Brand Experience.

Working with the Best Brand Experience Agency in South Africa

Brand experience is a term which is used throughout the marketing industry. The key to effective brand experience is that objectives are viewed first followed by creative solutions to achieve these objectives, regardless of the channel used.

Effective brand experience is achieved when the essence of a brand is translated into an actionable experience blueprint. This will subsequently result in an improved experience for both customers and employees.

To find out more and how Interact RDT, the leading brand experience agency in South Africa, can improve your brand experience, continue reading.

We also offer market research services, which may interest you.

What is Brand Experience?

Brand experience (BX) is a term which has many meanings. Predominantly it is a holistic sensory experience which comprises an all-encompassing relationship between customers and brand.

Businesses make use of each customer touchpoint to develop a holistic brand experience. Even though the journey differs from one customer to the next, experience does not, and this experience leads to the development of a brand image which must always align with the brand identity.

There is a diverse range of brands, and many may fail to engage their customers, for the simple reason that they do not make use of brand experience to connect with customers through their brand.

There are countless special moments in the lives of every human on earth, some which may stay with them for the rest of their lives, that are easy to recall.

Some of these moments are often an experience which can be associated with a brand, such as Coca Cola and Christmas adverts decades ago, playing with Lego blocks as a child, a child hugging Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld, and many more, tying these brands to the lives of those who experienced them.

This is a simple explanation of the power that brand experience has, and what it is. There are many different types of brand experience that influence how an audience will view a brand. Regardless of whether it is an emotional connection, or targeted ads for promotions, the overall goal remains the same.

Brand experience is solutions-focused, experience driven, passion-based, authentic, and involves emotive content. Brand experience is not channel-focussed, media-driven, led by brought insights, or centred around advertising.

The Benefits of a Great Brand Experience

Brand experience differs from marketing. Marketing is the communication of the promise you make to your customers. Brand experience is living up to, and delivering on that promise. If your brand experience fails, your customers will be disappointed and all your marketing efforts will be in vain. The underlying reason for designing and operationalising a successful brand experience is an overriding sense of care for your customers.

The world of marketing is a competitive field and the fight for attention among so many options is a tough proposition, but it is one that is essential for the survival of a brand. Brand experience, and how effective it is, can boost a brand and allow it to take the lead amidst other competitors.

Great brand experience is known to:

• Increased revenue
• Strengthens client loyalty
• Ensure that there is repeat business
• Pave the way for referrals
• Improve staff loyalty

Increased Revenue

When you work to build and strengthen your brand through an effective brand experience strategy, your bottom line will grow as well. When you develop a recognisable and a reliable brand, it means that clients will get to know your brand and trust your business.

Clients will come to you expecting a consistent, fluid and positive experience that lives up to who and what you say you are. This will build loyalty ensure that they continue to come back, bringing others with them. When you start thinking about your brand, consider the deliverables that can be guaranteed, the message to convey, and the experience that you want to receive recognition for.

Strengthening Client Loyalty

The loyalty earned from customers only comes from a great brand, combined with excellent and consistent experience. By delivering that, you will pave the way towards successful branding for your business and any products/services that you provide.

Loyalty means that clients have faith in your business, which will deter them from seeking another supplier of the same product or service. If you can earn their loyalty with your brand, you are set to have their business long-term.

Repeat Business

With a well-established brand, clients are provided with consistent positive experiences which make them happy. The next step is to keep it up as most people prefer to conduct business with a brand with which they are familiar.

Humans are creatures of habit and once they are comfortable with a certain brand, they are likely to keep using the same brand.

Referrals

When people discover a great brand, they are likely to recommend it to others who have the same interests, or who seek the same products and/or services. Once people develop a connection with a brand, they tend to want to see that business grow and prosper.

To this end, referrals are the best reference that any brand can get. Recommendations always go an exceptionally long way in the world of marketing, which means that you need to make referrals a part of your strategy when you brand your business.

Improved Staff Loyalty

Customer loyalty is not the only loyalty that matters and loyalty from staff is crucial. The employees that you have are an extension of your brand as brand ambassadors. With great brand experience and an ideal work environment where staff members are happy, your team will promote your business.

How do you create a brand experience strategy?

It begins with a clear and focused understanding of your purpose and what you stand for. This will inform what you need in order to intentionally design the outcome and experience that customers will have through their interactions with your organization. The experience you intentionally design must align with what you have promised.

This is where partnering with a brand experience agency becomes important.

At Interact RDT we use a phased approach to create a blueprint that bridges the intention you have specified with the actions that need to be taken to make it real and deliver on your promise.

We help you discover and expand on the components of your brand, such as the “why”, which is what makes your brand unique. With Interact RDT, your customers and employees can experience your brand in a purposeful way.

Interact RDT also works to elaborate on what our brand identity means, and how it can effectively be translated into an experience that is meaningful. Lastly, Interact RDT provides brands with a strategic BX blueprint to align their experience journeys with one another in addition to core values, realistic and potential capabilities, and much more.

Why are brand experiences important?

There is a plethora of different brands which summon affectionate feelings as well as sentiments, regardless of whether it is a top magazine, or a popular children’s clothing brand. To discover why brand experience is vital in today’s time as well as age, it is important for some of the following reasons:

• It provides a much deeper meaning to the offering
• Builds brand perception
• It enhances brand loyalty
• It allows brands to stand out from the clutter

Deeper meaning to the offering

Brand experience is known to provide a much deeper meaning to what a brand offers, even to the brand itself. Successful brand experience consists of innovative ideas, inspiration, and it is vital to build a multi-dimensional brand which awakens feelings, thoughts, and actions in the targeted audience.

Builds Brand Perception

The outcome of the experience customers have with your brand should reflects the right perception of your brand. Thus perception is based on the outcome of the experience. The experience will determine how customers view the brand, and it allows them to remember a specific brand when they see certain keywords which trigger memories of the brand, or they experience brand related emotions.

Enhances Brand Loyalty

Brand experience is crucial as it results in loyalty towards a brand. Retaining existing customers is just as important as drawing new ones as it ensures that customers keep coming back to the same brand that they know and trust.

Allows brands to stand out

There are so many brands that offer similar products and effective brand experience is what sets some brands apart from the rest. The brand experience you offer is your brand DNA. Your competitors can imitate your product or service, but your DNA cannot be copied. It is unique to you and expands the value associated with your brand. This is what allows you to stand out.