How do we assure that we are connecting with our consumer, so they keep coming back for more?
We make them fall in love with our product.
Falling in love is a process during which both parties are developing strong feelings for each other and are become more vulnerable.
We should be aiming at engaging the emotional centre of their brain, the chemical explosion of oxytocin, their inner narcissist.
Instead of creating an imaginary persona that is consistent and rational throughout their life, we should think of one who is overwhelmed by emotions any direction they look.
So, when we go out and meet them, they are turning into our direction and we immediately capture their interest. Just like a love affair.
The “24-45” target group is not relevant and we need to think beyond that.
It is like shooting in every direction hoping for a lot of ducks to fall off the sky.
This will probably result in narrowing down our target group but the result will be a more loyal consumer. That combined with the fact that we are creatures of habit, will result in increased repeat purchases.
What we want to do is try to evoke deeper emotions within our consumer.
In order to do that, we need to also develop an emotional link to them. We need to understand them, empathise with them, love them for who they are.
We need to follow their life journey, the life stage they are at, their deepest fears.
What motivates them, drives their choices in our specific subcategory and how do they feel holding our product in their hands.
Maybe they pick a specific detergent because their mother used it and it brings back these warm feelings of their childhood when their parent dressed them up before going to school.
Or they pick a specific shampoo because a couple of people they met that day told them that “your hair looks great today” on a day they were feeling particularly low.
It could be that they were up until midnight baking for their child’s school project and other parents said their cookies were the best they ever had so any ingredient used for that task becomes a precious token of confirmation when there is a deeper fear that they are not spending enough time with their child.
We marketers need to go further than putting ourselves in the shoes of the consumer (surely not the first time you hear this!), we need to get under their skin, into their hearts, navigate their psyches.
We should identify and understand what life stage they are at, what it is that they are after when they pick up our product: Is it recognition, confirmation, a sense of belonging, a need to feel important and loved?
This is what we should be briefing to our agencies and creative teams. We should be asking questions like:
- How does Marc want to feel about himself?
- Why will Jeanne pick up our product? How do we want her to feel at this moment?
- How do we want her to feel after she has added the product to the basket?
- How does Mary want to be perceived by her guests /colleagues / other parents when she tells them she bought our product?
- When at home using the product: What senses do we want to evoke? What hormones do we want to stimulate?
- Why will John go back and buy the product again and talk about it with his friends?
Do you know how consumers pick products? Click here to find out!
Do you want some inspiration on how to write the perfect brief? Click here!