Brand Experience – How Do Brands Gain the Attention of Their Target Groups? [5 Reading Tips]

It is immensely important for companies to be tangible for customers. That’s nothing new. Especially in times when all market segments are flooded with competitors, it is essential to have a holistic strategy – after all, you want to establish yourself in the market or further expand the presence of your own brand. As is often the case, there are different approaches, but one concept always plays a key role: the brand experience. It describes how customers perceive a brand and keep it in mind. This means that companies should always be aware of this topic when making decisions. Today’s reading tips provide answers to the questions that are surely buzzing in the minds of many entrepreneurs.

Brand Experience: Interaction Is a Must

Whether it is a start-up or an established company: a unique brand experience requires a uniform strategy. This means that companies should design the many different touchpoints with (potential) customers accordingly so that the buying public associates certain characteristics with the company, for example »helpful«, »sporty« or – in the case of gift experience companies such as Jochen Schweizer – »captivating«.

The key element of the brand experience is the company’s online and offline presence, ranging from the company’s website, flyers and brochures to participation in trade fairs and events. Direct contact with customers is also crucial. For example, it is always an advantage to react quickly to customer enquiries or to interact with users in the Facebook comment section.

Of course, there are also some touchpoints that companies cannot control, for example word-to-mouth marketing. Based on the experience of users, it can be either positive or negative. Taking into account the above-mentioned aspects, companies should therefore try to control these touchpoints at least indirectly.

Brand Experience: How to Start

With regard to brand experience, you can basically distinguish between three types of companies:

1. Start-Ups

Start-ups almost always start from scratch. In most cases, they do not have logos, banners or similar materials. However, this does not necessarily have to be a disadvantage: while medium-sized companies, for example, which have often neglected the brand experience for years, struggle with the negative stance of their target groups, start-ups do not have to worry about possible prejudices. Instead, they can prioritise the topic of brand experience from the very beginning and thus get off to an excellent start.

2. Companies with Brand Launch

Companies with a brand launch often already have a large customer base. Nevertheless, it is important to be careful so that the new (sub-)brand does not flop. For this reason, the already existing brand landscape should be taken into account and a connection to the other brands should be established. A very prominent example of this is the online giant Amazon, which has already launched numerous brands, including Audible or AWS – and if you look closely at their logos, it is easy to see the parallels to Amazon.

3. Companies with Relaunch

Companies with a relaunch deal with the topic of brand experience as well. In such cases, it is usually a matter of adapting the brand presence to the zeitgeist and changing customer expectations. Sometimes, it may even be necessary to rebuild the brand image from scratch. This is why these companies must pay particular attention to extensively overhauling their corporate design and corporate communication.

However, a step-by-step approach is recommended for all three types of companies. First of all, you should define specific objectives and set priorities. Afterwards, it is advisable to develop a prototype and turn it into a brand before focusing on ongoing management, performance monitoring and optimisation.

This leads to visible results and long-term corporate growth. If you proceed step by step and test a prototype first, you also expose yourself to less entrepreneurial risk.

Brand Experience: Benefits

If a company manages to create a successful brand experience, it brings numerous advantages: first and foremost, it sets the company apart from the competition. The risk of losing customers to competitors is reduced and it is also easier to acquire new customers. In addition, you are better prepared for enquiries and can react more quickly. A positive brand experience is also beneficial in terms of human resources because a consistent and powerful brand image attracts many new applicants.

At the end of the day, there is no reason not to invest time and resources in your own brand experience. The resulting advantages cannot be denied and should also encourage long-established companies to think twice.

You do not know where to start? Take a look here.