Tribal Branding: Know Like Trust Series

This post is the final installment of the 3-part series on how to get customers to feel that they 'know, like and trust' your brand. The series was motivated by the need to create social media management (SMM) strategic content pillars. I think that, if I applied the 3 target behaviors / feelings to top, middle and bottom funnel positions, each one would apply in that order; ie 'know' will apply to the top, 'like' to the middle and 'trust' to the bottom. ... or depending on market needs, like when an unknown brand faces a huge challenge of gaining trust in expertise regarding a high-stakes problem, 'trust' and 'like' may overlap or be swapped within the cycle (of a month or whatever your expected cycle period towards conversion).

Even if your marketing campaigns have been successful in getting many people to know and perhaps even trust your brand, that does not mean that they will necessarily like your brand. You therefore need to connect emotionally, to have an emotional relationship with your market, ie you need to build brand affinity with customers. Afterall, brand affinity transcends brand awareness (which, as illustrated below, is only the first and most commercially beneficial of 4 levels of brand affinity). If developed successfully, brand affinity can motivate evangelism, the highest of the 4 levels. By such a point, customers make favorable purchase decisions based on emotional bonds with your brand. Needless to say, when measuring levels of affinity, the emotional connection is most important.

 

Brand affinity levels	Nature of consumer relationship with the brand
1.brand awareness	Consumer seeks to meet basic needs. Any product that does that meets basic needs will do. Won't go out of their way to get the brand.
2. infatuation	Consumer trusts the brand because the brand adds some value to their life. Consumer feels affection, appreciation or even obsession towards the brand.
3. fidelity	The consumer can truly relate to the brand values*. Consequently, the consumer feels an emotional connection and seeks out your brand specifically.  * Here are examples of core values to which consumers may relate. the style and image provided by a clothing brand very high quality images taken from Apple iPhones
4. evangelism	The consumer believes in your brand to such an extent that they want others to use the brand.

 

For the sake of making this post on the consumer's 'liking' or 'brand affinity' with a brand as clear as possible, I will discuss it in its extreme application; 'tribal branding'. However, recognize that, depending on the brand, tribal branding exists on a continuum. For instance, on one hand, Apple has applied it to the maximum extreme, while un-branded commodities not at all on the opposite extreme and  finally, most other marketed brands fall in the middle with varying levels of moderate tribalism. The majority of brands are in the center because they know that tribalism is hugely profitable but respond with only lukewarm attempts to tribalize consumers by claiming the most recently trending core values (like eco-friendliness). However, their corporate strategizing never quite achieves the same tribalism as Apple. 

Seth Godin's book 'Tribes' explains how to create tribes. Here is a quick breakdown of the take aways from that book along with some of my ideas on corresponding content pillars.

Lesson 1: Connection

Connection is the sine qua non of successful tribalism. Tribes comprise a group of people connected to each other, a leader and an idea. The idea may be based on anything like religion, politics, racial or other basis of marginalization, sports and so on. The communication is critical because back and forth messaging among members intensifies core values and attracts new like-minded members. Essentially, the communication is a catalyst for growth. Needless to say, social media communication makes tribalism easier than ever. In short, to transform any group of people into a tribe, 2 requirements must be met as follows. 

1. a shared interest
2. communication among members

Needless to say, connection is associated with the strategy of growth and tactical content pillars like ''Traction', 'Core Values' and, if you ask members to support each other and or ask qualification questions (about interests) as a pre-requisite to membership, also 'Ask / Participate'.

Lesson 2: Pull Marketing

Because the interest is so niche, the messaging is tailor-made to narrowly attract only the tribe's members (not everyone). It therefore pulls only those who share the tribe's passion. (See Push & Pull marketing). Needless to say, pull marketing is associated with the tactical content pillar like 'Core Values' with very specialized content. One option is to use specific questions from the consumer's perspective as the titles of your posts, ie rather than write generic titles. Social listening tools can help you to generate questions. For instance, rather than write a title as 'product x [your brand name]', write it was 'Is method a-b-c the best way to resolve problem y? -- or -- solutions for problem y'. Either way, establish the details in your brand voice and tone. 

