The Brand Experience Cycle

When we think about people's interactions with a brand, we think of all the various touch points where we can influence a person's perceptions of a brand and encourage purchase. Often, we think of these interactions in terms of a purchase funnel, which begins with fostering awareness and ends with a purchase, as shown below:

Personally, I feel this is incomplete. In fact, I think the point of purchase is when a brand truly begins to prove itself - there has been a lot of talk but very little action. This is an extremely short-term view of customer interactions with a lack of long-term vision in developing a customer relationship!

To illustrate a more long-term view on interacting with customers I like to use, what I call, the Brand Experience Cycle:
There are a lot of similar steps leading up to purchase that involve learning about the brand through various means. However, there are 3 big differences:

1. It includes post-purchase steps that help foster a relationship with the customer
2. It's cyclical, rather than linear, because it knows the customer relationship, if positive, will continue and grow as advocacy leads to repeat purchase and the spread of positive word of mouth (WOM)
3. Lastly, it centers on the brand's purpose - every interaction and message relates back to the organization's brand promise!

In essence, this diagram can be split in half:

The first half of the cycle (Awareness, Desire & Immersion) is an opportunity for the organization to communicate its brand purpose and promise to consumers - making promises. And the back half (Purchase, Nurture & Advocacy) is where the brand puts its money where its mouth is by engaging with customers - validating those promises. It is here, in the back half, which is so often forgotten, where customers form strong perceptions of a brand, which will determine how they will talk about the organization to others.

Naturally, we trust our friends and family more than advertising, because, to consumers, it's more credible. So, if a brand follows through on its promises with actions (reasons to believe), customers will begin to trust the brand because it has established credibility. In turn, these happy customers will begin to spread positive WOM, causing new consumers to enter and move through the cycle! So not only has the organization satisfied its customers, but it has also gained additional customers! Talk about win-win!

Buck Rogers, a former VP of Marketing at IBM, once said:

"It takes $1 to maintain a customer; $10 to gain a new customer & $1,000 to win back a lost customer"

I think this quote exemplifies the importance of considering the back half of the Brand Experience Cycle, because if you don't nail the back half of the cycle, the brand runs the risk of losing a customer - a costly situation!

So, it is imperative that when you think about the various touch points for potential customer interactions, you don't neglect or consider the post-purchase experience as an after thought, because it is in these interactions where organizations can validate their brand promise, influence perceptions and help spread credible 3rd party recommendations!