These are the products that make people feel good or create emotional attachments, says Pierre Chandon, a professor of marketing at INSEAD, an international graduate business school. "A brand that creates emotional joy is a rare thing," adds Chandon. "People align themselves with a brand that reflects what they see when they look in the mirror" or shows others who they are.
How do they do this? Marketing experts have identified "happiness tactics" that brand builders use to help insinuate goods or services into consumers' lives.
Some brands, like Campbell Soup, evoke nostalgia for our youthful past. Brands like Apple allow us to feel we're part of something bigger than ourselves. Others, such as Starbucks, create an atmosphere that allows us to escape, however briefly, from the familiar confines of home or school. And brands like Facebook succeed in part by making us feel as if someone needs our help in, for instance, resolving a knotty issue like privacy protection.
Evolution of Apple's Advertising
Apple appears at or near the top of most lists of the world's most admired companies.
Ned Russell, the managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, credits Apple with creating a sense of community among its customers, which in turn generates an obsessively loyal fan base.
Marian Salzman, the president of Euro RSCG Worldwide's North American public relations operations, says, "Apple has been giving its customers control since it first allowed us to change our fonts."
Evolution of Apple's Advertising
Brand Loyalty
"Nothing makes you feel like a kid as much as a cup of Campbell's tomato soup," says Richard Laermer, a 2007 inductee to the PR News Hall of Fame and the author of "Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz About Your Business, Your Product or You." "Campbell's creates the sense of coming inside after a cold day -- but most of all being loved."
Coca-Cola Secret Formula
"There's not a person alive who can hold a can of Coke and not have a fond memory," says Laermer. Coca-Cola secret formul
Facebook Privacy
People use Facebook as their primary way to stay in touch with friends because they feel as if the social media service and website was created just for them -- and it was, says Russell.
Users may grumble about Facebook policies or when the company changes its website, he says, but they don't stay upset for long. Facebook privacy
Millionairesl Who Support Higher Taxes For Millionaires
Fruit of the Loom, owned by Warren Buffett's investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, boasts the largest market share for branded men's and boys' underwear. The Bowling Green, Ky., company's Russell Athletic unit makes team uniforms and other athletic wear.
"It's what your mother bought, no question," Laermer says. "It's about those fruit characters but also a certain quality you know you're going to get." Millionairesl who support higher taxes for millionaires
Michelle Obama and J. Crew
Preppy fashion retailer J. Crew has enjoyed a renaissance since Millard "Mickey" Drexler was hired away from Gap in 2003 to reposition the brand as an upscale boutique.
"J. Crew came out of nowhere to being just the hippest thing around," says Marian Salzman, the president of Euro RSCG Worldwide's North American public relations operations. "Somehow J. Crew became the Barney's of Main Street," she says. "Michelle Obama put those ballet flats on those little girls', Michelle Obama and J. Crew
Worlds Most Valuable Companies
Johnson & Johnson is a diversified health care giant with more than 250 operating companies doing business in 60 countries. Yet, for many consumers, the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of this Dow component and Fortune 500 company is a toddler.
"For 100 years, Johnson's baby has spoken to the real human truth of touch," says Russell, of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, who for years worked on the company's baby-care products as a marketer. It's about mothers choosing a product they trust, the unmistakable fragrance plus that tag line: "As gentle to the eyes as pure water." Worlds most valuable companies
Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld Ranked Most Powerful Women In Business
Not a lot has changed for Kraft Foods' Macaroni and Cheese since it was introduced 74 years ago. It's still an inexpensive and easy-to-prepare convenience food, though today's shopper has 10 varieties from which to choose in addition to the original pasta-and-processed-cheese fare.
"The box says, 'The Cheesiest,'" notes public relations expert Laermer. "Enough said." Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld ranked most powerful women in business
Read more about it on Forbes.com
By Meghan Casserly, http://www.forbes.com/?partner=msnedit
