Brand Persuasion Final

8/8/2019 Brand Persuasion Final

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The Brand Persuasion Wheel

Six principles to enhance thepersuasiveness of your brand

By Ulli Appelbaum

Reaching, engaging, and bonding withconsumers is becoming increasinglychallenging for marketers.

On one hand, consumers have becomemore savvy and critical towards brands,have higher expectations towards marketers,are more empowered and increasingly relyon their peers for their brand decisions.

On the other hand, the evolution andincreasing complexity of todays mediaenvironment represents new challenges thatforce brand builders to venture outside oftheir creative and media comfort zone andin the process reassess their key successmetrics. Traditional media outlets are losingtheir impact while the brand buildingprinciples of newer media outlets still needto be discovered and mastered.

The big challenge many brands therefore

face is how to weather the storm andnavigate through this ever-evolving andever-changing environment while keeping aclear sense of direction and while meetingtheir bottom line goal.

The business of human persuasion

The model described in this paper suggestone way to do just that. It is based on thepremise that brand builders and marketersare first and foremost in the business of

human persuasion.

That is, we build brands by shapingpeoples attitudes, beliefs, and feelingstowards the products, services, and/orcauses we market, with the objective tohave them act in our favor by purchasingour brands or joining our cause.

Everything persuades

The possibly biggest shift in marketingtoday is the realization that everythingcommunicates. The old packaged goodprinciple of identifying one functional benefit

and hammering it into consumers mindwith as much media power as possible isnot sufficient anymore to really bond andconnect with consumers.

The marketing community is finally movingtowards a more consumer appropriate formof brand management. The industry isrealizing that every aspect of a brand can and should- be used to create compellingbrand experiences and create meaningfuland long lasting relationships.

Because the principles of humanpersuasion focus on people, they can beleveraged by every single aspect of brandcommunication, from its retail strategy to theway it communicates.

6 principles of human persuasions

The model described below captures the 6most common principles of humanpersuasion that can be leveraged by

marketers:

Reward

Threat

Expertise

Liking Scarcity

Social Proof

These principles have been extensivelyresearched in the field of psychology andhave often times been successfully

demonstrated in the field of marketing. Theyare universal and transcend time andgeographies.

While these principles transcend time andgeographies, their expression can evolveover time and across geographies.


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For example, the source and nature ofExpertise today it very different than it was20 years ago. Also, the nature of the threatsthat might have motivated our ancestors,the cavemen, to take action is very differentfrom the threat a middle class family living in

suburbia today faces. The principle howeverstays the same.

The 6 Principles

1. Reward

The single most important principle is theprinciple of reward. We are more likely tochange our attitudes, beliefs, and behavior ifdoing so is associated with a reward.

The marketing world usually applies theword benefit here, but the notion ofreward is more useful as it puts theemphasis on the consumer as opposed tothe product or service the company isselling.

Benefits all too often get boiled down to theactual product attribute and performance.Thinking in terms of rewards instead forcesone to think harder about the added valueyou want your brand to provide to its

consumers, beyond its purely rationalbenefit.

It also provides brand builders with theopportunity to look at the total brandexperience as a way to reward itsconsumers, i.e. not only what it says butalso how it says it at all the points ofconsumer interaction, and thus enhance thebrands opportunity to meaningfully connectwith consumers.

A good question to ask with regard to thereward principle is does the brand, and itsvarious expressions, provide a rewardingexperience for the people it wants toengage? While the question may soundsimple, answering it often isnt.

The reward can obviously be physical,functional, emotional, psychological,experiential, social or a combination thereof.

Each aspect of a brand can leverage thereward principle, including its

communication as demonstrated by OfficeMaxs Holidays Elf Yourself campaign. Infact, enabling visitors ofwww.elfyourself.com to upload their faceonto dancing elves and send the little movieto friends and relatives for the Holidaysappears to provide enough of a rewardingexperience, as demonstrated by the 26million plus visitors of the site.

