Insight
Brand proposition: To create value together with our customers!
(Written by: Lee Kwok Wing / Honorary Advisor of Process Pro Brand Taiwan)
Are you using a lot of digital tools in response to this year's WFH work-from-home trend? Among many team collaboration apps, Slack emphasizes on "making users' work life simpler, more enjoyable, and more efficient". The design of Slack's products and services has won the favor of many workers.
(Image source: Business Insider)
As defined by The Age of Value Propositions, a value proposition is "a description of the benefits that customers can expect from your products and services."
Why are values important?
Because a good value proposition will enable potential customers to quickly understand the benefits your brand offers, highlight the differences from competitors, attract the right customers, increase customer retention, and unify communication across all brand touchpoints.
Well-known branding expert David Icke further states that value propositions can be categorized into four types of interests, including:
Functional benefitsThe attributes of the products or services under the brand can satisfy the functions that customers need to perform in a certain situation in order to accomplish their tasks. For example, earlier OPPO cell phone advertisements emphasized "Charge in 5 minutes, talk in 2 hours", talking about the low-voltage flash charging technology, which satisfies customers' interests in pursuing high efficiency and safety when charging their cell phones.
However, with the ever-changing technology, the life cycle of product innovation is getting shorter and shorter. Competitive brands are quick to introduce products with similar features, making it difficult to stand out from the crowd if there are no other dimensions of interest.
emotional needsThe ability of a brand to provide customers with a specific feeling when purchasing and using the brand's products or services. For example, wearing a Burberry trench coat not only protects you from the wind and rain, but also gives you a sense of British elegance.
Self-expression of interestBrands and products can also become a symbol of people's self-concept, providing customers with the opportunity to express themselves. For example, when a customer buys or uses a THERMOS thermos bottle, he or she communicates that he or she is an environmentally friendly, sustainable person.
Social InterestsHuman beings are social animals, interpersonal relationships are inseparable from the existence of an individual, and the values and beliefs of the group to which an individual belongs influence many decisions in life. If purchasing or using a brand's products or services makes customers feel that they belong to a certain group, then the brand has social benefits. For example, a Land Rover owner feels that he or she belongs to a family of all-terrain, accomplished drivers.
In other words, a brand that offers these multiple benefits in addition to functional benefits will have a strong appeal to customers.
How do you formulate a value proposition?
The first step is to gain insights into the needs of the customer, and through qualitative or quantitative research (for more on this, see the article: Why Understanding Your Target Segment is Important to Your Brand), identify the tasks, pain points and benefits that are important and specific to the customer, and that have not yet been solved or realized by the value propositions of existing competing brands. Most importantly, are these tasks, pain points and benefits profitable? Then, the organization can assess whether its brand can design a value proposition for such a high-value task.
How do you formulate a value proposition?
The first step is to gain insights into the needs of the customer, and through qualitative or quantitative research (for more on this, see the article: Why Understanding Your Target Segment is Important to Your Brand), identify the tasks, pain points and benefits that are important and specific to the customer, and that have not yet been solved or realized by the value propositions of existing competing brands. Most importantly, are these tasks, pain points and benefits profitable? Then, the organization can assess whether its brand can design a value proposition for such a high-value task.
Taking THERMOS Cuisinart as an example, after the consumer survey, it was found that the customer group expects to obtain practical household products through THERMOS Cuisinart, but also get a sense of fashion and become a part of caring for the environment and sustainability, therefore, the development of the value of the proposition is "Adhering to the love and care for people, with temperature control technology as the core, we provide a wide range of practical and fashionable home life products to satisfy people's complete needs on the material and spiritual levels."The refined brand essence is to "convey warmth, to connect people and the world", which is then realized through highly relevant products and marketing communications. It is then realized through highly relevant products and marketing communications.
(More on this:THERMOS Cuisinart Bottle Design）
Another example is HODRMEN. Understanding that male customers focus on the functional needs of skin care in subtropical climates, as well as the emotional and self-expression benefits that can be gained through good skin condition, its value proposition is "The best way to maintain a healthy and healthy skin".Specializing in skin care solutions for men in subtropics, it is the perfect partner to help them feel confident in their true charisma."The brand's commitment to its customers is then consistently delivered through uniquely formulated products, free one-on-one personalized skin consultations, and online and offline brand communication campaigns.
Evaluate your brand value proposition
Finally, brand operators still need to review and ask themselves about their value proposition from time to time:
● Does it fit the brand's business model?
● Is there a high correlation with the most important unmet needs of customers?
:: Does it cover multiple interests?
● Is it different and significantly ahead of competing brands' propositions?
● Is it profitable?