Immersive branding: beyond brand loyalty to brand discipleship.

• Author: Crosson, Mike
• Position: ADVICE MARKETING

FROM AN INSIDE BUSINESS perspective, founder Ray Kroc said McDonalds' business was primarily real estate, and secondarily hamburgers.

From an outside customer brand perspective, a company like FedEx primarily sells peace of mind, and secondarily overnight delivery.

Crate&Barrel appears to be selling housewares, but its customers are buying a "taste editor" who has established a trusted standard of class and value.

What a company sees as its core business or sells as its core product, and how a customer perceives a core brand, are two very different things. It's not how you look at the business that creates the brand; it's how the customer perceives your brand that creates your business.

Think Nike. Apple. Lexus. Fiji Water.

When customers are immersed in the "whole" idea of the brand, it becomes a soulful connection rather than a cerebral connection--they don't just think it; they feel it. It becomes a part of them; they embrace it. When that happens, that connection goes beyond brand loyalty (only as good as the last transaction) to brand discipleship--a way of life.

To a brand disciple, you are the only company in that category to work with. The disciple's radar screen is so alive with commitment that in a meeting or on the phone or at lunch or at a party and that category is mentioned, they launch into, "Oh, you ought to try these guys...."

How can your brand be perceived as the only brand in a given arena?

Immersive branding is the sum of the total execution of all touch points that represent interaction with your brand.

From the product or service you provide, how you present it, how you service it, what the customer sees in your logo, what your company tagline means and what the media say about you, to your business cards, Web site, physical facility, the kind of coffee you serve---even how the receptionist answers the phone--these and countless other daily touch points all...