Secrets of Successful Brands

Secrets of Successful Brands

I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by a4 Media (shout out to my Account Exec Jim Nicoll!) about their research into what makes brands successful. Presenters Bill Chambers, Head of Business Development, and Tom Parsons, Business Development Manager, covered the learning and research their team does on an ongoing basis to understand what keeps brands like Apple, Nike, Microsoft, and others at the top of the heap. A4’s goal — which those of us who work with local SMBs can appreciate — was to find patterns to scale to the local level.

Over these next two blog posts, I thought I’d share a couple of my takeaways from their insightful talk.

Successful brands understand why a customer buys. 

What is the buyer’s motivation? Are they a relational or a transactional buyer? These two types of buyers respond differently.

-Relational buyers are characterized as 

-Long-term thinkers

-Loyal to a brand

-More interested in value than price

-Relies on the brand for guidance and expertise

-“Time is $”

No sense trying to build a deep, meaningful relationship with the transactional buyer!

Key Takeaway:  Think about what the type of buyer your product or service has. Are you approaching them the right way?


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