Chapter 5: Brand Power Tools: Likability, Reinforcement, and Consistency


The most powerful brands are robust and multifaceted, while at the same time they are precisely defined. Likability, reinforcement, and consistency are three key power tools that marketers use to achieve brand dominance. These power tools possess equal power for service managers when they are applied to service experiences. Through consistent reinforcement of an offering that is both liked and appreciated, a brand will engage consumers.

Power Tool 1: Likability

Most of the research conducted about likability deals with what is required to get customers to purchase. Marketing experts have long known that if customers like your advertisements, they will more likely remember you and feel better about your products and services. Likability is inextricably involved in how people respond to each other, to ideas, and to brands.

On the surface, likability seems simple enough: humor and warm feelings. [1] But likability is also influenced by variables such as the context and medium in which ads are shown and whether the person watching is a "high involvement" person or "low involvement" person. [2] Since people seem to like things depending on who they are and when and where they see things, ads need to be checked for likability in relationship to when and where they will be seen before a huge amount of money is spent to display them.

Likability within customer service also needs to be measured on a regular basis. As we seem to have trained consumers to say they are satisfied whether they are or not, perhaps we would gain better customer feedback if we simply asked them if they like the way they were treated. Satisfaction and likability are two extremely different indicators. In fact, many companies have confused customer inertia with satisfaction, thinking "If our customers aren't leaving us, then they must be satisfied." When customers don't relish their experiences with a brand, they will not be as involved. Even if they aren't leaving at the moment, they are primed to be snatched by a competitor.

Because likability has not yet been researched as a branded customer service deliverable, we can only extrapolate from the research that has been conducted on advertising. Christine Freuchte, CME KidCom general manager, points out that marketers know likability of ads strictly by itself does not generate desire. [3] Likability sparks interest. Interest must then be linked to preferences, needs, or concerns to inspire desire. Customer service can be an ideal medium in which to inspire desire.

What does likability mean in customer service delivery? Obviously, every brand will have a different behavioral answer to this question. With generic service, likability might mean remembering names; with branded customer service, it could mean using titles or formal names to reinforce your sense of exclusiveness. With generic service, likability generally means thanking your customers; with branded service, it could mean sending a personalized thank-you note or gift that reflects your brand—such as a donation to a charity with which your brand is affiliated. With generic service, likability might mean paying attention; with branded customer service, it could mean paying attention in ways that relate to your brand promise, such as repeating information in a set way (such as Starbucks does) so you make sure you get everything correct the first time. When customers like what happened in service delivery, an even stronger desire for the brand occurs if that service experience reinforces the brand's identity. [4]

[1]Humor seems to be the one absolute required to achieve likability. See the summary of USA Today and pollster Louis Harris and Associates of eleven thousand adults. Dottie Enrico, "Humorous Touch Resonates with Consumers," USA Today, May 13, 1996.

[2]For example, rich media, broadband advertising about services and high-ticket products, seems to generate more likability. See "Rich Media Ads Score High on Banding and Recall, Newsbytes News Network, August 24, 1999.

[3]Dennis Smith, "Do Ads Make Kids Want to Buy?" Business Wire, January 25, 1999.

[4]Original research conducted in 1990 by Biel and Bridgewater seemed to indicate that customers were twice as likely to be persuaded to purchase by advertisements if they liked them than if they didn't. A. L. Biel and C. A. Bridgewater, "Attributes of Likable Television Commercials," Journal of Advertising Research 30, no. 3 (1990): 38–44. But more recent research from Massey University in New Zealand seems to suggest that when you actually measure to see whether people buy, likability is not necessarily the variable that influences purchase. See Janet Hoek et al., "Likability: A Behavioral Analysis," ANZMAC (2000), http://WWW.ANZMAC2000.com.




Branded Customer Service(c) The New Competitive Edge
Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge
ISBN: 1576752984
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 134

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