Consumers are not zombiesBasic principles of effective brand strategy reaffirmed

FIELD SPOTTING GUIDE

This is a zombie…

FIELD SPOTTING GUIDE

This is an example of a consumer….

A consumer means past, present, and potential consumers of your brand. That means more than just those who actually pay for your market offering. Media, retailers, employees, and influencers are consumers too. Your brand (experience, values, and promise) should encompass all in your market.

ZOMBIES LOVE TO CONSUME

Zombies just love to eat, shop, and buy anything that falls in their path. They’re single minded consumatons!

Consumers don’t. Even though the name suggests otherwise.

ZOMBIES LIKE TO COME TO YOU

Be attractive enough and we all know zombies will go out of their way to find you, right?

Consumers on the other hand, have a life to lead. Making them break with their life and style for a brand just doesn’t work.

ZOMBIES DON’T TALKThey moan occasionally, but they’re not very social creatures.

Consumers love to talk, about everything, especially experiences. Communication is core to group cohesion from family, friends to shared interest communities. So how does your brand deal with that?

ZOMBIES DON’T FEEL PAIN

Or unhappiness, anger, or any emotion actually.

Consumers do, in fact they have lots of emotions. They get curious, frustrated, angry, happy, empassioned, and sad. In fact, emotions should be taken into account at every level of brand engagement.

ZOMBIES ARE PREDICTABLE

Yep, these guys just do what you expect. Every quantitative generalisation and model applies to them neatly.

Consumers however, have a tendency to not stick to the rules of empirical or quantitative models. Which means brands have to really get to know their consumers.

© chaosfish1 / Flickr

ZOMBIES DON’T CHANGE

Once a flesh-eating zombie, always a flesh-eating zombie.

Consumers do change, as their world changes. Throughout their life they grow and develop, and their tastes, social context, desires, and influence(r)s change too. Which means your brand can’t stand still either.

ZOMBIES DON’T FORM COMMUNITIES

Hell, trying to get them to work as a team is a struggle.

Consumers do form communities. The bonds that define modern day communities are shared values, experiences, and emotions. Communities act through emotion, not intellect. A brand is not a community – but can be a facilitator and enabler of them.

ZOMBIES ARE STUPID

99% failed their school exams. Fact.

Consumers are not stupid. Even though they make emotionally driven decisions, these are based on a framework of rational thought. They do research, they investigate, they talk to people.

ZOMBIES DON’T LIKE SURPRISESZombies like their world in two states: edible and already dead. Anything else makes them grumpy.

Consumers love surprises, of the good sort. A brand is a promise and there’s no such thing as over-fulfilling a promise. That’s when brands become great experiences.

ZOMBIES ARE DEADAcademia is debating whether they’re fully dead or mostly dead, but dead is they key word here.

Consumers are very much alive. So don’t communicate with them like they’re dead. In today’s world you have a fleeting chance to engage with them, make every single point of contact with your brand interesting, engaging, and even amazing if possible.

ZOMBIES DON’T LIKE THINKING

Zombies hate complexity and like a simple life. Eat, eat, walk a bit, eat, eat.

Consumers… actually, consumers hate complexity too. When you think of something, ask yourself, can it be done simpler? Making consumers think usually means you’ve lost them.

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ZOMBIES DON’T EXIST.

Brant EmeryIndependent brand strategist www.rentabrant.com

Your brand is your business.™

Your consumers do.