December 2, 2010 was a special day at the 92nd St. Y in New York City. A group of spectacular speakers and an enthusiastic audience gathered to explore the “Humanization of Brands” and the underlying effects of this phenomenon on business at BrandsConf 2010. I was honored to be invited to this day-long conference to present a strategic framework for businesses to utilize in identifying ways to humanize their brands. I also shared a case study about how Quick Chek, a client of my employer, Oxford Communications, has tapped into the power of social media to humanize the convenience industry and to achieve impressive business results.
My presentation, “On Q: Choosing the Right Way to Humanize Brands” was all about answering some of the burning questions brands are asking:
- How can businesses humanize their brands in an era when humans often come and go within organizations?
- How can businesses morph traditional brand assets, like logos, into icons and avatars that go beyond company identification by developing relationships with consumers?
- How can brands be strategic in the way they humanize their brand so that social media presences don’t fizzle out or get the company into an uncomfortable lurch?
What is the humanization of brands?
To begin the process of humanizing a brand, one must first acknowledge that (outside personal brands), brands themselves are not humans. The Oxford American Dictionary defines “humanize” as: 1) to make something more human or civilized and 2) to give a human character. The concept of humanizing brands is interesting, because these qualities don’t come naturally to most brands. Humanizing brands through social media is even more interesting, because it requires organizations to leverage tools that were originally designed and optimized for individuals.
Why are brands interested in humanizing?
Brands are increasingly being pushed to look at ways of becoming more human through the shifting of consumer behavior and trust patterns. As consumers are overwhelmed by marketing messages and more media channels than ever before, it has become apparent that humans seek out input from and trust other humans. According to Nielsen’s 2010 Global Trust Study the three most trusted forms of advertising are: 1) family, 2) friends and 3) online product reviews by strangers. Not only do consumers trust socially based advertising over all other forms, but brands’ social media presences heavily influence their purchasing behavior. The 2010 Cone Consumer New Media Study reveals that three of five consumers say they are more likely to purchase a brand’s offering if they can interact with it in a new media environment. Humans want to do business with other humans and the authenticity and sympathetic qualities associated with social media makes brands more credible, and thus, more appealing.
What can humanization look like?
Just over a year and a half ago, Quick Chek, a regional chain of over 125 convenience stores in New Jersey and lower New York, set out to grow closer to its consumers. While historically challenging for the convenience industry, Quick Chek’s diehard commitment to its people (both those it serves and employs) lends itself to developing a compelling human face. Yet the organization faced a profound question: how does a brand known for passive products and services (such as soda and gas) begin to resonate with consumers on a human level and on an ongoing basis? The brand recognized this process would have to begin by giving its presence a human voice. But where would it come from? And how would the brand ensure that the voice would stay with it forever?
These questions drove Quick Chek to identify its most human element: Q, an avatar that took a 2D logo to a 3D personality. For the first time, with the launch of the brand’s Facebook Page, the brand’s avatar and mascot, originally developed for sports sponsorships, became the voice of the brand. Q’s identity is innocent, a little bit sassy and a whole lot of helpful. Q answers Quick Chek’s fans’ questions every day through its industry leading Facebook presence.
Quick Chek’s efforts to humanize its brand have paid off. Its Facebook Page grew from zero to over 71,000 fans in just over a year and a half. The brand has begun resonating with a younger demographic that consumes some of the chain’s premium products, like energy drinks and sub sandwiches. Consumers are providing real time feedback—vehemently positive and helpfully negative—about issues ranging from their favorite coffee flavors to especially personable staff. Most importantly, Quick Chek’s humanization efforts have brought the brand closer than ever to its consumers and, most recently, have allowed the brand to give control of its products over to consumers via initiatives like Name It, Claim It and iLoveMySub.com. In fact, the brand’s commitment to its consumers is so ground-breaking that Quick Chek won the 2010 Innovative Marketing award from CSP, the convenience store industry’s leading publication.
The second half of this two part series will review four humanization methodologies currently being used by big brands as well as a paradigm for businesses to use when evaluating the best way to humanize their own brands.
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