Why Your Product Is Reducing Your Brand Engagement
A phrase that is quite popular within the world of business is “focus on your benefits, not your features”.
Whilst this is completely true, and very good advice, we like to raise this one step further.
Instead of focusing on your product or service, and its benefits, focus on how it makes your customer’s feel.
As the world’s businesses progress through the modern age of marketing (the immersion age), we are seeing more and more businesses and brands shift their focus to this new perspective.
In the immersion age of marketing, it’s all about having direct, two-way conversations with your customers. Learning exactly how and why they feel a certain way, and replicating these emotions through your video and wider marketing.
A Brand Who Does This Better Than Anyone
One of the brand’s who have adapted incredibly well to this new age of marketing is Reebok – a company we have spoken about previously for their use of exemplary brand films.
In 2021, they raised the bar of emotion-based corporate filmmaking, through the release of a 9-minute short film “CrateMaster”.
The film tells the story of a young, Brooklyn boy in the USA, who hears of a neighbourhood street basketball competition, with the prize of the latest pair of the ReeBok Iversons basketball shoe.
The 2v2 tournament, held in an inner-city street, using milk crates tied to a school fence as hoops, would see a knockout competition take place, with the final team standing having their two players play head-to-head to see who takes home the prize.
A little battler, the boy is smaller, skinnier and younger than all of the competition. And yet, this doesn’t stop him from taking on the big boys and winning the prize.
For further context to the rest of this article, please watch a little bit of the film below.
Why This Film Worked
In past ages of marketing, and traditional advertising, the common theme is push marketing, where a message is forced down viewers throats.
The modern age changes this approach, to focusing on the values, emotions and impact a brand has associated to it. Produced in a manner that doesn’t “feel like marketing”.
Reebok has for decades approached their advertising the same way as many of their competitors – find an elite level athlete, use them in their marketing and appeal to customers through influencer marketing.
Whilst this was successful in the past, as we know, marketing has changed and customers are beginning to see through these marketing approaches.
If we look at the Reebok website, we can see that they state “At Reebok, we see the world a little differently and throughout our history have made our mark when we’ve had the courage to challenge convention.”
And challenge convention they did, through this film.
Through this film, Reebok were successfully able to forge a stronger and deeper connection with its customer base, meeting them and communicating with them in the grassroots space of the streets.
The reason this communication was so effective, is because Reebok were able to craft a relatable situation in their marketing – a street basketball competition – an experience their customers would have experienced so many times in their lives.
Contrast this to the influencer marketing strategy of an elite basketballer, where Reebok would be hoping for customers to feel drawn to the athlete and hold ambition to also become elite, by meeting customers where they are (the streets), the company appears to be more in touch with its customer base, relatable, and thus helps build its brand engagement with customers (defined as how strong a connection a customer has to a brand, irrespective of social media metrics).
Why Is Your Product Reducing Your Brand Engagement?
Let’s link things back to the first paragraph.
We suggested to focus on how your product or service makes your customers feel, as opposed to focus on your benefits, over features.
In this film, we can learn that Reebok are able to empower their customers, make their customers feel heard, appreciated and that they matter, through Reebok meeting them at their level.
Most businesses still are yet to change their perspective, and thus are stuck talking about the benefits of their product or service.
And this is significantly reducing their brand engagement.
Without making this transition, and communicating to customers on a two-way dialogue base, connecting through core values and deepening relationships through emotions, brands risk losing major market share to competitors who are using the modern approach to marketing, like Reebok.
How Can Your Brand Start Utilising Modern Marketing?
As a brand still stuck in the digital age of marketing, or taking your first steps in the immersion age of marketing, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the perceived magnitude of the next steps to take.
A 9-minute film, does not need to be your initial objective. Instead, you can start small, by making a shower, 90s brand film, across one of the five brand film categories, and over time build up your foundations.
Perhaps eventually you’ll craft a 9-minute short film like Reebok, however this is by no means not essential.
An even easier starting point, is just conducting a simple 4 question exercise.
- What is it that your brand really sells? (a restaurant doesn’t sell beautiful food, it sells a cosy place for family, friends and couples to catch up and spend time together in).
- What is the impact of your product or service?
- What emotions do your customers feel before, during and after using your product or service?
- What core values and beliefs does your brand hold?
By answering these questions, your business is able to start implemented the responses into your video and wider marketing, and start your journey in the modern age of marketing, building your brand engagement with your customers.
Need A Hand Forging A Deep Connection With Your Clients?
It’s not always easy to forge a deep connection with your clients. Which is why we’re here to help.
Brand story films are your brand’s north star. They help you to make decisions internally, and act as the centrepiece of your marketing strategy.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you forge a deep, emotive connection with your consumer through a brand story film, contact us via:
didier@fixonmedia.com.au
+61 400 801 891
All the best,
Didier Le Miere
Director | Fixon Media Group