We speak with Gary Kash, President of Gary Kash Marketing Insights, on helping organizations create an emotional connection with their customers using a strong brand strategy.

According to Gary, “Branding is not a logo, it is not a tagline, it is not messaging your audience. Good branding is about connecting with your consumer and having your consumer want to connect with you.” In short, it’s about forming real, poignant ties. This is because when people buy things, it’s usually based on an emotional impetus.

Gary points out, “If you talk to everybody, you’re really talking to nobody.” By this he means that brands should look to those most passionate, and to whom their product is most relevant. Expanding on this, Gary suggests that looking to demographics might not be the best way forward. Instead, his approach is to consider an “attitudinal target.”

He exemplifies this in Gatorade, pointing out that (based on branding) when people drink it, they might feel like an athlete. He tells us, “Year ago, Pepsi bought Gatorade. Then Coke came after them, but could not beat them because there was an emotional connection between the user of Gatorade and its brand. There was a partnership. There was a trust built.”

Many organizations want to quantify the impact of an effective brand. But because there’s no way to quantitatively track “feelings,” Gary suggests tracking attitudes: “loyalty, margins, and volume.”

The main benefit of having a strong brand? Gary has this to say: “You are fighting on price. And if you are dealing on emotions, your margins are better.”