66% of millennials say that “brands they trust are more important to them than ever in a world of choice,” according to global market research company Ipsos. With consumers more likely to purchase from brands they already have a strong relationship, favouring trust over novelty – it’s absolutely pertinent that brands take steps to nurture brand resonance. With brand resonance, you are then well positioned to garner brand loyalty and advocacy. In this blog post, we will discuss what brand resonance is, why it is important, how to achieve it, and why it matters for your business.
What is brand resonance?
What is brand resonance? Resonance is when all of the elements of a brand – its name, design, mission, values, and story – come together to create an emotional connection with customers. When this happens, customers feel a strong affinity for the brand and are more likely to become loyal advocates.
There are many factors that contribute to brand resonance. A strong name and identity are essential, as they help customers to immediately recognise your brand. Your mission and values should be clearly stated and easily understood, so that customers know what you stand for. And finally, your story should be compelling and memorable, so that customers can connect with you on a deeper level.
When all of these elements come together, they create a powerful emotional connection that can turn customers into lifelong fans. That’s why brand resonance is so important – it’s the key to building a strong, loyal customer base.
How is brand resonanace linked to brand equity?
Instead of simply aiming to satisfy consumers, if brands want to be deeply loved and admired, businesses need to take their branding and product features a step further. Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) is a framework that businesses can use to understand and improve customer loyalty. The model has four levels: brand identity (awareness), brand meaning (relevance), brand response (differentiation), and brand resonance (brand loyalty).
At the very bottom of the brand equity and brand resonance pyramid, the brand identity stage, you are starting to build the foundations of your brand. Your aim is to garner brand awareness. This could be through social media advertising, creating referral programmes and giving out free product samples. Once you have achieved brand awareness, we now focus on brand meaning – brand performance and brand imagery. Does your brand live up to its brand promise? Does its visual branding appeal to target audiences?
Upon successfully achieving this, you can now move up the pyramid and consider brand response. If your product and the brand experience meets and exceeds expectations, your consumers will start loving your brand and might recommend you to their friends and family. This is exactly what you want to achieve for your brand – brand advocacy.
To acheive the highest level of brand equity, brands should aim for brand resonance. This is where a brand is loved by brand advocates, to the point where they do not consider other brands, a brand comes to define them, and feel an instant connection with another brand advocate. Keller’s model perfectly illustrates how brands can go about achieving brand loyalty and advocacy.
How can you create brand resonance?
So how do you achieve brand resonance? The first step is to really understand your audience. What are their needs and wants? What motivates them? By engaging in markets research efforts – through interviews, field studies and surveys – you will have a deeper understanding of your target audiences’ preferences, desires and aspirations.
For example, Swedish furniture store, IKEA, sends a team of design experts to visit houses and speak to homeowners to find out what they truly need: What is important to them? What do they wish they had? By taking the time to figure out what your target audiences what and working hard to fulfil these needs with the right products, you get closer to creating a brand that resonates.
Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you can start to craft messaging and visuals that will resonate with them. It’s also important to be consistent in your communications, so that customers always know what to expect from your brand.
Build brand resonance with BDSA
Building brand resonance takes time and effort, but it’s worth it. When you have a loyal, emotional connection with your customers, you will reap the rewards for years to come. BDSA is your choice brand consultancy agency based in Singapore. We offer brand consultancy services and social media marketing services to help you create brand awareness, brand meaning and achieve brand loyalty and advocacy. If you’re also considering Enterprise Singapore’s SME marketing grants, reach out to BDSA and we’ll provide further advice of the costs of branding and marketing services that will be covered! Contact us today and we’ll get in touch with you.