Lesson 3: Leaders are heretics.

Heresy relates to having beliefs that go contrary to norms that are generally accepted in the broader community (like religion, sexual preferences and so on). In other words, they challenge the status quo. Example(s):

• When it was generally felt that computers would not be desirable at home, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple suggested otherwise, likely seeming a little crazy by most who could not imagine his vision. However, Apple's Macintosh computer introduced the world's first home computer and therefore revolutionized the modern world. 

Lesson 4: Tribes are assembled, NOT created.

Godin explains that, before the formation of a tribe, its eventual members, although still disconnected and scattered somewhere in the world, they lay in wait to be connected. At the sight of a catalyst, they will join and do not need to be schooled on the interest.

• Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Black Twitter followers were not trained in a class room. Instead, they suffered for while and eagerly awaited their opportunity to be connected. Consequently, when the opportunity arose, they were eager to join.

Lesson 5: The tribe is not for everyone.

This is where I think many businesses fall short of the full tribal glory. I think this failing is due to lack of authenticity. Tribalism is about true believers with a burning desire to connect with other true believers. Their efforts are not staged through corporate strategy (alone) and so they can become cohesive simply because their intrinsic interest in the cause is sufficiently strong to sustain their focus. In other words, the focus is not about vanity metrics such as likes and views. Rather, they are more interested in drawing their members closer (than growing numbers). Wired Magazine's Kevin Kelly suggested that tribes only need 1,000 true members, ie enough for a core group of passionate, deeply 'heretic' members to sustain them. In short, leaders focus on their tribe, ignoring everyone else. This lesson corresponds with the tactical pillars 'Transparency' (Authenticity), 'Values' and 'Beliefs'. The rules for these pillars will suggest unapologetic specificity in content, brand voice and tone, etc. Some might even encourage exclusivity.

• White supremacist (WS) groups are unapologetic about their zero tolerance policies regarding membership.

As far as possible, managing a corporate tribe should involve having only the right partners, suppliers, employees and so on. 

Lesson 6: Tribes become movements (with the help of leadership)

After membership has reached critical mass, the tribe becomes a movement, ie it can bring about change in the world. Do not take this power lightly. Social media movements have swayed elections. The movement comes into being when the leader does the following.

1. Tell a story (to people who really want to hear). The story highlights the vision for a better future (whatever that means to the tribe).
2. Connect the tribe members to each other and themselves
3. They lead the movement with direction and purpose.
4. They make change occur in ways that no single member could have done alone.

Lesson 7: Leaders use a combination of the & leadership Cs

Leaders all accept their leadership roles and use a combination of the following elements. They

1. challenge the status quo.
2. build a culture
3. are curious  (about the world, how it works and how their vision can work)
4. are or become charismatic to attract and motivate followers
5. facilitate communication among members and themselves
6. commit to the cause
7. facilitate connection among members.

Video (above): Tribes by Seth Godin, Animated Book Summary by YouTuber MentalEFit Book Club.

Video (above): 'How the Dogtown Z-Boys changed skateboarding culture (tribal branding)' by YouTuber Intermark Group. 

The Dogtown Z-Boys was a small group of skateboarders in the early 1970s with an intrinsic interest in skateboarding long before the tribe formed. The earliest skaters were outcasts or 'heretics' by nature. The concept of skateboards was an adaptation of ocean surf boards that were adapted to the land. Their membership was exclusive on the basis of psychological characteristics and unique skating styles that evolved naturally into being from their interaction with each other. For instance, given their ocean surfing background, they did things that other land-only skaters did not, like bring their bodies close to the ground, touch the ground and so on (in other words, an aspect of their 'heresy'). They mastered this style inside of empty swimming pools at homes up for sale during a Californian drought. Craig Stecyk of a local newspaper  (Dogtown Chronicles) assumed the leadership role by publishing the group's symbols, images, core values and ideas. (Keep in mind that this occurred several decades before the internet). This leadership brought together like-minded, otherwise disconnected members and established their culture. They also wore uniforms to demonstrate to the world and themselves their cohesiveness. They even had a physical location where they met each other. Ultimately, the tribe transformed the initially basic trends of skateboarding into its current status as a mainstream extreme sport of skating up smooth vertical surfaces of modern day.

