The Power of Relationships at TRANCE Marketing Group

Brands are shorthand for trust; we trust our friends, don't we? By moving your brand beyond basic branding to relationship or, friendship branding, you can take a large step towards ensuring that your brand stays sought after and successful. Building friendship and trust is at the heart of every successful brand.

Friendship branding is not a new area of branding, per se, but rather a hybrid of existing internal and external brand elements, and a new way of viewing the brand in relation to the customer's expectations and use. Friendship branding is more than just a one-time effort; rather, it takes the 360-degree view of the brand and the user to create a unique experience that makes the brand more than a name, promise, jingle, or logo.

It takes the brand and makes it an experience, one that the consumer wants to repeat again and again. Friendship branding recognizes the ability of a brand to transcend mass media and be applied to the idea of a relationship between two parties--the customer and the company.

Friendship branding it makes it personal. It takes the best of both the branding and marketing disciplines to create an experience in lieu of a direct face-to-face relationship. The basic premise is very simple: treat your customers the way you would treat your friends, with respect and honesty. People seek out friends, and brands, that do so, and look to continue their relationship with these friends, or brands. People are drawn to things that offer a sense of community, trust, and recognition.

But how to do it? In her book Customers for Keeps, Lois Geller says there are eight steps to friendship branding:

    Put a human face on your company
    Use first impressions to create a lasting friendship
    Connect with the right customers
    Listen to your customers
    Share with your customers
    Make your customers feel secure
    Build trust between you and your customers
    Create friendships that last; go the extra mile and offer superlative service and products.

Ask yourself this simple question: "Do I want lasting relationships in the marketplace or simply casual acquaintances?"

We believe in the power of relationships.