Tag Archives: AI

Brand Promise, Brand Strategy

Categories come and go… and with AI faster and more impactful than before

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Like everything else, nothing remains the same forever. New categories are born, evolve, and eventually fade away. Every change in a category has an impact on the brands within it. In today’s AI-driven world, category changes are happening at a rapid pace. Are you prepared for a brand repositioning?

Category division

When categories split, the mindshare is distributed among subcategories. For instance, when the family car category split into hatchbacks, sedans, family SUVs, and family 4×4, the mindshare of brands spread across these new subcategories. Some subcategories may only appeal to car enthusiasts.

At times, categories become irrelevant. The phone category transitioned from analog cabled phones to mobile phones and finally to today’s smartphones. In each step, we witnessed a new leader emerge. Motorola, renowned for its analog cordless phones, introduced the StarTAC clamshell mobile phone in 1996. The StarTAC achieved massive success in the USA and featured in numerous Hollywood movies. However, it was Nokia that became globally synonymous with mobile phones. Nokia evolved the category by incorporating computer-like functions such as an address book, calendar, notes, and simple games.

New categories, new leaders

Nokia was the first to launch smartphones, although they still had keys and resembled traditional mobile phones. In 2007, Apple revolutionized the category with the launch of the iPhone, featuring a touch interface that marked a clear break from the mobile phone category. The iPhone kickstarted the modern smartphone category we know today, causing Nokia’s global dominance to fade away. Presently, the smartphone category hosts numerous brands like Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Nokia, but it remains primarily dominated by Apple and Samsung.

Evolution of the phone category

 

In the phone category, the leading brand was able to evolve into the next category but never retained its leadership position. This pattern is not unique to phones but applies to nearly any evolving category.

AI accelerates category changes

Today, any category that can be AI-powered will undergo transformation. The keyword to watch out for is Smart: smart cars, smart watches, smart photo editing, smart ordering systems, and more.

When the leap from the current product or services to the smart counterparts is perceived as significant, it opens the door for a complete category shakeup, often accompanied by the emergence of new brands. We have witnessed this in the phone industry (Nokia to Apple) and the automotive industry, where underlying technological changes have been emphasized (leading to Tesla/Polestar). Similar “smart” shakeups will occur in many categories we currently take for granted, ranging from healthcare devices to photo editing software and customer support solutions.

For brands to survive within categories heavily affected by AI (which includes almost every category!), it is crucial to manage the category and brand association effectively and navigate the perceptual change of the brand in relation to the category’s evolution.

In my book Win With What I provide numerous methods and tools to help brands stay on the growth path or regain their position in a changing landscape.


This article is from the book Win With What – the first category-led growth book for anyone who wants their business to thrive and survive.

Get your preview at WinWithWhat.com

 

General

A new way to be even closer to your customers

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We all know that humans are emotional beings. In every decision we make emotions play the decisive role.

Understanding emotions are therefore fundamental to be even closer to your customers because once customers are emotionally connected, they stay loyal.

Emotions drive loyalty – Loyalty drives profits.

Brands therefore continuously try to find new ways to be even closer to prospects and buyers, because, once a brand is in the heart and mind of buyers, it will affect purchases and increase publicity through word of mouth.

What if brands were able to accurately understand how consumers feel emotionally about their content, and be able to create content based on desired emotional responses?

This is the holy grail of advertising, and it is here today. With Artificial Emotional Intelligence, brands can create that deeper emotional connection.

Once brands accurately understand how consumers emotionally react to content it will change the way how we become even closer to our customers. Imagine being able to:

  • optimise text in headlines, websites, chats, PR etc to fit the desired emotion of the brand
  • perform emotional analysis on social media and influencers to finally see the true emotional impact of content and go far beyond sentiment analysis
  • Place digital ads only in emotionally suitable pages on websites – no more ads showing up in the wrong places
  • Text to speech engines that become more human
  • And many more!

This is not science fiction. Using Artificial Emotional Intelligence you can be even closer to your customers today.  

Take a look at the BMW slogan. Which slogan will evoke the right emotional reaction in the reader? The Ultimate Driving Machine or The Best Driving Machine?

The brand character of BMW is that of the Achiever archetype, thus fitting well with the evoked emotion of Amazement. Yes, BMW made the right decision.

As an international brand advisor, I am fortunate to work with brands around the globe. I know that many brands struggle to be even closer to customers. Understanding the emotional reaction of customers to content even prior publication sounds magical. 

With the company we have done what nobody else has been able to do before: we accurately forecast the emotional reaction of customers to text and do that in many languages.

Using EMRAYS brands can finally start connecting on an emotional level and be closer to their customers. Read more at emrays.com or contact me for a demo.

Originally published on 15 November in LinkedIn.