Smiling, Endearing, Happy Brands

So here’s the thing about happy brands - they do a jig, hum a tune, skip along and wave out at every passer by. And everyone smiles back and feels a happy feel when  they encounter such a brand. So ever so often, they stop by, say hello, and buy a thing or two. Sometimes, its an impulsive just-for-the feel-good kind of purchase. But no one really regrets it.

A Chumbak clutch does it for me. It’s the very-endearingly-Indian prints on the products.  

Poppy colours, whimsical designs, quirky fun text.  Yes, and sometimes it’s the brand mascot that just reach out and touch an emotional chord somewhere. 

The Amul girl, the Air India Maharaja &  Ronald McDonald.  Yes, they have been spoken to death about, mostly because they are designed to leave an emotional connect. To me they are an instant reminder of comfort - of familiarity. They evoke an emotion before they evoke a thought. Designed to be endearing, and built for endurance, seems like. Each is over half a century old.

Can you imagine your brand having a mascot ? Or even a chat bot character ? You must give it a thought

About A Brand

There was once a brand that went to market - dressed all in Red. Colour psychology charts said Red indicates passion, aggression, love, energy, excitement, spontaneity.  With its ability to accelerate heart rate and breathing, one expects it to be more BOLD than shy.

Now when Brand Red had to standing up and speak in front of an audience, the brand squeaked meekly, hid behind it’s own shadow and stumbled off stage rather apologetically. The target group looked at each other, shook their heads, and went off in search of the closest competitor.

Colour sends a message, that, if not complemented by brand voice, can confuse your audience.

If red is what you your brand wants to wear, do teach it to smile warmly, extend a firm, confident handshake, speak boldly, and carry off a super personality. Much like Disney, Oracle, CNN, Virgin, Puma, it should make a bold brand promise - one which you know you can keep. And train your team to uphold that promise too.

Option1: Complement brand design strategy with communication strategy to leave an impact & create an impression every time your target group encounters your brand.

Option 2: There are several other hues in the colour palette to choose from.

Once upon a time

It is possible our earliest memory of fairytales & fantasy worlds, of a warm glass of milk and a cosy blanket, of a soothing voice attached to a person we love, has forever been etched as  ‘happy zone’ in the neural network or our psychological selves. This could be one reason why we will love stories…and animated movies, forever. Superheroes and princesses will hardly ever go out of style. Too whimsical to be short-lived, too fascinating, unreal, and fairytalish, to be at the mercy of short-attention-span-syndrome.

That blissful age where drifting off to sleep during a bedtime story, just means there’s an exciting day of possibilities to look forward to, that’s where is deep-seated our eternal love for stories.

Brands that have a story to tell, hone in on this emotional connect. They weave their stories around experiences, life lessons, impulsive decisions or ‘eureka’ moments. They can go down memory lane and pick up a nuggets of wisdom to build their dreams around.

My favourite one: AirBnB - from the founders not being able to afford rent on their apartment to being one of the most studied business models in the world.

What a brand story needs to do, is this:
1.  Talk about the moment of ‘inspiration/realisation-of-problem’.

2. Revolve around the emotions attached to the journey of building a brand

3. Stop there. That’s all that your audience wants to hear. The buy/follow/subscribe should happen as a result of a simple clean emotional tug.

So, craft your brand story & communicate it authentically, with words well chosen, well placed and well intended.