you can afford to gather, the more refined your understanding will be. If you’ve never done that before, the next series of posts will cover five ways you can conduct customer research to get the data you need.