2. Threat

The evil twin of the reward principle is thethreat principle. We are more likely tochange our beliefs, attitudes, and behavior,if not doing so poses a threat to ourselvesor those around us.

Overt or implicit threats are a powerful wayto motivate someone to do something.

Threats can often be useful to createrelevance for your brand in raisingawareness for a problem real or fictional-

your consumers may not have been awareof. For example, thanks to all the soapmanufacturers efforts to raise ourawareness for the subject, we now cant buyenough anti-bacterial soap to protectourselves and the ones we love from themillions of bacteria and germs surroundingand threatening us.

Threat can sometimes be a more powerfulmotivator than reward.

Take Global Warming for example. GlobalWarming as a catch phrase has actually apretty nice and positive ring to it. The termitself actually requires an effort to re-construct the argument on why GlobalWarming is a threat to us, an effort manyare not willing to make.


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The sense of urgency to do something topreserve our environment in this countrywould be heightened, in my opinion, ifinstead of referring to the issue as GlobalWarming we would refer to it as GlobalFlooding.

Global Flooding implies a threat, a senseof urgency, like we should do somethingabout it pretty soon if we dont want our feetto get wet. Global Warming insteadsounds more like an invitation to get yourflip flops and your sun tan lotion out,especially when you live in the Midwest.

Another ecological buzz word leverages theprinciple of threat: Acid Rain. The conceptthat shaped a large part of Europes

environmental policies in the 80s is morepersuasive in my opinion, as it implies animminent threat and sounds like we shoulddo something about it fast.

3. Expertise

Expertise is another powerful principle thatcan be leveraged to enhance thepersuasiveness of your brandscommunication.

According to Wikipedia an expert can be,by virtue of training, education, profession,publication or experience, believed to havespecial knowledge of a subject beyond thatof the average person, sufficient that othersmay officially (and legally) rely upon theindividual's opinion. The recommendationand endorsement of someone we recognizeas an expert is more likely going to changeour beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.

Expert persuasion can take many forms and

shapes: Italians are the experts in pasta andwine, Germans are experts in carengineering, technological innovation isoften an expression and demonstration ofexpertise, people who use the brand orcategory under extreme conditions (or moreoften than the average consumer) are oftenseen as experts, and so forth.

While the principles of human persuasionare universal and transcend time andgeographies, their expressions can changeover time. This is the case with theexpertise principle as consumers are nowincreasingly turning towards their peers,

their friends, and their neighbors for expertadvice.

What digital camera or computer should Ibuy? What sprinkler system is best for myyard? How do I know which baby seat issafest for my car? What wine should I servefor dinner? For many if not most of- ourbrand decisions we rely on and trust theopinion of family, friends, neighbors orcolleagues especially if we believe that theyare more knowledgeable than we are in a

specific field.

While the number of principles is limited,their expressions are limited only by theimagination and creativity of those applyingthem. In fact, there is a huge opportunity formarketers to identify the freshest and mostcompelling expression of the variousprinciples and thus provide the originalityand relevance to their brands required toengage consumers today.

For example, the first thing that comes tomind when thinking about experts in thefield of pet nutrition are veterinarians(followed by breeders). Obviously not allavailable brands out there can benefit froma vets (or a breeders) recommendation.

So what do you do when another brandalready owns the vets endorsement?

You dig deeper and try to come up with afresh solution. This is what the Purina One

marketing team did. In fact, they discoveredthat dog owning Radio DJs, an apparentlyunlikely source of influence, were actuallyextremely persuasive in getting their regularlisteners to switch to Purina ONE (bysharing their own experience with thebrand) and thus fuel the growth of the brand.


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4. Liking

We tend to change our beliefs, attitudes,and actions more easily if we like the personor brand trying to influence us. In fact, I ammore likely to do what you ask me to do if I

like you than if I dont like you.

