How Brand and Culture Intersects Affect The Customer Experience

The customer experience is a multi-faceted topic. It's about the way your employees interact with customers when they walk into your store, it's also about how you design and market your products or services. When a company has a strong brand that meshes well with its culture, customer expectations are met and exceeded throughout all of these interactions. Without this combination, there is no foundation for success.

Importance of Branding

With great brands, companies can attract customers who have preconceived notions of what they are about. For example, when someone hears the name "Starbucks," they immediately think of high-quality coffee drinks and a positive experience with friendly baristas. Customers feel satisfied with their Starbucks drink not because it is necessarily the most delicious thing in the world, but because they know to expect a certain flavor profile and level of service.

Similarly, Sephora has a strong brand that is built around providing quality beauty products and cosmetic assistance. It has made a name for itself as an upscale store with knowledgeable salespeople whom consumers can trust for guidance on their purchases. In both cases, brand and culture work together to provide an optimal customer experience. They both promise something that they then follow through with, which is what the customer ultimately decides to purchase from this company.

Importance of Established Company Culture

Culture is created by its people, and so it's important to note that there is a certain population that fosters the development of company culture. As such, companies should be looking for individuals who can contribute to their culture in positive ways. There are many traits that one might look for when hiring candidates and these can more often than not be found in individuals who are loyal to their own companies. This loyalty translates to the employees' willingness to commit them to promote the company's mission and vision.

The opposite is true for a brand because it can be created around anything related to its product or service offering. For example, Pepsi's mascot has become so culturally ingrained that he has made his way into films and TV shows. Culture is something that can be developed over time, but it exists for a brand instantly.

The two are often seen as the same because companies hire individuals who conform to their culture's norms, believe in what they sell, and promote the company through word-of-mouth. This creates a sense of brand loyalty and, in turn, a successful company.

When a product is advertised, usually it's to more specifically target a certain group of people. For instance, a brand hoping to attract fitness enthusiasts would advertise on a site frequented by those who work out or watch shows or videos about health and exercise. By targeting the correct audience, it increases the chances of getting their business because they are already willing to buy the product.

When trying to attract customers, a company will show all their best qualities and things they do well in ads, such as selling high-quality products or offering low prices for certain items. This can be done by using details and facts about the brand to get the target audience's attention. They also include catchphrases and logos to give the business a distinct image.

Many companies also use advertisements to promote their services or products on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest. This is not only an easy way to promote but allows the brand to interact with potential customers by responding to comments they make about the company.

Companies also use advertisements to promote their business on a whole other level, especially when trying to achieve a certain image for the company. For example, Ford Motor Company has been using award-winning actor James Earl Jones as part of their TV commercials since 1998. Ford felt it was necessary to emphasize the quality and prestige of the Ford brand through associating with Mr. Jones.

How Brand and Culture Can Impact the Customer Experience

Before any individual interacts with a brand or company, they must decide if they are in the proper situation to even consider purchasing their product. For example, an individual who is looking for an immediate purchase of pants would likely avoid clothing stores like The Gap due to the long lines at check out. The customer's experience with the store is because of the store's inability to meet the customer's needs at that moment.

On the other hand, a person may be more willing to wait in line for an hour if it were at Nordstrom because of the brand's reputation for high quality and luxury. The difference between these two factors is "brand" and how the individual interacts with it before they even walk into the store.

An individual's interaction with a brand can be formed in numerous ways. Advertising, word of mouth, or online reviews are common ways in which people are attracted to certain brands. However, all experiences are not created equally when it comes to marketing messages and individuals' interpretation of them. For example, an advertisement for Adidas may portray a celebrity with a particular product, but what if people interpret that advertisement to be a message of disrespect instead?

This is where the cultural aspect comes into play. Branding has been more heavily associated with marketing messages and their effect on individuals' opinions of certain products or companies. However, these effects are not always positive. In some cases, brand messages are viewed as offensive or racist. For example, Nike's Air Monarch sneakers have been widely misinterpreted by many African Americans to portray an image of blackface. This is because the color of the shoes is black just like the old stereotypical makeup used in minstrel shows during slavery times.

Another example is Pepsi's recent ad featuring Kendall Jenner. The ad was meant to bring people of different cultures together but was widely regarded as offensive. Kendall Jenner, a white woman, storms through a crowd of protestors and offers a police officer a can of Pepsi. He takes the drink, smiles, and everyone cheers. This is problematic because it implies that all protests are violent and peaceful gatherings can easily be resolved with soda.

Cultural misappropriation can also occur in food, fashion, and music. The Mexican-style hot sauce known as 'Sriracha' has recently become popular among many Americans for its unique flavor. However, some critics say it's appropriation because the sauce was created by Chinese immigrants who moved to Thailand and mixed their cuisine with that of the locals. Similarly, hip-hop music may be considered cultural appropriation by some because it is a melting pot of several different genres and identities.

In short, cultural appropriation occurs when something from one culture is taken by another without being properly adapted to the second culture's context or way of life. It should always be viewed as mutual exchange, not a one-way street.

Conclusion

As you can see, the customer experience is a complex thing. It's not just about how your customers feel when they're interacting with your company; it also includes what other people think of them as well! The more that you can create an authentic brand and culture for yourself online or in-person, the better chance you have at pleasing both sets of customers. Have any thoughts on this? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you.