BRAND

ENGAGEMENT AND
CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT

LEARNING THROUGH REAL

LIFE EXAMPLES
 WHAT IS BRAND
ENGAGEMENT?

Introduction
Brand engagement refers to building an
attachment and commitment between a
brand and its audience. The term
‘audience’ is used here instead of
customers because brand engagement
must equally cater to existing and
potential customers.
Internal Brand Engagement External brand engagement

Internal brand engagement refers It involves the interactions that the

to the attachment that customers have with the brand
employees, investors, partners, which foster emotional
suppliers, intermediaries, or other attachment and loyalty.
stakeholders have with a brand.
As people come into contact with
It goes hand in hand with the the brand, they engage with the
development of a company's brand in places called
culture and helps keep all parties "touchpoints." These are simply
aligned with the stated mission or opportunities for interaction.
business goals.
 WHY BRAND ENGAGEMENT
IMPORTANT?

Customer Loyalty
Positive World of Mouth
High customer lifetime value

Business Success

Let us illustrate with the help of an example

HOW NIKE ENGAGES
ITS AUDIENCE?

Inspiring Content
Community Building
Personalization
Social Responsibility
Results:

Brand Loyalty
Word of Mouth
Increased Sales
Competitive Advantage

In this example, Nike's brand engagement efforts have

resulted in a devoted customer base that goes beyond
transactional relationships. Customers feel emotionally
connected to the brand, which translates into long-term
loyalty and financial success for Nike. This case
demonstrates the tangible benefits of effective brand
engagement in the real world.
Brand Engagement Strategies

Understand customer journey Ensure through Use different social media

maps personalization platforms

Provide value and receive Host Events and Build a

It serves a variety of purposes,
feedback community Check your Competitors
making presentations powerful
tools for convincing and teaching.
WHAT IS CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT? Customer engagement is the art of fostering brand
loyalty and awareness through personalized
customer interactions. The idea behind customer
engagement is to let the customers keep making
repeated purchases of the products due to an
incredible experience with the brand.

Social media, emails, websites, and SMS are some

mediums used to accomplish positive customer
engagement.
Principles of Customer Engagement

1. Be authentic and 2. Create messages which are relatable, authentic,

trustworthy & reflect experiences
Trust & Authenticity is the Aligning your brand values with those of your customers continues the
cornerstone of happy relationships strategy of driving greater trust. It is known as homophily, where we have a
— and this is no different for brands. tendency to associate and bond with similar people.

3. Minimise the mental effort your customers need to 4. Trigger dopamine loops and
reward customer engagement
expend
A brand must understand the motivations that
Optimising your content and communications so that it is easy for your
drive its customers to engage and, where
customers to process, is the next step for great customer engagement. appropriate, hope those “hits” of dopamine are
triggered to create a more playful experience.
BRAND V/S CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT?

Brand engagement pulls Brand engagement is usually

existing and potential top-of-the-funnel (TOFU)
customers to the business, and can target audiences
usually with more extensive who are unaware of your
outreach campaigns. On the brand and have no purchase
other hand, customer history. In contrast, customer
engagement pushes engagement targets your
customers toward taking current customer base.
action, such as purchasing a
product.

Uber, in the below example, has sent
out a promotional TOFU email
campaign that’s a great example of
brand engagement:
A platform well-known for its tailored viewing
experiences, Netflix is an iconic example of
customer engagement and personalization.
Here’s an individualized email campaign that
targets its current users to bring them back to
the platform:
Examples of Brand and Customer Engagement

1. E-commerce
For e-commerce, customer engagement plays a significant role in ensuring repeat purchases
and reducing abandoned carts.

One such e-commerce platform was FirstCry, Asia’s largest online store for baby and kids
products, which planned to increase the average order value while reducing drop-offs.