It might therefore be useful to ask thequestion do my consumers like my brandand brand experience more than mycompetitors brand? and/or what can I doto increase the likeability of my brand andbrand experience? This area is particularlyrelevant in the service industry.

Liking is not always a prerequisite for abrands success, but everything being equal,

the brand with the most friends wins. Thinkabout the brands you personally respect oradmire out there. Chances are high that youalso like them better than their competitors.

There has been a lot of debate in theaccount planning and market researchcommunity on whether likeability is areliable predictor for communicationeffectiveness. While the debate has still notbeen fully resolved, social psychology hascollected enough evidence to prove the

point.

But creating likeability doesnt just meanbeing funny or doing funny advertising.Instead, specific elements have been shownto promote likeability. They are:

1. Familiarity. Familiarity breeds liking.One of the tremendous advantagesCoke has around the world is thefeeling of familiarity its ubiquitytriggers. Go to any remote place of

this world and youll most likely bereally excited to be able to order anddrink a coke, especially if it is cold.

2. Positive regards. We like thosewho like us. When United Airlineslaunched its low cost carrier TED inDenver, it had to overcome thenegative sentiments consumers

usually have towards airlines in theirhub markets. The answer was agrass root campaign in which acertain TED (the identity of theairline was not revealed at thisstage) did a variety of random acts

of kindness for the population ofDenver: free coffee at the morninghot spots, flowers delivered to thereceptionists in the downtown offices,etc., etc., all with compliments fromTed. The result, besides local mediapicking up the story and creatingadditional buzz around the brandlaunch, was a tremendous goodwilltowards TED translating intooutstanding business results oncethe brand was revealed.

3. Similarities: We tend to like thosewho are similar to us. While in the60s and 70s similarities may havebeen more of a socio-demographicnature, a shift appears to have takenplace amongst consumers. Sharedexperiences and common interestsmight be a stronger driver nowadaysthan socio-demographics. ThinkNike and Just do it.

4. Positive associations. The word inthe account planning hallways has itthat the battery manufacturerEnergizer approached its agencyTBWA/CD with the task to find amotivating consumer benefit otherthan longevity, which at the timewas already owned by competitorDuracell. The agency, after doing itsdue diligence, recommended to stickwith a long lasting claim as no otherbenefit really mattered more to

consumers in this category. Theproposed solution instead, whetherconsciously or not, was to create apositive association between thebrand and the benefit. The EnergizerBunny, arguably one of the mostlikeable icons out there, was born.Put differently, the agency decidedthat the solution was not so much to


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claim a different benefit for the brand,but rather it was to out-executeDuracell by creating a positiveassociation for the brand, the bunny(that happened to be strategicallyspot on) and in the process reclaim

the generic category benefit of longlastingness in a likeable way.

5. Aesthetic appeal. Everything beingequal (and some times everythingnot being equal as in the case ofIpod) your brand will be preferred if itlooks aesthetically more pleasingthan your competitors, even moreso when the brands aestheticsvisually reinforce the coreproposition and benefit of the brand,

as in the case of Dyson or Apple.

5. Scarcity

We have been trained to believe that ifsomething is scarce, its valuable. And thatif it becomes scarcer, it becomes even morevaluable. Think gold, gas, caviar, and eventhe Burger King Whopper.

Just like the other principles of humanpersuasion, scarcity can be expressed by a

variety of elements of your brandscommunication. Red Bull used topurposefully limit its distribution andavailability upon entering a new market tomake itself more desirable. A manufacturermight highlight the exclusive ingredientscontained in its products, provide speciallimited editions, or tie its offering to a timelimit (offer valid today only, or until stocklasts).

The scarcity principle is so powerful that

some companies even use it as theirbusiness model. One company thriving onthe principle is Woot (www.woot.com) theepitome of the one-day-sale business model.Every day at midnight, Woot, a Dallasbased internet-retailer selling electronicsoffers one (yes one) product for sale on itssite. When the product runs out of stock,well the product is gone. If it doesnt run out

of stock within 24 hours, it gets discontinuedand replaced by a new one, every 24 hours.

