This article comes from Tobi Demuren’s insightful talk, ‘Value of winning hearts and minds’, at our 2023 London Customer Marketing Summit, check out his full presentation here.
Have you ever stopped to think about what makes certain brands so valued? I'm talking about the ones that inspire insane levels of loyalty and turn casual customers into evangelists.
This kind of brand has people lining up to drop absurd amounts of money on stuff they definitely don't need—but just have to have.
You know the ones I'm talking about.
As marketers, unlocking that level of fervent adoration is the holy grail, right? Well, I’ll let you in on a secret: the brands that truly win hearts and minds all have one thing in common...
They start with the human stuff.
That might sound a bit too simple in our era of AI, big data, and disruptive technology, but trust me, getting back to the core of what makes us tick as people is crucial.
Let me explain…
The rise of Apple
One of the greatest turnaround stories of the modern era has to be Apple's renaissance after Steve Jobs returned as CEO in 1997.
The company had clearly lost its way, trailing behind competitors with a startling 58% decline in share price and 80% drop in market value between 1992 and 1997.
With Apple almost on the brink of bankruptcy, a drastic turnaround was desperately needed.
Jobs knew the key was winning the hearts and minds of Apple's customer base. As he told employees,
"Marketing is about values...we must be clear on what we want them to know about us."
Fast forward to today, and Apple is the most valuable company ($3 trillion market cap) and brand in the world, with iconic products we use daily, and it all started with getting back to their "why."
The power of values and personality
If we suspend our disbelief for a moment and imagine companies as single human beings, the first questions we'd ask are:
Who are you?
What do you stand for?
What excites you?
Why do you do what you do?
