Why We Trust A Brand
This is a reprise of an earlier post, an explanation of why is here.
A problem to solve
About a week ago, we made a poor parenting decision and let our son have a look at the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. He's 9, a mature and collected dude, and planning to go as a zombie for Halloween, so it just seemed to make sense. A couple minutes in, we realized our mistake. The King of Pop gets taken over by an evil invisible force, crouches down, and lurches forward suddenly with glowing yellow eyes and giant teeth. Game over. My son fled the room and freaked out.
In that moment, my instincts told me to appeal to his logical side. "Listen. This is just a video. Like special effects in a movie! If we could back the camera up, you'd see a crew of people attending to Michael's makeup and lighting, and it wouldn't be scary at all. Trust me!" Well, no soap. He was convinced that he'd never be able to sleep again without having terrible nightmares.
Where logic fails
My husband and I continued with a number of sensible presentations that seemed to have no effect, and possibly made things worse. I realized that this was not a time for logic. I ran to my son's room, and found his gem collection (he loves those gem mine places that have pre-loaded buckets of stones that you can sift through). I grabbed a clear quartz, brought it back and presented it to him. "Did you know that gemstones can keep away bad dreams? You need to hold it in your hand, or you can keep it under your pillow. Either way, it has the power to keep away nightmares, so you can have only good dreams." My son looked at me warily. "Really?" "Just try it", I told him.
I am no fan of lying to my kids (or anyone, really). But I'd argue that what I'm presenting to my son isn't a lie at all. It's a shortcut to help him solve his problem. In this case, the quartz is like a container. It's something he can offload his stress onto, and let his brain release that problem, and move on to something else. I would argue as well that in its way, this object has built trust with my child, the same way a brand might.
I could have brought him any object, and told him that it would solve his problem. But I don't think it would have worked as well if I brought him a toy car. Here's why:
A quartz has a reputation
Crystals are fascinating things that pop up in interesting places. Gem mines, Minecraft, story books...a quartz can hold your imagination.
A quartz is timeless
Who knows how old it is? It's something found in the earth. The date stamp on the back of a toy car takes a bit of the magic out of it.
A quartz is beautiful
There's something dazzling about gemstones. My son loves those gem mine places, but I confess that I could spend all day in one too. Being able to hunt up these stones, one prettier than the next, is a very calming affair. (No, I don't have a bunch of "healing crystals" in my house, although I'm probably making an inadvertent case for them).
The benefit of all of this is very real, and is effective in the way that a strong brand can be as well:
A brand has a reputation
A strong brand has immediate associations. It comes across your path often enough and in the right places that you mentally link it with specific uses and outcomes.
A brand is timeless
If done well, a strong brand may not be completely timeless, but it will stand the test of time, and like a beloved object you see again and again, it will feel familiar and comfortable.
A brand is beautiful
A well considered brand is shorthand for the quality of the company it represents.
All of these things combine to allow you to place your trust in a company. The brand is the lovely object or totem that signals to you that its ok to offload your concerns onto this entity--that they are capable of taking care of the problem you have. They may not be able to fit under your pillow, though.
A problem to solve
About a week ago, we made a poor parenting decision and let our son have a look at the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. He's 9, a mature and collected dude, and planning to go as a zombie for Halloween, so it just seemed to make sense. A couple minutes in, we realized our mistake. The King of Pop gets taken over by an evil invisible force, crouches down, and lurches forward suddenly with glowing yellow eyes and giant teeth. Game over. My son fled the room and freaked out.
In that moment, my instincts told me to appeal to his logical side. "Listen. This is just a video. Like special effects in a movie! If we could back the camera up, you'd see a crew of people attending to Michael's makeup and lighting, and it wouldn't be scary at all. Trust me!" Well, no soap. He was convinced that he'd never be able to sleep again without having terrible nightmares.
Where logic fails
My husband and I continued with a number of sensible presentations that seemed to have no effect, and possibly made things worse. I realized that this was not a time for logic. I ran to my son's room, and found his gem collection (he loves those gem mine places that have pre-loaded buckets of stones that you can sift through). I grabbed a clear quartz, brought it back and presented it to him. "Did you know that gemstones can keep away bad dreams? You need to hold it in your hand, or you can keep it under your pillow. Either way, it has the power to keep away nightmares, so you can have only good dreams." My son looked at me warily. "Really?" "Just try it", I told him.
I am no fan of lying to my kids (or anyone, really). But I'd argue that what I'm presenting to my son isn't a lie at all. It's a shortcut to help him solve his problem. In this case, the quartz is like a container. It's something he can offload his stress onto, and let his brain release that problem, and move on to something else. I would argue as well that in its way, this object has built trust with my child, the same way a brand might.
I could have brought him any object, and told him that it would solve his problem. But I don't think it would have worked as well if I brought him a toy car. Here's why:
A quartz has a reputation
Crystals are fascinating things that pop up in interesting places. Gem mines, Minecraft, story books...a quartz can hold your imagination.
A quartz is timeless
Who knows how old it is? It's something found in the earth. The date stamp on the back of a toy car takes a bit of the magic out of it.
A quartz is beautiful
There's something dazzling about gemstones. My son loves those gem mine places, but I confess that I could spend all day in one too. Being able to hunt up these stones, one prettier than the next, is a very calming affair. (No, I don't have a bunch of "healing crystals" in my house, although I'm probably making an inadvertent case for them).
The benefit of all of this is very real, and is effective in the way that a strong brand can be as well:
A brand has a reputation
A strong brand has immediate associations. It comes across your path often enough and in the right places that you mentally link it with specific uses and outcomes.
A brand is timeless
If done well, a strong brand may not be completely timeless, but it will stand the test of time, and like a beloved object you see again and again, it will feel familiar and comfortable.
A brand is beautiful
A well considered brand is shorthand for the quality of the company it represents.
All of these things combine to allow you to place your trust in a company. The brand is the lovely object or totem that signals to you that its ok to offload your concerns onto this entity--that they are capable of taking care of the problem you have. They may not be able to fit under your pillow, though.
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