When talking to start-ups about their business idea, the benefits or advantages of the product are often described. This is important, but often people talk about the mere functions of the product. However, the question, „What are the benefits of your brand?“ is not just about the product benefits, but also about what benefits your brand offers emotionally.
You can express the benefits of your brand in two ways
As already mentioned in the introduction, when it comes to the benefits and advantages of one’s own customer target group, most people talk about product benefits. What problems does the product/service solve and what can it do that other products cannot? This is still true and important, but the market has changed. People no longer buy a product or service based on its „features“. They buy it from an emotional point of view.
In previous articles, Marty Neumeier’s quote, „Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.“, which states what a brand really is today. People decide how they perceive a brand, what meaning it has for them, whether it suits them, whether they can identify with it, and whether they subsequently buy or hire it. Therefore, product benefits alone no longer work today. Therefore, when communicating benefits to the target customer group, we recommend communicating two ways of benefits.
Functional benefits
Functional benefits, as already described, are about the advantages of your product or service. What specific problem does it solve for your target customer group and how can it even improve or make their lives easier?
Emotional benefits
This is about what triggers your brand emotionally. What you believe in, what values you live and act by are triggers where other people can identify with. Your brand fits their beliefs and lifestyles and what group of people and brands they want to belong to.
The mixture makes the difference
While some only talk about the great features of their product, it is the brands with emotional communication that make the difference. Their customers can identify with the brand, live it, tell others about it and defend it. Even if the product costs significantly more than a competitor’s product, the emotional decision prevails. In your brand strategy, you should therefore take into account the product benefits and emotional benefits that your startup or brand offers.
Don’t know how to proceed?
If you haven’t worked on your brand strategy yet or it’s time for a revision, feel free to contact us. With our Brand Strategy Sprint we will clarify which functional and emotional benefits your brand has.
