Fans drive a brands success

Mario Vellandi wrote an excellent article about a book by Kate Newlin called Passion Brands.

It sounds like a must read.

One of Kate’s definitions of a Passion Brand is:

"A product that creates such personal enthusiasm that purchasers badge themselves with it through conversation, apparel, continuous repeat purchase."

These are what I refer to as FANS on the path to advocacy.

Marino does a great job apprising the 7 drivers of Passion Brands.

Here they are:

1. Adopt and Promote a Shared Worldview...a brand identity based on a worldview, rather than a demographic, will attract a larger and more culturally diverse customer base.
2. Use Design as a Differentiator and Lovemark..think Apple, Porsche, and Flip video cameras
3. Hire Passionate Employees...are more likely to positively talk about their work and affiliated brands with other people including family, friends, and the growing circle of online acquaintances.
4. Engage Customers and Become More Personal..understand how ineffective advertising has become.. most brands have to become a little more humanistic and/or personal in all touchpoints to stand out. [and drive advocacy]
5. Democratize the Brand...allowing folks to customizing the product/service.
6. Use Backstories and Arcs.. stories describe how such excellence came to be.
7. Brand the Buzz... stimulates word-of-mouth and sales.

Powerful stuff.

If a brand can create consumers like these it is going to win.

In my view a key is to deliver brand experiences that are personal. The best deliver meaningful emotion through the use of human contact. Get this right and you’ll build a sustainable competitive advantage that is hard to copy.