Apple has been able to create a loyal tribe that is willing to wait overnight outside of their doors for new releases, with hopes of paying much more than the competition for their products. In keeping with lesson 1 (regarding a shared interest for being outstanding in graphics and creating a space to encourage easy, direct communication), Apple engages heavily with its market over social media platforms. For instance, its Instagram posts have featured very striking images from customers using their latest iPhone model. Starting from their revolutionary 1984 introduction of home computers for personal use, they go out of their way to establish the idea that the brand is different, in an unapologetically superior way. Their tagline 'Think different' reflects this and is somewhat of a call to action for persons wanting to be seen as an outsider, non-conformist and revolutionary like the brand was in 1984.

TO DO

1. Research and identify your tribe as intimately as possible. To this end, create a target customer profile.

2. Be clear about your unique value proposition / UVP.  The UVP does not need to be only one value. It can be a collection of those values that are most meaningful to your target market.

3. Engage with your tribe, listening closely and responding accordingly.

4. Connect emotionally with your tribe. (This is a must).

5. Create strategic content pillars that incorporate the elements of tribalism. Here is a rough example that incorporates elements of brand tribalism for introducing a new brand whose state of being unknown must overcome sales objections of distrust based on the market not knowing and consequent distrust of the brand's expertise. Notice how the same tactical pillars are applied to each of multiple segment-specific thematic pillar (like plus-sized women's wear, regular-sized women's wear and so on within a single women's line). Those tactical pillars were inspired by the concepts of tribalism and Fastnet's 9 tactiical pillars. 

ToF lead generation  / Objective(s): to be known (through trust, seek qualify members)

• Thematic pillar 1 of .. segments
• Traction
• Value
• Results (Pull title)
• Authority (expertise)
• Social Proof (Pull title)
• Transparency
• Thematic pillar 2 of  .. segments
• same as above (s/a)
• Thematic pillar 3 of  .. segments
• same as above (s/a)

MoF lead nurturing  / Objective(s): to tribalize customer (like, trust)

• Thematic pillar 1 of .. segments
• Value  (Pull title)
• Transparency
• Results (Pull title)
• Heresy  (Pull title)
• Ask / Participate
• Solution
• Thematic pillar 2 of  .. segments
• same as above (s/a)
• Thematic pillar 3 of  .. segments
• same as above (s/a)

BoF lead conversion / Objective(s) to sell and retain customer with trust inspiring content)

• Thematic pillar 1 of .. segments
• Solution  (Pull title)
• Ask / Participate (Community communication)
• Thematic pillar 2 of  .. segments
• same as above (s/a)
• Thematic pillar 3 of  .. segments
• same as above (s/a)

CONTENT RELATED TO BRAND LOVE (TRIBAL BRANDING)

• Know, Like and Trust Series
• Tribalism is an extreme form of lifestyle branding.
• Brand voice and tone
• This article relates to B2C tribal branding / brand affinity. However, B2B brand affinity is also noteworthy. Third party research suggests that that clear top drivers are Trust and customer service. Read third party articles about this topic by Marketing Charts.
• When done correctly, tribalism is able to get customers to make buying decisions based on emotional bonds.
• Emotional branding and marketing.
• Branding: Core values
• Social media content management
• Persuasion technique
• Noteworthy case studies of corporate tribes not include in this post are Tesla, Nike

Emotional Advertising: Deeply Personal Emotional Triggers

Research shows that a consumer's emotional response influences him or her very powerfully, even to a greater extent than hard information (like features) in advertising and other forms of brand communication. A measure of an advertisement's 'likeability' is more predictive of its success in increasing sales. Evoking positive emotions are even more influential. This is why brand-name products are preferred over generic ones, despite their higher price. Research shows that consumers see brands as having personality characteristics, just as they do other people. There is no wonder why strong emotional representations of brands are so important.

