When most marketers talk about an aspirational brand, they usually refer to one that confers economic status…Mecedes, Chanel, Dom Pérignon, Rolex, Swarovski…as if the only things that any of us ever aspire to are to be rich and important.
But consider what that says about our aspirations? How shallow and one-dimensional many marketers believe us to be? Maybe your customers truly aspire to be frugal, green, collaborative, flexible or fun. Maybe they are trying to build up such qualities as calm or intelligence, reliability or simplicity, empathy or generosity.
In my experience, those are aspirational brand values with more commercial firepower…WalMart (frugal), Amazon (green), AirBnB (collaborative), UberX (flexible, Forever21 (fun)…than those who merely confer wealth and status. So next time you think through your brand and the deeper aspirations of your ideal customer, notice if there isn’t a clearly differentiated value that only your product or service delivers in your category...and focus your branding efforts there.
And if there isn’t, it is probably high time to create it.
But consider what that says about our aspirations? How shallow and one-dimensional many marketers believe us to be? Maybe your customers truly aspire to be frugal, green, collaborative, flexible or fun. Maybe they are trying to build up such qualities as calm or intelligence, reliability or simplicity, empathy or generosity.
In my experience, those are aspirational brand values with more commercial firepower…WalMart (frugal), Amazon (green), AirBnB (collaborative), UberX (flexible, Forever21 (fun)…than those who merely confer wealth and status. So next time you think through your brand and the deeper aspirations of your ideal customer, notice if there isn’t a clearly differentiated value that only your product or service delivers in your category...and focus your branding efforts there.
And if there isn’t, it is probably high time to create it.
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