Is Brand Love really a thing?  Actually it is.  If you ask, it’s a goal of all brands in existence.  Who wouldn’t want to hear from a customer that they LOVE your brand?  What brand wouldn’t want to become part of your daily habits or rituals?

Brands begin by seeking awareness, interest, and first choice among competition.  They grow and they turn their focus to consistently delivering quality products, services and/or experiences that foster brand loyalty.  Finally, they add in opportunities to mobilize their biggest fans, creating incentive programs and special experiences for their best customers to become ambassadors so they feel like part of the brand.

The real goal in all of this - whether admitted or not - is love.  Brands want their customers to fall in love with their brand. 

Brands You Already Love

Think of all the brands you love that you use on a daily basis.  Sometimes you may deliberately slide on a pair of LuluLemons to feel sexy, fit and free, or pop that can of Coke and automatically smile with joy because of the familiar taste.  And other times, you’re unconsciously using a brand because it’s your tried and true, where you couldn’t even imagine buying or using something else: maybe it’s your Crest toothpaste, your Apple AirPods, your Peloton tread, or your Jif peanut butter.

You already have brands you love.  

Wouldn’t it make sense to try to foster that consumer love for the brand you’re building?  No matter how small or big you brand is, love can make your business bloom.

Building Brand Love

How do you create something that sticks with people?  Becomes their favorite sweater they throw on, or the go-to snack they always have to have on hand, the movie they want to watch for the 100th time or whenever they want to feel a certain way?

Let’s break it down:

LOVE means:

• Loyalty

• Honest relationships

• Generosity

• Shared values

• Feelings of happiness and excitement

• Security

• And much, much more…

Define what love means for your brand, and make a list of those qualities.  Choose how you’ll integrate those qualities into your brand and share them with your audience.

JOIN BRAND LOVE LIVE!

If you want to spend some time falling in love with your brand, and creating brand love for your business, join me for a FREE 4-Day Challenge just in time for Valentine’s Day.  BRAND LOVE LIVE! Will be held daily at 9am PST from Feb 13-16 via Zoom, and you can save your seat right here. 

Brand Love Ingredients

When I think of building brand love, there are 4 key ingredients I see successful brands incorporating consistently:

1 - EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

If a brand moves you, that’s gold.  Eliciting an emotional response means a brand has touched you on a deep level - they’ve tapped into an unfulfilled desire, a memory, an aspiration, you get the idea.  Without emotion, there is no love.

2 - ASPIRATIONS FULFILLED

People move through their days existing in their own realities.  When a brand stops you and shows you the aspirational lifestyle or an aspiration fulfilled that’s possible?  That’s where you win their hearts and their business.

3 - GIVING & RECEIVING

Love is never just about receiving.  This is not about building a brand with the idea of only ever receiving love from your audience….true love is only possible when there’s an equal balance of giving and receiving.  What are you giving your audience?  Start there before you ever expect to receive love in return.

4 - DEVELOPING MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS

Successful brands offer opportunities to cultivate meaningful relationships.  Love doesn’t exist without getting personal, so consider how to personalize your brand, create that love, know, trust factor.

Why Spend Time Building Brand Love?

If it’s not already obvious, it’s because then you’re building something bigger than yourself.  When you create something people love, you’re creating a built in brand loyal group of fans who only want to have what you offer.  They want to come back again and again.  They shout from the rooftops how much they love your brand.  Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

A note of caution: you can’t build a FAKE love brand.  You can’t kind of do this half way or do it because it sounds like the trend.  People will only fall in love with an authentically transparent brand that shows up the same way consistently.  

Brands On My Personal Love List

If you’re a brand building entrepreneur, take a day or two and start writing down all those brands you follow, use, and looooove without ever giving it a second thought.  You may be surprised by the brands on your own love list.

For me, here are just a few brands that make my personal love list.  I’m sharing because when you begin to ask yourself why you love a brand, what’s revealed is the strategy that can inspire what you want to add to your own brand experience.

APPLE

I don’t go a day or even a couple hours without picking up one of my Apple products: my iPhone, my laptops or my Apple TV are can’t-live-without items in my life.  Why do I love Apple?  I trust the brand.  Owning this brand makes me feel like a smarter tech person than maybe I actually am, plus, I trust their core value of innovation, knowing they’re making the best products possible to put in my hands.

Takeaway: How to inspire trust and shared values with your audience.

MAGNOLIA

From Magnolia Network and all the amazing heartfelt stories they tell, to the Magnolia candles I burn, Magnolia rug I cozy up on, and anything home-related I buy from Chip & Joanna Gaines, the values they’ve instilled into the brand they’ve built are aspirational.  They make me feel like I’m creating a happier home surrounded by beauty.  And yes, I want to keep every Magnolia Journal magazine issue just in case there’s something I want to re-read.

Takeaway: How to create emotional connection and aspiration for your brand.

TARGET

My go-to, always know I can find it, they’ve got it all, and quality stuff, store.  Target is a happy place for me - whether I need more diapers for Ruby, or I’m searching for a specific home goods items, or I want to wander the store and see what inspires me.  Target makes me feel secure, knowing I can always find what I need (and then some).

Takeaway: How to create a brand that feels like that emotional-support-dog, always there for you.

NETFLIX

There are multiple streaming services I subscribe to, but Netflix is always Queen in my house and I love this brand because it’s become a lifestyle.  No longer to I pay for monthly cable and have the 500 something channels I scroll through…nope, I just stream originals and favorite reruns on a whim.  What is life if you can’t veg out and Netflix it up with some wine and popcorn on a Friday night?

Takeaway: How to create a brand that becomes your customers’ lifestyle choice.

DOVE

There are so many brands I could use when it comes to body wash - there may even be better quality - but I choose Dove because I love that they stand for Real Beauty.  When I know this brand is committed to showing the real beauty of real women, it not only makes me feel beautiful, it makes me want to support their commitment. 

Takeaway: How to infuse your brand with values that align with your best customers.

Hope this has inspired you to build a brand you & your audience can fall in love with.  And don’t forget to join me for BRAND LOVE LIVE!  - - - my 4-day free challenge where we’re cultivating more of ALL OF THIS!