Research in 2014 by the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology suggests 4 key emotions being 1) happiness, 2) sadness, 3) fear (or surprise) and 4) anger (or disgust).

This post illustrates how different brands align their branding or current message with one of these emotions.

Happiness

Research has shown that brands have successfully increased sharing and engagement by associating themselves with smiling, laughing customers, often connecting deeply with each other in friendship and positivity. In fact, evoking positive emotions was more successful in this regard than with negative emotions. Disney is possibly one of the few brands whose emotional ads can truthfully depict the product and real customer experience. It is inspiring to note however that, despite this fact, other brands successfully instill emotion into their branding with creativity.

Coca-Cola's 7-year 'Open Happiness' campaign suggests that the drink is happiness and that opening the bottle gives access to its contained happiness. Despite the glaringly apparent lack of nutrition in the drink, especially within the context of this modern age of concern for health and welbeing through diet (and consequent falling sales in fizzy drinks), Coca-Cola remains one of the most popular drinks, globally. Perhaps the reason is, at least in part, because of the fact that their advertising never even discusses the drink but instead focuses on happiness and overall very positive social interaction and the deeply personal emotions they evoke. Coca-Cola does not even waste time trying to convince anyone of the drink's innate goodness. 

Although Coca Cola changed its tagline from 'Open Happiness' to 'Taste the Feeling', it maintained the message of happiness. This change was in response to the brand's challenge against its lack of nutrition. Video ads show deep emotional connection as people drink Coca Cola. This campaign's underlying message simply suggests that Coca Cola heightens the enjoyment of pleasurable moments. As usual, they used emotionally charged imagery of relationships amidst the strong signature red accents to reinforce the positive association in the minds of consumers. As to be expected, they even tentpoled this campaign for Christmas also. (The ads momentarily show the 'zero' calories bottle)

Android's 'Friends Furever' 2015 advertisement was shared so many millions of times that it was the most shared for that year and, by then, of all time. The video shows clips of unexpected inter-species animal friendships, a viral bait. Powerful animals whose relative size would have made them otherwise dangerous to their friends play with obvious affection and due tenderness. There are many surprising duos from huge elephant frolicking with a puppy, an orangutan using its large limbs to lightly embrace a canine friend amidst a loving gaze and so on. Maybe this ad was even more successful because of its video format because, apart from evoking positive emotions, it certainly put me at the edge of my seat a little with some trepidation over the larger animal's ability to easily or accidentally hurt his dwarfed companion. If this was part of the plan, the creators successfully stirred emotions from negative to positive. The song 'Oo De Lally' from Disney's Robin Hood, a term whose meaning is the gleeful 'yay' or 'yippee', is reminiscent of youth and ideals of happy friendship. The Robin Hood story was one of desire for different people (from Norman and Savon) to live together in peace. I am not sufficiently techie to understand how the 'friendship' theme can relate with how Android's operating system is designed or works  ... you know like how at least, to the end of the Kleenex ad, the link was made by the need to wipe away happy tears. This advertisement has however made me wonder whether this video is at least partially responsible for the recently exploding interest in connecting more profoundly with pets and caring for the planet.

Is the psychology behind this advertisement's success based on the idealistic desire, albeit possibly superficial, for friendship despite differences? Shakira and Activia's World Cup 'Dare  / La La La' ad was the most shared for 2014. It is a mix of many different peoples and cultural influences, from African drums. Its appeal was likely also due to how, along with the concepts of diversity, both influential music and sports are to newer generations. The ad checked several boxes.