What worked?
FirstCry created a hyper-personalized customer communication experience by understanding
parents’ purchase patterns. Also, the e-commerce brand identified its high-intent user
segments and offered personalized product recommendations. As a result, the brand noticed a
400.75% uplift in repeat orders.
2. Travel and hospitality
The Travel industry is growing rapidly owing to
digitization and the rise of remote working – this
has increased competition for consumer
attention. MakeMyTrip, the largest digital travel
company, delivers click-worthy emails as part of
its customer win-back campaigns and to its first-
time users.

What worked?
In the example above, the brand offers attractive
deals while utilizing the festive season that can
grab any user’s attention and fasten a sale.
Personalization of deals and messaging as per the
instances and moments around a consumer, adds
high relevance to their communication.
 5 Stages of Customer
Engagement
Awareness
Description: At this stage, consumers
become aware of a brand or product's
existence. They may encounter it through
advertising, social media, word-of-
mouth, or other marketing efforts.
Example:
Consider a new tech startup
launching its innovative smartphone.
They create a teaser video that goes
viral on social media, catching the
attention of tech enthusiasts who
were previously unaware of the brand.
5 Stages of
Customer
Engagement
Interest
Description: After becoming aware, consumers express
interest in the brand or product. They start actively seeking
more information, exploring features, and understanding
how it could meet their needs or solve their problems.

Example: Following the viral video, potential

customers begin researching the smartphone's
specifications, reading reviews, and watching
in-depth video demonstrations to understand if
it suits their requirements.
CONSIDERATION
5 Stages of Customer
Engagement

Example: Consumers interested in the smartphone now

compare it to similar models from well-established brands,
read expert reviews, and participate in online discussions to
gather insights from other users.

Description: During this stage, consumers are actively

evaluating the brand or product. They compare it to
competitors, weigh pros and cons, and seek validation from
sources like online forums or friends.
5 Stages of
Customer
Engagement

Example: After thorough research

and consideration, a consumer
decides to purchase a smartphone.
They subscribe to the brand's
newsletter to receive updates on ENGAGEMENT:
new features and accessories.

Description: At this stage, consumers commit to

engaging more deeply with the brand. This could
involve actions like signing up for a newsletter,
following social media accounts or making a
purchase.
5 Stages of Customer Engagement
ADVOCACY:
Description: Advocacy represents
the highest level of engagement,
where satisfied customers become
brand advocates. They actively
promote the brand or product to
others, often through word-of-
mouth, social media, or reviews.
Example: The smartphone user,
having had a great experience,
shares their excitement on social
media, writes a positive online
review, and recommends the product
to friends and family. They may even
become a beta testers for future
product releases.
3 Cs of Customer
Engagement
Community
Commerce
Content
Content:
Description: Content is the information,
messaging, and materials a brand uses to
communicate with its audience. It can include
blog posts, social media updates, videos, emails,
and more.

Example: Airbnb offers a wide range of content,

including high-quality property photos, detailed
property descriptions, traveler reviews, and
travel guides for various destinations. They also
produce engaging blog posts and videos
featuring unique and aspirational Airbnb listings
and experiences. This content not only informs
potential customers but also inspires them to
book their next trip through Airbnb.
 Description: Community represents the
network of customers and supporters
who share a common interest or
connection with a brand. Building a
community involves creating spaces for
customers to connect, share experiences,
and interact.

Community: Example: Airbnb's host and guest

communities are actively engaged on the
platform. Hosts and guests can leave
reviews and ratings, and hosts often
communicate with guests before and
during their stay to provide
recommendations and assistance. This
sense of community creates trust and
encourages people to use Airbnb over
traditional lodging options.
Commerce: Description: Commerce relates to the
transactional aspect of customer
engagement, providing customers with
opportunities to make purchases and
facilitating seamless buying experiences.

