Disrupting the Brand-Customer Relationship with Brand Equity

By CIOReview | Tuesday, January 29, 2019

In the era of shifting customer demands, technological advancement and oversaturated markets, it has become significant for brands to realize whether they need evolution or transformation. For that matter, whatever the companies choose they have to be more customer-centric than ever as there is an urgent need to provide consumers with clear, unique and fully aligned experiences. Those who neglect this, and refuse to put the force in digital marketing, won’t stay in the competition for long.

With today’s empowered shoppers who demand brands to offer specific values and constant accessibility, there needs to be a plan and a strategy to cater the needs and wants of the customers. Hence, it becomes essential for the millennial, who may have the capacity but not the experience to execute the enlightened strategies.

The more it’s about the customers, the more advantageous it would be for the company. But brands end up moving into one direction, not comprehending that both digital convenience and actual human touch is vital to communicate with the audience. Digital technology must be utilized to enhance human experience and not eliminate it. Below listed are three strategies that are a must to adopt for brands to go hand in hand with the evolution in brand equity.

1. Blending Online and Offline

Abandoning the in-store experience for faster digital sales is a bad idea. Hence companies must embed the consumer experience in a mutually supportive structure wherein they are offered both real-life experience and digital ease as well. Marketers must know which strategy to be adopted and think through how humans interact with their gadgets and fellow humans and thereby predict how consumers will engage with a brand.

2. Power of Personalization

Understanding market dynamics and gathering data is all fine and mandatory, but the next step in the process is what companies require to flourish their business, and that is- Personalization. As biometrics, facial recognition, phone apps, and other technology have come into being, letting customers personalizing their experience and control their transaction wasn’t this easy; personalization allows the customers to handle the power.

For instance, cosmetic applications are using AR and AI technology to help the customers try on different products, which is accessible in the market stores or on their mobile phones as well. AI further offers recommendations and delivers it to the e-commerce store so the customers can add it to their cart.

3. Pop-ups advertisements and Marketplaces

The idea of a shopping mall is becoming obsolete. Now, brick-and-mortar stores have a single location but have dozens of pop-up ads that do the job as it emerges anywhere they may be required. It is low-cost and versatile and helps the customers to find that pop-up which has both the independent and impartial approach.

Then there is another strategy wherein the big companies rent square footage to individual brands, which showcase their products and services, say for a month or weeks; this creates a marketplace within the store itself.

Transforming brand equity is a win-win situation and helps the company to maintain their brand value and also helps customers to recognize those brands. Moreover, a successful brand strategy requires a simple story, a clear, and an organized system.