Disney is possibly one of the few brands whose emotional ads are a direct reflection of the brand and customer experience. They certainly take full advantage as seem in their live advertisement by creating a fun experience for shoppers at a mall. 

SADNESS

Advertisements that evoke sadness are those that deal with stories of adversities and challenge. These stories stir empathy for the struggles of the protagonist. Advertisers use this story to encourage customers to identify with the story's protagonist. In the end, the advertising brand offers a solution to the challenge. 

Kleenex produces tissue. Despite the fact that tissue paper is an arguably most boring product, the brand remains strong in consumers' minds. Emotional advertising that uses an emotional story involving a beloved pet, the zeitgeist of emotional video marketing, prevents this brand from disappearing into obscurity. The 'Unlikely Friends' advertisement was one of the most viral ads  in 2015, the year of its publication. It tells a rescue and care story of a crippled dog that begins on a sad note then end with happy tears. It is only to the very end, when you might not have realized or forgotten the story was an ad when for a short moment, a protagonist sniffles and wipes away tears of happiness with a Kleenex. At that all-important emotional peak, the brandname appears with the tagline 'someone needs one' The wheel-chair bound adoptive human and wheel-bound dog walk off into the sunset, ie after a powerful message of inspiration was given that there are no restrictions. 

MetLife Hong Kong's advertisement 'My Dad is a Liar' is a tear jerker. As a little girl and her father walk on the way to her school, he reads her poem. She speaks of how wonderful he is; that he is handsome, smart, her superman and so on. As he reads, the story illustrates his funny antics infront of her to give her those impressions. However, he pauses in his gait when he reads the line about him being "a liar". As the poem continues, the viewer sees ways in which he sacrifices for her, pretending to have a job, money, to not feel hungry (so that she can eat) and so on. As the poem advances, viewers see images of the father's daily hustle with menial , some times, strenuous jobs. It shows that, despite being tired, he lies about not being tired and runs with her on his shoulders to amuse her. The turning point is the end when she acknowledges that he lies to give her a good future, at which point the father and daughter embrace. The powerful message on the screen appears that 'a child's future is worth the sacrifice' and then the advertisement appears. "We all have dreams for out children. Share yours with us and it can become reality. [and their contact details]" Not surprisingly, parents doing reaction YouTube videos were often left in tears.

Brands often re-use the same story repeatedly, with different actors and scenarios. For instance, every year, Proctor & Gamble (P&G) releases a 'thank you mom' advertisement. For the Olympics, mothers are featured helping their children overcome challenges when they started their sport of choice. The stories end with the mothers in the audience of the Olympics seeing their children perform well.

FEAR

Fear appeal is used to motivate customers to consider the risk of negative consequences for not buying into the product or message being sold. It is very common in public service advertisements that attempt to discourage behaviors that are associated with negative outcomes. 

However, evoking fear in marketing to your consumers has ethical issues that you should seriously consider beforehand.

Fear & Disgust. Being at risk of extinction, the panda has become a symbol for animal conservation and is aptly used in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) logo. Everything about their advertisement inspires deep fear and discomfort on multiple levels. Notice the somber background and heavy font. The unusual use of repetition of one word, 'change' in a single sentence reinforces the ominous message, along with the hideous image of a man mutating into a hybrid species. The hideous looking species comprises nearly 50% of the frame. The mouth, although from another species, has a sad downward slant, the harsh lighting that comes from 11 o' clock gives a sense that the being is facing some solemn reckoning of sorts from a higher power. Looking at this hybrid species evoke such repulsion as may occur when humans view a dead human being which relates mostly to one's personal struggle with mortality.

13Quit, a quit smoking helpline in Queensland, Australia showed an advertisement of a sad and fearsome story of a child losing his mother in a rush hour crowd at a train station. As parents' emotions are stirred towards sadness over the child's obvious anguish, the narrator stirs fear by asking if a child is so troubled over losing a parent for a minute, how much more will your child will be troubled by such a loss over a lifetime. Although not expressly discussed, the ad highlights the loss of happiness simply by virtue of its existence in huge contrast with all the other feelgood messages. 

