How To Build Brand Loyalty (Hint: It’s All In The Details)
(Plus A Fun Case Study On Everlane's High Rise Jeans & All The Feels They Bring)
FEBRUARY 27, 2023
Hi friends 👋
Dropping in today with part 02 of my segment on discovering beauty through detail. If you missed part 01 from last Monday’s share, you can find it here to set the precedent for today’s reflections.
In Part 01, I shared the following prompt to anchor us into the detail-discovery context:
Can you think of a memory (big or small) that recently impacted you in a pleasantly unexpected way? Can you bring yourself back to that moment? What comes to mind for you and why? How did that experience leave you feeling?
I heard back from a few kind souls who shared their specific memories with me. And in reading these memories, was comforted in hearing how much impact was found from the simplest of moments:
The sun shining in the city on a busy and lively weekend afternoon
A slow Saturday morning spent in bed with a favorite read
A delicious meal enjoyed with friends at a local restaurant
Details are key when visualizing as they hold inherent potential for influencing emotional states. And the influenced emotional states of these memories were all rooted in pleasure, contentment, and joy.
I’ve been sitting with the influence that the details in our daily lives hold and considering how they can play a role in my work as a digital designer. If a tangible, physical 3D experience can elicit emotion and change our internal state, can a brand leave you with similar impressions? You may not always be able to physically smell, hear, taste, or touch a brand, but can its identity and touch points (whether digital, like a newsletter or physical, like one of its products) impact feeling?
Yes and YES. And more so:
Strong brands (*should*) leave strong impressions.
And *should* also evoke strong emotion. Whether bold or subtle, a successful brand should always be mindful of the experience it offers for its audience and how it leaves them feeling. Just like any tangible, psychical experience of person, place, or object would.
But how? And why is this important?
Consider your favorite brand for a moment. Now consider why they are your favorite. Chances are, whatever the brand and whatever the reason, ultimately you’re drawn to them because they leave you feeling GOOD. You buy from them time and time again, or tune into their content because they leave you feeling (01) happier, (02), seen or (03) supported (or a combination of all three). And the brands that prioritize evoking these feelings for their audience are the brands that garner the most loyalty and trust (and, can subsequently be deemed the most successful).
I buy from Everlane for many reasons: I value their impactful mission, I appreciate their clean aesthetic, I vibe with their simple, timeless styles. But ultimately, I purchase their products because they leave me feeling GOOD. My confidence is at an all time high whenever I slip into my favorite pair of high rise jeans, because I know the style is flattering and makes me look good, which in turn leaves me feeling SO dang good. But there’s more to this deep feel-good feeling, because “flattering style” is pretty ubiquitous (I can easily feel flattered from Target’s denim too). (This isn’t a knock on you Target, I promise. I do still love you).
So why doesn’t a pair of Target jeans leave me as elated as Everlane’s?
This is where the power of detail comes in. And the more attention to detail, the more potential for emotional influence (and those feel-good feelings).
Beyond the outward fulfillment I get from rocking my high rise jeans out in the world, I’m left feeling good knowing I’m supporting a brand that does good too. And pours so much heart behind all that they do. Their ethical factories and transparent business model is powerful, but then there’s also the exceptional quality of all of their pieces that leave me feeling a bit *extra* luxurious. My investment in their product is ultimately an investment in myself that brings a little bit more joy and pleasure in dressing up and feeling elegant and important (especially amidst my almost-everyday WFH classic leggings-meets-oversized-crewneck attire).
What’s more: the delight of opening their packages, with their simple, but deeply-intentional recycled poly mailers, and even the satisfaction of removing their beautiful heavy-weight cardstock hang tags with those (adorable) teeny little safety pins. And on the digital (and non-physical) front, there is their transparent messaging, their beautiful imagery, and clean aesthetic that leaves me appreciative. These moments (among many others), are the attention-to-detail details that collectively evoke my deep feel-good feels and fulfillment that I experience when investing in Everlane (and why I will always choose their high rise denim over Target’s)(and over most brands for that reason!)
As a brand strategist and designer, it’s these exact, thoughtful and intimate little considerations that always stir me up whenever I consider what a successful brand is. And are exactly the impetus for why I take such a deep focus on details in my branding process with clients. When extra time is taken to unearth all of the potential intimate moments in a brand, it results in more opportunities to impact an audience and leave them with feeling.
I consider the Maya Angelou quote “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Impacted feelings leave impressions. And if those impressions are rooted in pleasure or satisfaction (your audience is either happy, seen, or supported), then that’s more likelihood for brand loyalty and trust. And ultimately: success and GROWTH 🌱
If you’re a fellow business owner seeking to grow your brand, consider the how it leaves your audience feeling. And how all of your brand touchpoints (details), culminate to offer that feeling for your people. Whether selling product or offering services, therein could lie some powerful potential to tap into deeper emotional states.
And if you need any help or clarity on these exact how’s, connect with us here. Our studio specializes in intentional brand strategy and design with a deep passion for extracting allllll the powerful intimate little moments from your brand, translating them into beautiful design, and leaving your audience impacted (with, you guessed it: FEELING ✨)