Embedded in the principle of scarcity isanother powerful principle of persuasion,what psychologist call psychological

reactance.

Robert B. Cialdini, probably the mostpopular scientist in the field of humanpersuasion describes psychologicalreactance as whenever free choice islimited or threatened, the need to retain ourfreedoms makes us want them (as well asthe goods and service associated withthem) significantly more than before.Applied to brands this means that when ourability to choose a specific brand is

threatened to be severely limited we wantthis brand even more than before. BurgerKing perfectly exemplifies this principle withits Whopper Freakout campaign. The ideaof the campaign was to film, with hiddencameras, actual consumers reaction to the(fake) news that the Whopper has beendiscontinued (the video can be seen atwww.whopperfreakout.com or on Youtube).Advertising Age reports that 1.5 millionviewers have seen the video two monthsinto the launch of the campaign, leading

Burger King to announce double digits salesgrowth for the Whopper.

6. Social Proof

The principle of social proof states that wedetermine what is correct, whether abehavior or a belief, by finding out whatother people think is correct. This principleapplies especially when we not sure aboutwhat defines correct behavior.

This is why we choose the long line at thecash register even though another cashregister might have no line at all (othersmust know why everyone is standing in thisline; otherwise they wouldnt, would they?).

The principle works best when we areunsure about what behavior is correct and


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when those we observe are similar or sharesimilar interests to us.

Most popular, best selling, preferred by 80%of consumers, etc. are all claims that try totrigger our innate tendency to emulate the

behavior of those around us.

Reward, Threat, Expertise, Liking, Scarcity,and Social Proof are the foundation ofpersuasive brand communication.


The 6 principles can be organized within avery simple strategic framework, that I callthe Brand Persuasion Wheel. It enablesbrand builders to keep the course (staying

consumer relevant and persuasive) whilenavigating through todays tumultuousconsumer and media environment.


At the heart of the model, we find the

principle of reward, the most importantprinciple. It does not necessarily needanother principle to be persuasive. At theperiphery, we find the 5 other principles.

The wheel provides direction and easilycomplements, rather than replaces, existingstrategic models and frameworks.

Working with the model

Because the Brand Persuasion Wheel isbased on principles of human persuasion, Ihave found it to be extremely versatile in its

application to brand management. It can,when used properly, be applied to everystage of the added value process of abrands development.

Situation analysis

The Brand Persuasion Wheel can be usedas an extra layer of analysis whenassessing the current situation of a brand.

Which principles are at work in the

category? Which principles would yourdefined audience (or a segment thereof) bemost receptive too? Which principles areused by your competitors and which onesrepresent white space?

If your competitor already leverages oneprinciple that is relevant to a large consumersegment one can, for example, try toidentify another principle as foundation forthe brand proposition. Looking again at thebattery category we can see that Duracell

has effectively leveraged the expertprinciple (trusted everywhere) whileEnergizer leverages the liking principle.

Alternatively one could try to find a betterexpression and interpretation of an existingprinciple as in the case of Purina One andits radio DJs endorsement.

Formulation of strategic hypothesis

The model can also be used to identify, fine

tune, and enhance the persuasive appeal ofstrategic concepts and hypothesis, whethera brand architecture, a positioning, or apiece of communication messaging.

It can stir the individual marketers thinkingwhen developing hypothesis. It is also agreat tool for ideation and hypothesis

Reward

Threat

Expertise

Liking

Social Proof

Scarcity


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formulation in the context of brainstormingsessions.

Going systematically, with the right group ofpeople, through each principle andstretching the imagination on how to bring to

life the various principles is an effective wayto create a broad list of persuasive optionsand hypothesis which can then be finetuned and validated.

Optimization of executions

The model can be used when assessingand selling creative and executional ideas.

