Brand Pit or Brand Palace? You choose!

As a Brand Strategist, I’ve learned over time that customers don’t like to be constantly sold a message they want to be heard. When a customer feels ignored, this develops bad attitudes and resistance towards brands, which I call the “Brand Pit.” At this level the brand not only has a sour taste to the customer, but this feeling eventually brings on brand disloyalty. Customers want to feel some type of ownership of a brand. Why? Because many feel that they too invested their own time, money and energy into helping a brand become great. Also, many have a soul ties to these brands because they resonate with their own identity. Customers want to feel like they are part of something greater than themselves. Because again they want to be heard and not constantly sold a message. To give an example, Nike had a problem with sneaker resellers using bots to purchase high demand sneakers in mass quantities online. However, for their loyal customers this became an unfair disadvantage because by the time they clicked “Buy Now” the sneakers were already gone. For the reseller, this approach was a cheat code to get exclusive sneakers, but Nike’s loyal customers demanded that Nike changed the way how sneakers were purchased online. From those complaints Nike listened. They’ve now changed their “Terms and Conditions” and implemented systems to spot online customers who are using bots resulting in immediate cancellation of their orders. With this example, it shows us that their “Just do It” message became irrelevant if a customer can’t get a fair opportunity to get sneakers. Unlike the “Brand Pit” to elevate your brand into the “Brand Palace,” companies must show customers that they care and build on places they were lacking. For Nike customers they wanted to see their feedback in some type of tangible way, which Nike implemented and continually refined over time. Therefore, the purchasing experience is not just a give and take scenario, but an invest and grow partnership. When brands make strides to listen to their customers feedback this builds trust and ultimately brand loyalty. Soon customers knowingly and unknowingly become your Brand Ambassadors to champion one message with the brand. Like the late great singer Barry White, said it best “Practice what you preach.” And if one puts value in both the brand’s message and the customer’s experience, elevating your brand’s value proposition from the “Brand Pit” to the “Brand palace” won’t be a hard task, but an opportunity for innovation.