XBlog

Human beings are a massive bundle of fears.

How many of these do you occasionally feel: fear of being alone; fear of looking foolish; fear of being cheated; fear of being unpopular; fear of not being desirable; fear of not being smart enough; fear of being too ordinary; fear of being too different; fear of being taken advantage of; fear of getting old?

If your brand can allay any of these fears, it will be warmly accepted.

How the big guys do it

Think about the iconic companies that everyone recognizes, like Apple, Sony, Nike or BMW. We feel comfortable when we buy something from them. Even if a competitor makes something a little bit better, the general perception is that you've bought the best. Nobody is ever going to look at you and say "what a dupe, he bought a BMW". Those brands have taken away one of their customers' biggest fears.

But if you haven't already reached this plateau with your brand, you can't afford to pretend that you have. So how can you overcome customer fears?

Here are some examples of brands overcoming fears

Citizens Bank helps overcome the fear of being alone by building their brand around personal service that makes customers feel important and welcome.

Mariner Software allays our fear of not being smart enough by building an interface so intuitive that we never need to open a manual.

Boston University School of Business overcomes the fear of not being smart enough in a different way: By packaging a master’s degree in technology along with a master’s degree in business, and calling it the MS•MBA.

Oil of Olay cosmetics diminishes the fear of getting old by designing all their cosmetics specifically to firm your skin and make it look younger.

Mini Cooper helps alleviate our fear of being ordinary with a unique body design, a fun driving experience and the option to create your own customized paint job.

Harvey's, my local hardware store overcomes my fear of looking foolish by not only having the right tools and parts, but by showing me exactly how to use them to make a repair.

Healthworks fitness club overcomes women's fear of being judged while they work out, by making it exclusive to women.

Nordstrom's Department Store overcomes the fear of making a bad decision by allowing customers to return an item, no questions asked, for life.

Understanding fears is another way to look at the question of what problem your brand solves

When creating a marketing strategy for your business, sometimes the toughest thing to determine is what problem we are really solving for customers, and how we are doing it uniquely. One way to find the answer is by thinking about the fears you can potentially overcome. Create uniqueness in a crowded market by addressing a fear that no other company has addressed, and by doing it in a convincing way.

Don't just promote it, build it into your product or service

With the companies cited above, a fear-alleviating customer advantage has not only been promoted well, it's been built into the company's business process. The formula under which a product is created, and the training employees go through are a requisite parts of keeping your brand promise. Building a brand isn't just about messages, styles and tonality, it's about backing up what you say with actions. Which also happens to be the key to opening your customers' hearts, and their wallets.

Photo by GeeSeeBee