Create memories, not transactions ( Catering to the customer’s core emotional needs)

It is the year 2019. Alexa is playing our music. Siri is making our calls. Google is setting our alarms. We live in an age where everything and everyone is digital. Today’s ultra-connected, empowered, and uncompromising customers interact with brands in an unprecedented way. A couple of bad experiences and the customer will switch to another brand before you can say CX. More often than not, they will complain about it not just to their significant others, but also out loud on social media.

Most companies today are competing purely on the basis of Customer Experience. It is not just a source of competitve advantage but it has evolved to be a business imperative. It has been long understood that success favours those companies that create memories and not just transactions. Delivering great experience is about catering to the core emotional cravings of a customer because at the end of the day, customers buy on emotion and not logic, not buy-one-get-one-free, not last-day-of-sale!

As the old adage goes- Sell the sizzle and not the steak, great companies understand that it isn’t the product; it’s the way it makes the customers feel.

Here is a peek at some companies that do this brilliantly!

Dove – With projects like real beauty campaign, The self-esteem project, Dove is perceived as a brand that thinks beyond just sales and profit. With a vision of helping women break the societal beauty standards, it authentically aligns itself with a benevolent cause. The Real Beauty message delivers a strong personal emotional pay-off, with the brand receiving the highest rating as a ‘brand that makes people feel good about themselves’

Netflix : This streaming giant rose from the ashes because it set its priorities right. It placed immense importance on customer insights and their emotional needs. Netflix is a powerful example of a brand that has recognized the need for growth amongst young adults. It caters to the cutomer’s need to intellectually grow and broaden their horizons. Its recent focus on original content and exclusive documentaries like ‘ Icarus’, ‘ Our Planet’ is introducing its audience to new stories and unexplored perspectives and provoking thoughts and conversations.

Nike : “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”-  Bill Bowerman ( Nike Founder)

Nike is more than a shoe-manufacturer. It is a brand that inspires people to overcome the one big foe that resides within- Lethargy. Every morning when the alarm goes off and you look out to realize it isn’t yet dawn, the battle begins. When you choose how long to run, the battle continues. Nike focuses on appealing to the very basic human emotions and telling a story we can all relate to. What’s better, the hero of the story is the customer himself. This is how Nike has been marketing to inspire customer loyalty.