Example: Airbnb ensures a straightforward

commerce experience by offering various
payment options, including credit cards and
digital wallets, to accommodate different
customer preferences. They also have a
secure booking and payment system, which
includes features like instant booking and a
host guarantee to protect both hosts and
guests during transactions.
 Case Study -
STARBUCKS
Introduction
Starbucks Corporation is an American
multinational chain of coffeehouses and
roastery reserves headquartered in
Seattle, Washington.
As the world’s largest coffee-house
chain, Starbucks coffee houses serve-
Hot and cold drinks, Whole-bean coffee,
Frappuccino beverages and many more.
Starbucks In India
In the 2010s, Starbucks was keen on
entering the Indian market. The
company wanted to capitalize on the
rise of coffee culture by targeting the
niche upper-class segment in India.
In 2011, Starbucks finally made a
grand entry into the market. After
successfully launching their brand, the
next step in ensuring they were here
to stay, was to nail their target
audience.
Starbucks Target Market
Starbucks is a premium coffee brand; its
customers are mainly from the upper
economic segments. The brand targets
people who want a peaceful space to drink
coffee and lose stress.

These are mostly the higher wage-earning

professionals, business owners, or other
higher-end customers. It targets mainly the
urban, health-conscious, and class-conscious
consumers.

Key Takeaways: Define your target

audience and deliver an experience they
want, every time.
Branding Strategies of Starbucks
Create A Loyalty Program

Starbucks has a great way of rewarding their

customers who purchase their products. The
Starbucks Rewards program offers incentives for
buying products with free in-store refills, free
products and extra offers and discounts in the store.

Starbucks Social Media Strategy

The company’s many social media accounts are

known for their distinctive branding, interactive posts,
and visually pleasing content. The diverse range of
content includes recipes, photography, articles and
features. But there’s more than meets the eye.
 Starbucks Product-based Starbucks Corporate Social Community-based
Marketing Campaigns Responsibility-based campaigns
campaign

Starbucks focuses on promoting unique Another facet of Starbucks’

Starbucks uses social change as a
and fan-favorite beverages. They’ve digital strategy is its emphasis
marketing tool, positioning itself as open-
even created social accounts for on highlighting individuals and
minded and inclusive. One example is the
customers’ favorites -Pumpkin Spiced communities.
#ExtraShotOfPride campaign that
Latte and Frappuccino- where they
supports the LGBT+ community
push relevant and relatable memes to Take a look at the #RedCupArt
their die-hard audience. campaign, which not only
increases engagement but also
This is also where user-generated provides them with a library of
content (UGC) comes in. Consumer UGC content. They use
images of the more Instagrammable storytelling to humanize the
products, are often selected to be re- company by sharing stories on
shared. their account.
 As an internationally recognized brand, Starbucks needs
to be consistent with their branding at all times. This
spans every message they send, every piece of branded
collateral they create, and every aspect of their in-store
design and experience.

From the atmosphere in their stores, to their digital

content, to their advertising, everything looks, sounds, and
feels like Starbucks. Even the cups and tumblers you can
The Consistency Of buy in the store have a clean, modern design to them.

Starbucks’ Branding Every piece of content they publish follows the same
visual and language guidelines that customers have
& Experience come to expect from the coffee giant. Take a look at the
cohesiveness between the following examples.
 Key Takeaway:
Social Media Keeping a consistent brand experience for
your customers is key to bringing them back
to your organization and creating brand
advocates out of your customers.

Web Page
Video

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=1flxTZKDBT4

Key Takeaway:
By creating a premium experience, your
brand can charge a higher price while
delivering a better product than your
competition.
Branding in Price
In 1990, only three percent of the
coffee sold in the United States was
sold at premium prices. By 2000, that
number rose to 40% in what the
Harvard Business Review calls,
“The Starbucks Effect.”
It’s being able to craft a high-quality
product every time that keeps people
coming back. Not to mention their
barista promises that if you don’t like
your drink, they’ll fix it. By offering
customers exceptional drinks and food,
Starbucks can charge more for them.
Why? Because people are willing to
pay for it.
Conclusion
Starbucks is one of the most recognizable brands in the
world. Their brand recognition has reached epic heights
thanks to the strength of their marketing and their
commitment to keeping their brand consistent.