AuthenticMatters

Brands are Human - They Need to Communicate as Such

Thanks to the socialization of the web, brands have taken on very human characteristics. They’re conversational. They’re sometimes awkward. They’re nerdy. They’re intelligent. They’re jerks (sometimes). They’re cute. They’re welcoming. They’re darling. They’re ignorant. They’re self-righteous. They’re self-important. They’re helpful. They’re all sorts of things that, frankly, our friends are.

Point is, brand managers need to understand that their brand has the opportunity to create, embody and promote a human side, via social channels. I mean, deep down, we all sort of think of the brands we love as qualitative pieces of our identity. (Actually, we probably don’t consciously think about this.) Example. I love Ipath shoes. And to me, I associate Ipath shoes with certain characteristics based not only on the product itself, but also on the way the brand communicates on, say, Twitter. There’s a sense of camaraderie. I hear a couple of buddies hanging out. They tweet about things I might dig. Essentially the brand communicates socially as if it were the ringleader of a group of super-passionate customers without a whole lot of corporate-speak. It communicates like a human being to other like-minded human beings who are likely to resonate with the messaging… and purchase.

Now none of this matters if the product isn’t up to snuff. So before you go focusing on humanizing your brand, build a quality product. There’s a reason why I’m at the stage where I’m an Ipath zealot - it’s because I’ve bought probably five pairs over 10 years… including these bad boys which I’ve had since 2008, are still in great shape and currently on my feet at the moment…

my all-time favorite ipath shoes