  

The anti-meth advertisement below features an image that is so repulsive that it could possibly evoke sufficient fear alone. However, the sarcastic tone of its message to the teenage girl audience is also provocative. Specifically, it reminds girls of what they could lose, ie their beauty, something very important to the target market. 

Advertisers also use symbolic imagery to convey more abstract concepts like brain damage as a result of drug use. 

Example. Ccacanada does this by depicting the brain as a series of wires. It shows that, as someone consumes more drugs, wires are cut until the brain is forever short-circuited.

Anger
Anger appeal advertising often stirs emotion around an injustice, usually of a social kind. The brand presents itself as offering a solution to correct the injustice. 

Always sells female sanitary napkins. However, they have taken on the cause of sexism that can hurt the self esteem of adolescent girls. Their advertisement focuses on the insult 'like a girl' and attempt to bring awareness to the fact that the term is insultive.


Normally Happy Brands in Sad Times?
If your brand is to be like a friend to your customers, you will appreciate how unempathetic and tone deaf it will be to flaunt happiness as per usual during a crisis.

Coca Cola during the Covid19 pandemic. As the corona virus pandemic advanced, Coca Cola remained true to its bright color but with a still positive message; specifically, one of encouragement and thanks to those who are helping others. This is genius because they are still remaining true to their brand as it relates to positivity, togetherness and relationships.

We are experiencing something difficult right now. But we know that, among us, we will overcome this situation. Endless thanks to [#Istayathome] and those sacrificing everything to help others in this situation. Seeing so many people united just fills us up. 

Coca Cola after the George Floyd murder and consequent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign. Quite unlike the Covid19 scenario which did not involve needless violence by humans, Coca Cola made a significant departure from key aspects of its 'happy' mood (like using a black rather than red background). This departure was evident even visually, an element I can not recall ever having been paused. The message's tone offers promise to take a moment for reflection on how to do better. It promises to do better than the common inauthentic practice of using PR to profit from any situation, even sad ones. Time will tell its measure of authenticity. However, the effort is commendable regardless. Ultimately, they are not portraying the usual 'happy' mood, they are essentially promising to bring just that, but also to black lives. After all, their brand is about relationships and connection.

Final Thoughts

While a single emotional cue may be more suitable to a brand, brands may use combination of these emotional cues and entirely different ones for different purposes. For instance, a 'happy' brand may encourage customers to join its free shipping subscription program by instilling subtle amounts of fear over the spread Covid19 pandemic. As seen above, 'happy' brands can be solemn as well, ie while remaining true to their brand. After all, don't happy friends have moments of profound contemplation and sadness. It would appear tone deaf to be otherwise in solemn circumstances.

Degree of departing from the usual mood of the brand is a key consideration. For instance, if a happy brand uses fear-based advertising, it should mostly likely do so to a much less dramatic extent than brands with more solemn moods, like the WWF (above). Marketing executives have lost their jobs over material that was perceived to be tone deaf or otherwise insensitive.

As should have become apparent, marketers should use every possible avenue, symbolic and otherwise to overcommunicate. Notice how marketers do not miss opportunities for infusing their message into the minutest details, like Coca Cola colors in a model's tassel earrings and nail polish. When brands wanted to portray a happy mood, advertisements mostly used bright colors while their negative counterparts were all dark, drab and or monochrome.

CONTENT RELATED TO EMOTIONAL BRANDING / EMOTIONAL ADVERTISING

• Another form of emotional branding is  the brand lifestyle strategy that can be used to emotionally connect with consumes.
• With which emotion(s) can your brand or current marketing objectives best relate? Branding 101.
• Infuse emotions into as many elements of your brand personality; your tagline, lifestyle branding strategy, colors and so on.
• Limited Edition Marketing: emotional marketing using exclusivity, scarcity and urgency.
• Cause marketing