Brand Love
The relationships between people and brands have been studied for many years, though the researchers have different points of view but they found some common results. People may like some brands, but at the same time they cannot love them. People’s feelings influence the marketing strategy of a brand and sometimes may cause the false decisions ("Brand Love. What is it? [New Study]", 2015). Brand love is a rational feeling that depends on the receiving rational and material benefits while human love is more irrational and altruistic in some way.
There are many examples nowadays of brand love; moreover, the number of such brands is increasing rapidly as new companies are conquering the market. The most beloved brands are Apple, Google, Starbucks, Nike, etc. They are highly respected and desired by their customers and they may be even forgiven for some mistakes.
Brand love can be divided into several elements that compose this notion. It includes great quality. At the point when discussing loved brands, respondents' remarks constantly started with a rundown of the observations about the brand's numerous alluring qualities, for example, its extraordinary execution, reliability, attractive configuration, etc. (Albert & Merunka, 2016). Just realizing that a superior brand existed was normally offered as an explanation behind not cherishing a specific brand. The main objection that surfaced consistently in talks of cherished brands was the high cost of some higher-end brands. In any case, notwithstanding for these brands, customers felt fulfilled, trusting that this high cost was advocated. For lower-evaluated things, being viewed as an uncommon quality for the cash was a regularly said excellence of adored brands. Then it includes strongly held values and existential meaning, because people create special meaning for their beloved brands (Albert & Merunka, 2016). A loved brand provides intrinsic rewards because it makes psychological conditions like happiness, which may be perceived as part of the product. Self-identity is another element; people want to be better than they are and brands can help them to have a higher status in the society (Albert & Merunka, 2016). Positive affect is what the purchase of the beloved brand item may bring Passionate desire and a sense of natural fit is what the customers feel and how they describe the relations between them and their love brands as well as they have emotional bonding and willingness to invest ("Brand Love", 2016). Customers are ready to invest their time, money into loved brands. The key elements of brand love are also frequency and length of use as they affect the feelings of the customers.
There are several stages in the relations between the customer and loved brands. They include the following:
Know yourself: the customer relationship begins with the brand. Before you even meet the shopper, you should completely comprehend your image. On the off chance that you don't know who you are as a brand, and what makes you distinctive, better, and unique, how would you anticipate that a purchaser will? (Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2016)
Know your sort: every brand has a perfect customer somebody who, when they associate with the brand, feels that that brand was made for her. The trap for advertisers is to distinguish that perfect shopper, her practical, passionate, and social needs, and impeccable the match between those requirements and what your image offers.
Meet significantly: the initial couple of gatherings amongst brand and buyer manage whether the relationship has potential or whether it stays in the insignificant colleague stage. It is key factor that we set up associations that are so extraordinary and paramount that a customer’s goals to continue returning for additional.
Make it common: when we are amped up for our own particular connections, we need to tell the world.
Extend the association: at this stage, the bond with our buyer is strong to the point that they feel that the brand is "a brand made for me."
Keep love alive: As the brand and shopper relationship develops, it is fundamental to keep the sparkle passing by reviving the relationship through advancement and news.
Make up: just like our own particular connections, brands and shoppers experience emergencies.
Or separate: relationships end, the customer may find a new loved brand ("The Eight Phases of Brand Love", 2014).
The companies use several strategies to develop and maintain the relations with the customers. They are the following: encouraging personalization or accesorization, connecting to your consumers with intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, value, leveraging your authentic history to develop positive feelings and a sense of attachment, conveying value and expertise to build “anticipated separation distress”, play the long game and make it engaging ("Building Brand Love", 2016).
In conclusion, it might be said that the brand love can be gained only through hard work of the company aimed at improving its product or service, the quality and the image of the company on the market. It is impossible to buy the love of customers, they only would buy things that they like and want to possess and invest in.
References
The Eight Phases of Brand Love. (2014). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 15 July 2016, from https://hbr.org/2014/02/the-eight-phases-of-brand-love/
Brand Love. (2016). AMA Journals. Retrieved 15 July 2016, from http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jm.09.0339?journalCode=jmkg
Brand Love. What is it? [New Study]. (2015). Digital Intelligence Today. Retrieved 15 July 2016, from http://digitalintelligencetoday.com/brand-love-what-is-it-new-study/
Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., & Bagozzi, R. (2016). Brand Love. brandlovecentral.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016, from http://brandlovecentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ahuvia-Brand-Love-JM-2012.pdf
Building Brand Love. (2016). Thomson Reuters - State of Innovation. Retrieved 15 July 2016, from http://stateofinnovation.thomsonreuters.com/building-brand-love
Albert, N. & Merunka, D. (2016). The role of brand love in consumer‐brand relationships: Journal of Consumer Marketing: Vol 30, No 3. Journal Of Consumer Marketing, 30(3). Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/07363761311328928
