Emotional Data Informs and Supports the Meaning of Your Brand

The word Brand has a lot of meanings. It's kind of annoying really that 'Brand' is sometimes used to describe a logo on a plastic cup. (nails on a chalkboard)

We're always obsessed with the business-oriented meaning of Brand. For us, it's the company’s gold standard, bigger and better than any product or service, with a value like an asset. But it's an asset with a varying value because it rides on the shifting tide of collective perception and identification within the minds of a target market, those perceptions that help to engage some people to buy, some of the time and remain loyal.

Marketing is another one with 27 different meanings. But again for us the business-oriented meaning is that it’s basically the circulation of a company’s lifeblood, carrying brand concept 'oxygen' all the way from a place like operations, through sales, out to the customer and back again. We have gotten weird looks from people when I tell them their business is really a marketing firm with a side-hustle selling products or services. We believe it’s true.

Here’s one that falls underneath Brand and Marketing but couldn't be more important to both. Emotional Data. This obviously has a business-oriented meaning too. Here’s why.

There are unseen customer emotions behind every decision to buy, regardless of context like B2B, B2C, etc., and they can actually be quantified. These emotions correlate directly to the real meanings of a given brand and marketing strategy.

Measured emotional resonance that is quantified and tangible would start at the top by informing a company's value proposition which obviously must resonate emotionally with a target audience. When translated into precise customer-facing language, it will dial up revenue measurably and direct internal strategies. It’s sort of like a combination to a lock or a secret password. “Say these words, and you’ll see a measurable increase in revenue.”

What we really look for is the hidden combination of emotional, motivational, and preferential reasons that sit behind why your customers buy, why they’re loyal and why they’ll buy again. These reasons won’t be brought up by the customer voluntarily. But when you have them you can predict behavior. It's probably the most valuable thing a business can get its hands on.

How do you access this information? It starts with Burning Questions (the questions that, if they had answers, would be game changers) then goes to neuroscience and math that yield quantifiable customer emotive response. Why they buy.

Think of it. If you just learned that 79% of your clients buy your product because of X, and you didn’t know about X before, that would be a pretty nice truth bomb. Opportunity would be knocking. From an internal perspective, would you be truly ready to answer the door tomorrow?

Sure you can sell and you are selling, but what’s it all doing to the value of your brand?

Is the company supporting X internally? Are employees even capable of functioning in a way that supports X? Is it in the value proposition, is it recognized as part of the offering, is it in the the marketing materials and the advertising messaging? Do employees understand that it’s part of the ecosystem of the business? In many cases it isn't likely.

So clearly, specific data from the outside causes a need for specific data on the inside. Can you see the concept of what we call true Brand Alignment? It might sound a little high falutin, but really it translates to greater success in the form of growth by honing in on the emotionally resonant value idea your customers have about you; basically why t hey buy AND how they inform others about your value proposition because of their experience with the reality of its fulfillment.

Emotional data informs and supports the meaning of your brand as it rides on that shifting tide of collective perception and identification within the mind of a target market, those perceptions that help to engage some people to buy, some of the time and remain loyal. What are these real emotive data points that trigger the decision to buy from your brand? Let’s get to measuring this stuff.