In fact, when exposed to a creative idea, thereader could ask two questions:

1. Which principle does theexecution leverage?

2. How can we amplify, in theexecution, the impact of this specificprinciple?

For example, if you see a creative idea thattries to generate liking through similarities(the very nature of testimonials) one mightwant to think about ways to enhance a

sense of similarities between the charactersportrayed in the ad and the viewers throughthe various executional elements (whetherlooks, type of language used, type of humorused, context in which they are presented,and so forth).

Assessing new media opportunities

When faced with a new media opportunity,one might want to ask, as part of the duediligence process, what principles could be

leveraged and meaningfully brought to lifeby the media, and how? The richness of theanswer (or lack thereof) will point to thepotential of a specific media outlet.

Some limitations

Just like any tool, the Brand PersuasionWheel has its limitations. Its value and

benefits depend very much on the way it isbeing used and on the experience and skillsof its user.

The model provides orientation by pointinginto the right direction. It does not however

highlight the potential hurdles and barriersthat may come up in following that specificdirection. This is where the experience andthe skills of those using the wheel come intoplay. This is also where the processes andother methodologies used by marketerscome into play.

The model was designed and has provenitself in my daily management of brands.However, it is based on the assumption thatthe main objective of brand communication

is to shape and influence consumersattitudes and feelings towards a brand,hence their behavior. But this is only onetheory amongst many on howcommunication works.

There are obviously more than 6 principlesof human persuasion. However, the 6principles described here are, based on myexperience with dozens of brands aroundthe world, the most potent and operationalfor marketers trying to engage consumers

on a large scale.

Also, the awareness of these principlesmight lead inexperienced marketers to thetemptation to try to leverage too many ofthem at the same time for the same point ofconsumer interaction. However, focus,clarity, and simplicity still remain the keysuccess criteria of powerful brands. The riskof diluting a brands core by leveraging toomany principles prevails. As such, it mightbe wiser to try to understand which primary

principle would have the most traction for aspecific brand within a specific competitivecontext and in light of a specific target group.Once this principle has been identified, itmight then be worth asking which otherprinciples could be leveraged secondarily inother elements of the brand expression andthe brands contact points.


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Last, but not least, many of these principlesare not suited to be researched throughdirect consumer feedback, becauseconsumers might not be able or willing torespond to those principles in the context ofa focus group for example. Few, if any,

consumers would admit that the behavior ofothers has an influence on how they feelabout a brand. Also, most consumers willreject fear tactics in the context of a focusgroup. This doesnt mean that the principlesare not valid. There is plenty of evidencethat they are. Rather, it reminds us to becautious when researching ideas andassessing direct consumer feedback.

Concluding thoughts

The model described in this paper is simple.If applied properly, it can provide a greatdeal of guidance and focus in all aspects ofbrand management.

It reminds brand builders what businessthey are in and provides a sense of direction,making it easier to weather the challengesrepresented by todays tumultuous mediaand consumer environment.

If used creatively, it can also provide a

competitive advantage in that it can lead tonew and fresh opportunities to engageconsumers in a relevant brand experienceand brand interaction without losing itspersuasiveness.

References

Influence: Science & Practice, Robert B.Cialdini, Allyn & Bacon.

More about the TED case can be found in

Juicing the Orange, Fallon & Senn, HBSpress.

Theyre the little elves that could,www.advertisingage.com, 01.21.2008

BK says Freak-out drove spike insandwich sales, www.advertisingage.com,01.31.2008

Ulli Appelbaum has 15 years of experiencebuilding brands around the world. Insummer 2007, he decided to take a break,quit his job and went on a road trip aroundthe country with his wife and two dogs. Priorto his road trip, Ulli worked as SVP, Global

Group Planning Director at the Chicagooffice of BBDO Worldwide, where he wasresponsible for the U.S. and global Wrigleybusiness. Ulli can be contacted [email protected]

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Brand Persuasion Final