Branding and Experience, Part 1

by guest blogger Ehren Cheung

5 Reasons Why Branding and Experience are the Same

One of the first things we must understand when we talk about branding, is that branding and customer experience are essentially the same. We’re trained to step back and dissect the two apart; it’s actually quite easy – we do it all the time when we analyze our marketing strategies. The funny thing is that if we were to take a step forward – and look closely at how we respond or rather how customers respond to products, we realize that branding, marketing, and all that other mumble jumble is essentially the same as customer experience.

The greater challenge for businesses and organizations is to stop ourselves from overusing marketing terms or concepts and take that step forward to look at all these elements in a holistic and more humane perspective – the customer experience.

Photo courtesy of Robert Ewart

Think of your local public or mass transit system. What is your gut feeling? I’m going to use the Toronto Transit system as an example, what comes to mind when you think of the TTC? What is your first reaction?

1. It’s all about points of contact

Every time that your organization is in contact with the customer is also the time that you are effectively (or ineffectively) branding yourself. Whether this may be waiting for a subway train, stepping on to a bus or phoning in to ask a question in another language – this is all part of the customer experience. It’s important to identify how your customer interacts with you to really understand how they feel about you. Now we begin to realize that some points of contact aren’t even really “points” at all for you; but they are for the customer.

2. Customer Experience is everything. Just like branding.

Just to name a few: Buses either come in threes or none at all; Subways are crowded; TTC offers help in many languages for a cosmopolitan city like Toronto. We identify the brand based on our individual experiences with it. Newcomers may start off with a fresh point of view however those who are familiar with the logo, the bus system, transfering from one transit line to another – all regard the brand from their own experience, regardless of how much money the government keeps saying it’ll put into public transit.

3. Is your message conveying a point or a rationale?

Without diving into too much history, the TTC often uses the phrase “Ride the Rocket”. Alas, anyone who has travelled on the TTC would likely think otherwise. Not that the TTC isn’t effective at playing its role as the mass transit provider for the population of Toronto – it just happens to set itself up to be the joke of the city when mechanical failures and poor traffic flow continue to frustrate riders. Sure we could simply point fingers at all the different factors including politics and urban sprawl but there are always external factors to any business – that doesn’t mean you are exempt from a customer experience standpoint.

A more positive message that the TTC uses is “The Better Way”. Of course how much better is determined by the customer.

“I’m not suggesting the death of advertising; nor am I suggesting that companies avoid mission/vision statements or logos or color palettes. However, I am suggesting that all of those things are secondary. The primary job of any brand executive is to create an outstanding customer experience.” — Mark Hurst, Good Experience Columns

Tomorrow, we will continue with the rest of this two-part article, finishing up with Culture and Expectations, Perception and Design and Final Thoughts.

Ehren is an avid web worker. Currently working as the internet fundraising coordinator for the Heart and Stroke Foundation (formerly an online marketing specialist for the book industry), he spends his nights tinkering with online media. One can find his musings at www.onelittlecog.com and share in his joy of road trips at just.gettingsidetracked.com.