When brand love comes to town.

The effects of consumer behaviour towards brands and vice-versa is astounding. So when brand love comes to town you'd better be ready to understand it and what it means for your business.

The list is endless: People attach themselves to brands for many reasons from necessity to luxury indulgence. What I find incredibly interesting is what happens to the consumers mind when they attach themselves to a brand.

When brands are created specifically to tap in to areas such as mystery, sensuality and intimacy they stand a far greater chance of becoming not just respected but loved. Brands are loved for all types of different reasons and playing a part in people's lives to improve them is common reason to fuel a purchasing decision.

These days brands are also relied on to provide support in other ways; from helping to overcome global problems to helping people overcome tricky or difficult emotional circumstances - even when the specific circumstances seemingly have nothing to do with the brand itself. When a brand is being used in this way to engage with the consumer and successfully creates participation, it's clear that a strong emotional connection between the brand and the consumer exists.

This is all beyond the obvious 'on-the-tin' benefits and this is where brands are winning the hearts of the consumer as they get closer than ever to our lives and create emotional connections.

Indeed, emotional connections to brands can be so powerful that the only thing in common with a consumer-brand relationship could be that of the brand simply linking a set of relevant circumstances with the consumer for one particular moment in time.  The desired effect could be equally as simple; to create an enabler for the consumer to interact or deal with a situation in an easier way than they might otherwise have had the opportunity or thought to do so.

In many cases the result often ensures a means to end an internal emotionally based conflict, providing closure, streamlining and simplifying the consumer's life at the same time. These actions are beyond the boundaries of where a brand traditionally sits and offer a set of new, holistically structured, emotionally motivated rewards.

Looking at social media is a good example: Social media provides an accessible platform for brands and consumers to hook up and when this takes place an irresistible opportunity often arises for brands and consumers. In situations like this, brand love comes to town.

For the brand it's win, win. It creates a platform in the mind for the 'feel good factor' to thrive in and the chance of creating a stronger emotional bond with the consumer. For the consumer it's an enabler of participation in what can often be seen as 'the bigger picture'. It rewards consumers by enabling them to position themselves in a caring or responsible way with minimal effort, low risk and a perception of higher social standing.

This is good for consumer-brand relations because it gives the brand increased recognition within existing and potential markets. Crucially, for the consumer it provides a voice and opportunity for recognition on an even playing field and, at the same time creates an environment to help the consumer 'feel better' by rewarding her with warmth and empathy which of course are strongly linked to love.

Understanding this comes with a great deal of responsibility. Ensuring that Sensation Creative practice advertising techniques for our clients that are in line with ethical values is something that is very close to our heart.

As my old primary school teacher once taught me; 'It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice'.

To my mind, the same can be said for brands.

Find out more at: www.SensationCreative.com