The Whyness of Branding: Humanness
Post Created By Eric Burton | July 12, 2024
The growth phase of a business grants the best experiences and, later, the best stories. As entrepreneurs, we try to deny or hide the ugly things that teach us hard lessons along the way. And probably, that’s just being human. Covering things up because they show how imperfect we are is a good instinct unless, of course, later, our perfect, no-mistakes stories fail to connect our brands to our target audiences.
As professionals in our crafts, we should learn to treat some of what makes us, us, as a part of our branding and as if it were an experiential aspect of our business. This could involve sharing personal anecdotes in your brand’s storytelling, incorporating your values and beliefs into your brand’s mission statement, or even using your personal journey as a business owner to inspire your marketing campaigns. For instance, if you’re a business owner who has overcome significant challenges, sharing this story can inspire your audience and create a more personal connection.
I know. This sounds weird, right? “Why would I tie my personal experience to my business?” But suppose we stop and think about how a business truly interacts with its consumers. We’d realize that there are lots of emotional and psychological exchanges causing people to buy in. Where does that come from?
Consumers don’t just buy out of necessity. If that were the case, we’d all be saving a lot of money. People and their buying habits are driven by emotions, values, and alignment with cultural and political matters. They buy with their hearts, not just their wallets. This emotional connection is significant for building brand equity and acquiring customer loyalty, By understanding and tapping into these emotion drivers, we can start to see the power of integrating personal experiences into our business branding.
Think of it this way: If consumers make purchasing decisions based on emotions, values, and alignment with cultural and political matters, then a business owner’s personal experiences, whether flattering or not, can be a strong foundation for a brand’s story. This may complicate the process of brand building, but it also creates more possibilities for connecting with your audience on a deeper, more personal level. Remember, your experiences are unique to you, and that’s what can set your brand apart. Although a business comprises many tangible parts and pieces, it doesn’t actually emote—not like humans do—at least not until branding is implemented. If we think back to the origin of the idea that caused us to start a business in the first place, those feelings, values, and emotions that surface all share a link, not only to a market need but also to us as entrepreneurs and how we sometimes share pain points with the people we create solutions for.
Making Ideas Irresistible To Consumers
Before an idea is sold, its appeal should be convincing enough to consumers and likely even to yourself. Now, obviously, that’s a complex thing to do. Convincing others that your idea is innovative, practical, and worth buying is challenging, even for established brands. What that means for you and your business is hours and hours of market research, skimming the local region for competitors, and optimizing your offerings to better qualify as buyable.
You’ll notice while researching that the competitors you come across will be indistinguishable aside from a few variables like messaging, values, and brand identity. Every market appears to be one big mall where the further you get onto the concourse, the more you realize you’ve seen all there is to see. And then, you notice the mall goes on for many more miles. Imagine setting up a storefront for your brand in this mall. Now, imagine being a customer on the concourse. That’s how it feels when new brands are introduced to a market. Icky and undesirable.
If you want to capture a person’s attention in the concourse, your brand identity, messaging, and experience must entice them. Then, your product or service should elicit a few great memories and emotions, enough to ultimately culminate in a second purchase. You’ll need something that sets your business apart to do this. A differentiator.
For example, let’s say we have someone like Tracie Atwater, owner of Atwater Bakery, who decided to trust the process long before ever considering herself a business owner. She’d spent a lot of time at tables in flea markets and fairs with her grandmother, who suffered a mobility impairment. Together, they sold a heck of a lot of freshly baked cookies and brownies before Atwater’s experiences summed up to something she’d considered valuable. Tracie said starting a business was about as unlikely as hitting the lotto, “it just didn’t seem like something somebody in my family could do. None of us even knew what that looked like because we didn’t have role models.”
"As Tracie's business grew, she struggled with sales, but this obstacle transformed into what she called the heart of her business and its mission."
Instead of selling baked goods at fairs, Atwater pivoted. She began to sell a bi-weekly subscription where customers can choose from a selection of delicious treats, flavors, and themes that change based on the availability of seasonal ingredients. Making this change allowed Atwater to survey her customers to learn about the kind of treats they liked. It also separated the brand from other bakeries by allowing a product typically bought at a storefront to go directly to consumers. “This was Grandma’s idea. When she asked how somebody like her [disabled] could get some of these treats, I realized,” Tracie said. “I should think of ways to reach customers who don’t have access or aren’t always mobile.”
After gaining enough success to expand its target audience, Atwater Bakery worked with a brand designer to redevelop its logo, messaging, and marketing strategies to better align with market trends and appear more professional.
