Getting consumers to love you in a connected world

Loyalty is an increasingly priceless commodity in today’s marketplace, states Alex Hunter, managing partner of Another Brother. "And brands should shift their perspectives in order to harness the social web to build loyalty," he said.

Hunter is an independent brand consultant who was previously head of online marketing for the Virgin Group in California.

With examples of ads from the 1950s, Hunter said that brands can no longer talk down to people as they used to do. “We now know when we’re being marketed to. You cannot talk to a millennial the way you talk to someone you’re pitching Viagra to,” he said. “It just doesn’t work like that. They expect to engage on very different channels.”

It’s more important for brands to be real. "Social media is not about connecting people with brands. It is about connecting people with people.”

Brands have a fear of the social web for its lack of consistency. “We have the sense that we have to control the message, the experience and conversation on my terms or people might be saying things they shouldn’t. But consistency is not dogma, it’s a state of mind,” he said.

Being fun, ethical and challenging is how brands can connect to consumers, he said, but new interpretations are required for the new century.

He illustrated, “Fun is in a tiny Mexican restaurant’s first burrito eating contest in London. Everything was promoted online, on Twitter and Facebook.” The emotional connection with their customers, the publicity and the fun factor only cost them a hundred burritos.

Ethical means giving your customers what they deserve, he said. “Amazing Tunes is a website that gives unsigned musicians 70 per cent of their sales back. This is looking at your customers’ interests ahead of your own. That’s an ethical brand in the 21st century,” he claimed.

Challenger brands such as Apple and Mint.com resonate with people for their innovation and changing the way the industry works, believes Hunter.

"Measurement is no longer everything. There’s a notion that everything had to result in traffic back to your site. It’s not true anymore. What we’re doing is building relationships,” he said.

Social media should be harnessed as a passive marketing tool that allows a brand to be top of mind when a consumer is ready to purchase. “If you keep it honest, open real with consumers, I promise you it will change the world,” he concluded.