Build Your Brand as a Relationship

Companies in Africa need to radically change the way they think about brands else they may become irrelevant in the global market. In the past, the term brands were objects or concepts. You had a relationship with a brand. But in this social age, brands are the relationships. By defining a brand’s particular kind of relationship, companies can create greater engagement, differentiation, and greater loyalty.

To understand this new mental model for brands, it is helpful to see how the concept has evolved. A brand started out as an identifying mark. Cattle owners in Africa and beyond would “brand” their cattle to indicate ownership.

We can still see the “brand as object” model in most Marketing Association’s definition: “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” In this view, a brand is something applied to what you make.

Soon after, a brand shifted from a feature to a perception, from an object to an idea. Brand was being defined by experts as “a singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of a prospect.” In this view, a brand is not something you make, it’s something you manage.

Most recently brand is being viewed as brand experience. Many companies in retail and telecommunication for example have invested significantly to woo current and potential clients by creating a pleasant customer experience as a differentiating factor. Sergio Zyman, in The End of Marketing as We Know It, says: “A brand is essentially a container for a customer’s complete experience with the product or company.” A brand is not something you manage over time. It’s something you deliver in the moment.

Viffa’s experience working with innovative companies in Africa indicates they are redefining not only how their brands are observed, perceived, and experienced. They are also redefining the very nature of the relationship they have with their customer.

If the first three waves were brand as object, idea, and experience, the next wave will be brand as relationship.

The way to put “brand as relationship” into action is by defining the respective roles and responsibilities of the company and customer. The default brand relationship is provider/consumer. It’s a simple relationship that is one-directional and asymmetrical. The company provides the product or service, and the customer consumes it.

Brand innovators tend to create different kinds of relationships. Instead of transactional and one-directional relationships, the roles are more collaborative and reciprocal.

For example, in the hospitality industry most brands operate with the roles of host/guest. It’s one-directional, asymmetrical, and transactional. Airbnb has disrupted that model. With a mission of “belonging,” Airbnb has cultivated a neighbor-to-neighbor and citizen-to-citizen relationship on a global scale. It is reciprocal, symmetrical, and collaborative.

In the taxi industry, cabs and limo services have for a long time operated with the roles of driver/passenger. Again, it’s one-directional, asymmetrical and transactional. Uber established differentiation by introducing new roles along two dimensions.

Another new brand role is entrepreneur/supporter. Uber encourages potential drivers to “build their business” on Uber. In both these cases, the brand relationship is more reciprocal and personal. As Amy Friedlander, Head of Experiential Marketing at Uber describes it, “Working with Uber is about our drivers’ needs, whether those needs are to have a fully flexible schedule or earn extra money. Uber is a platform that fits their lifestyle, not the other way around.”

The concept of brand-as-relationship also helps explain the rise of well-established market leaders. Equity Bank redefined the relational roles of its industry from bank/depositor to holder of deposit/member. Safaricom redefined the relational roles of the telecommunication industry from operator/client. And Java House redefined the role of the coffee shop from restaurant to community hub.

Marketers have an opportunity to redefine brand roles in every industry. Media has been defined by broadcaster/viewer for decades. Health care has been defined by doctor/patient. Education has been defined by teacher/student. In each of these industries, there is an opportunity to create a new relationship based on co-creation and collaboration.

To get started, think about the relationship people have with your brand today. Frame your answer as social roles. For example, if you are a health care provider, you probably have a brand relationship based on doctor/patient. Now think about other kinds of relationships outside your industry. For example, in health care there are aspects of teacher/student (to educate), coach/athlete (to motivate), or guide/traveler (to navigate). Be sure to consider roles that are symmetrical, like friend/friend, neighbor/neighbor or co-creator/co-creator.

Another strategy is to work backwards from the kind of relationship you want to have. Think about the value and benefits of your product. Then imagine the human relationships that would provide the same type of benefits.

Finally, look for ways to shift your brand roles from one-directional, asymmetrical, and transactional to reciprocal, symmetrical, and personal. These roles will bring to life your strategic narrative around a shared purpose. If today’s brand innovators are a guide, the result will be greater engagement, differentiation, and loyalty.