Attention Brands: Kindness Sells Consumers show increased loyalty to brands that are actively engaged in doing good for the world.
By Abhik Choudhury • Originally published
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As customer needs and habits change, brands have the added responsibility to be able to mirror their customer's personality to stay relevant in their purchase journey. Empathy and kindness hence not only become a business necessity but also a brand reality. Modern brands need to vouch for being good enough for the world rather than the intimidation of asking are you good enough for me. Inspiration takes precedence over aspiration.
Conquering cynicism
Millennials and especially Gen Z are the purest cynics. They don't trust your advertisements, headlines and world-changing declarations. And that's the thing about trying to convince atheists, only absolute sincerity stands a chance. Earlier this year to tackle racism in America, Yelp tweaked its product to add an alert to flag businesses accused of racial misconduct. Red icons are attached to the profiles with notable spikes. Even otherwise proudly snobbish categories of luxury now understand the need to walk the talk at ground level. French luxury goods group, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, during the advent of Covid19 started using their perfume production houses to produce hand sanitizer gel and got them delivered to French hospitals for free. High street brand Zara during the same time started to manufacture scrubs and hospital gowns for coronavirus patients and healthcare officers in Spain. In Italy, Lamborghini shifted production from cars to surgical masks and medical shields. They all could have donated some token press note money and made a social media creative yet got directly involved to actually be of service. For your customers, you are the sum total of your actions and stands much beyond your promises. And that's the kind of active relationship that would be expected from brand leaders in the coming decade.
