Fostering loyalty through your values, humanity and communications.
A good brand is always selling more than a product or service. They’re selling what their business means to you and creating connection around that vision.
An insurance company sells you security and peace of mind through their coverage. A health system sells you access to the care you need to get well and stay healthy. Even Lucky Charms promises a magical family breakfast experience – not just another cereal box.
This is the spirit of connection. When done right, it shows a nuanced understanding of audiences and their values, creating the loyalty, trust and mutual respect that bring new clients or customers through the door.
Connection has always been personally important to me, and it’s led to some incredible opportunities in life and business. (I once got invited to Ronald Reagan’s White House because I was the only guy with the phone number of every Republican mayor in the country!) Building trusted, valuable relationships with clients is the heart of our work at Brian Communications.
But I believe it’s more important today than perhaps ever before for companies to find genuine connection with their stakeholders. Here’s why:
In a technological age, we’re still looking for humanity. Tech is powering some incredible developments, but it doesn’t care about you. You can’t trust it to have your back.
And all of us – from business leaders to lifestyle consumers – are looking for something we can trust. Executives need to know that a partnership will have shared priorities and that they can trust each party to make smart decisions and work hard towards mutual goals.
Gen Z customers, on the other hand, use brands as a shorthand to express their personal values. Research finds that nearly 60% even feel connected to others who choose the same brands. To buy their loyalty, your actions must align with your mission and values – and you need to communicate that effectively.
Key stakeholders need to know who you are, what you stand for, and how that matches their values.
Here’s what that can look like:
Take the time to really know your target audience and what you can do for them. It’s worth doing the foundational research to understand who you are looking to connect with, what they value, and how you can fill a need. Developing – or updating – a strategic brand position will ensure your communications and offerings resonate with your key audiences and their current needs and values.
That’s what Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is emphasizing as he works to engineer a turnaround after more than a year of slipping sales. He’s publicly working to understand and re-connect with the company’s current and former customers, using frontline insights to redefine the brand promise into something that resonates with today’s coffee drinkers.
Be visible – with heart. You want to be seen, certainly. But as a company building connection, your communications shouldn’t solely focus on giving information or getting attention. Instead, brainstorm ways to share something that audiences will find genuinely valuable. Provide a behind-the-scenes perspective – perhaps from a company leader – that makes you feel more relatable and accessible. Find ways to demonstrate your company’s values and show gratitude for the people, partnerships and opportunities around you.
And when you can, show up in person and lead with curiosity. What’s top of mind for your audience right now? What are your partners’ key business challenges, and how do your colleagues perform their specialized jobs?
That’s how you build a loyal team, client roster or customer base.
I’ll never forget visiting the newspaper printing presses early in my time as publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. It was fascinating to see all the work that went in to printing and distributing the next day’s paper – and it all happened in the middle of the night.
The workers told me that I was the first publisher to make a late-night visit. These visits were so valuable – to me and to them – that it was hard to believe I was the first. Getting to see their work up-close helped to shape my decisions and build rapport with the union, which fostered an environment of mutual respect and opportunity.
We’re seeing this right now from Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who recently announced plans to embed executives on factory floors and in back shops engineering labs – a move to encourage trust, communication and efficient problem solving. As Ortberg told employees, “We need to know what’s going on, not only with our products, but with our people.”
Surround yourself with the right people. A company’s reputation and values are lived out by a team of people – and your audiences know this. When leaders, employees and even strategic partners (like your communications agency) share a commitment to optimism and connection, you can accomplish incredible things.
Together, you’ll do things because they’re the right thing to do. You’ll live out your values, and it will be easy to find ways to organically share that with audiences and connect with their unique needs and priorities.
That’s the power of building connection: Selling – and delivering on – something even more meaningful than your product.