Why Jeff Bezos Was Wrong: Why Focusing on Humanizing Your Brand Should Come First Before Customer-Centricity

Read Time: 6 Minutes

Introduction

That’s right; Jeff Bezos was wrong when he said Customer-Centricity was their no.1 reason for their success!

While Amazon’s customer-centric approach is widely acknowledged in the business world, its success can be attributed to more than this. One key factor behind Amazon’s triumph is its humanized brand, although Jeff Bezos stated that their obsessive focus on the customer was the top contributor to their success. In reality, Amazon has created a brand personality that resonates with customers, reflected in its messaging, marketing, and core values. By prioritizing meaningful relationships with consumers, Amazon has established trust, communication, and respect, essential qualities of a humanized connection.

Humanizing your brand can help you focus on your customer’s needs

In this blog, you will learn how humanizing your brand can lead to long-term benefits for your customers. By creating a more relatable and empathetic brand, you can build trust and loyalty with your customers. This, in turn, can lead to improved customer satisfaction and ultimately, business success.

  • What is a Humanized Brand?
  • Why is a Humanized BRand Important for your Business?
    • But why should you care?
  • How do you Humanize Brands
    • Brand Guidelines help create a Clear Brand Identity
  • 5 Examples of a Humanized Brand
  • Key Takeaways
  • Summary
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What is a Humanized Brand?

Humanizing a brand means creating a personality for the brand that consumers can relate to and engage with. By giving the brand human-like qualities, such as a unique voice, personality, and values, businesses can create an emotional connection with their audience. This emotional connection can help to build trust and loyalty, which is crucial for long-term success.

Why is a Humanized Brand Important?

In today’s world, consumers are bombarded with countless advertisements and marketing messages every day. They are constantly being sold to, and as a result, they have become increasingly skeptical of traditional advertising methods. In order to cut through the noise and connect with consumers on a deeper level, brands need to humanize themselves.

But why should you care?

When a brand humanizes itself, it establishes a relatable and personable identity that consumers can identify with. By showcasing their values, beliefs, and personalities, brands can attract consumers who share those same traits. This can create a sense of affinity and trust between the brand and the consumer, leading to a stronger bond.

Humanized brands can also help to break down barriers between consumers who may have different backgrounds or lifestyles. By presenting a relatable and inclusive image, brands can connect with consumers who may not have felt seen or understood by traditional marketing efforts.

Overall, a humanized brand can help to create a sense of community and belonging among consumers, regardless of their differences. This can be a powerful tool for brands looking to connect with their target audience on a deeper level.

How do you Humanize a Brand?

Humanizing a brand can be challenging. Many brands struggle with their identity, making it difficult to establish a clear brand personality and voice – Components needed in creating a humanized brand. However, that’s where brand guidelines can help. Brand guidelines are a set of rules and standards that define everything from a brand’s visual identity to its tone of voice and messaging. They help ensure that a brand’s identity is consistent across all touchpoints, which is crucial for building trust and establishing a strong, consistent brand image.

When brands have a clear sense of identity and personality, they can better connect with their target audience on a deeper level. They can create marketing campaigns and messaging that speak directly to their audience’s values and beliefs. They can also build relationships with their customers that are based on mutual understanding and trust. This is not to say that focusing on the customer isn’t important. In fact, it is essential. However, focusing on the customer should be the second goal of any business, not the first. By focusing first on creating a humanized brand, they ensure they’re taking the necessary steps to build humanized connections and relationships.

Brand Guidelines help create a Clear Brand Identity

A strong brand identity is essential for building a successful business. Think of it like going on a blind date; you want to connect with someone who shares your values and passions, and who is visually appealing to you. But what if the person you meet has no sense of who they are? It’s like they’re lost and unable to establish a meaningful connection with you.

This is exactly how a brand without a clear identity feels to potential customers.

 

To avoid this, businesses need to create a distinct and consistent brand identity. By establishing brand guidelines, they can overcome their identity crisis and attract, engage, and connect with their target audience. This is crucial for building a loyal customer base and standing out from competitors in today’s crowded marketplace.

As humans, we make purchasing decisions based on emotions rather than logic. Creating emotional connections between brands and consumers is key to driving sales and building brand loyalty. So, it’s essential to ensure that your brand identity is crystal clear and reflects the values and passions of your target audience.

5 Examples of Humanized Brands

Experience the power of a humanized brand firsthand by observing these top-performing brands. Take inspiration from their proven success and apply it to elevate your own small business. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to create a lasting, authentic connection with your customers through your brand. Follow in the footsteps of these industry leaders and watch your business thrive.

Apple is a prime example of a humanized brand that has successfully built a strong emotional connection with its customers. Apple’s brand identity is centered around simplicity, creativity, and innovation. They use clean and minimalistic design language to create products that are easy to use and highly functional, which resonates with their target audience of tech-savvy creatives. Apple also focuses on creating a unique brand experience for its customers, from its retail stores to its advertising campaigns. By prioritizing customer needs and creating products and experiences that align with their values and beliefs, Apple has fostered a strong sense of loyalty and advocacy among its customers.

Nike is another example of a humanized brand that has successfully created a meaningful relationship with its customers. Nike’s brand identity is centered around the concept of “just do it” – inspiring athletes and fitness enthusiasts to push themselves to achieve their goals. Nike’s messaging and marketing efforts are highly emotional and aspirational, showcasing real people with real stories of overcoming challenges and achieving success. Nike’s brand values of innovation, authenticity, and inclusivity are also reflected in its product offerings, with a focus on functional and stylish athletic wear for all body types and fitness levels. By creating a brand that inspires and empowers its customers, Nike has created a loyal following of athletes and fitness enthusiasts around the world.

Ben & Jerry’s is a humanized brand that has built a strong emotional connection with its customers by prioritizing its values and social responsibility. Ben & Jerry’s brand identity is centered around the concept of “peace, love, and ice cream” – a playful and socially conscious brand that values sustainability, ethical sourcing, and community engagement. Ben & Jerry’s messaging and marketing efforts focus on creating positive social change, from supporting fair trade and organic farming practices to advocating for racial and social justice. By aligning its brand values with the values and beliefs of its customers, Ben & Jerry’s has created a loyal following of socially conscious consumers who appreciate the company’s commitment to making a positive impact on the world.

Amazon is a prime example of a brand that has successfully humanized its brand. While it is known for its customer-centric approach, it has also created a strong brand personality that resonates with customers. Its brand values, such as innovation, customer obsession, and ownership, are reflected in its messaging and marketing efforts. Amazon has also been transparent and authentic in its interactions with customers, admitting mistakes when they happen and responding to customer feedback in a respectful and empathetic manner. As a result, it has built a strong emotional bond with its customers that has helped it become one of the most successful companies in the world.

The Washington Post is another example of a brand that has successfully humanized its brand. Under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, it has focused on creating a strong brand identity that aligns with the values and beliefs of its audience. Its commitment to journalistic integrity, innovation, and community engagement is reflected in its messaging and marketing efforts, creating a sense of trust and authenticity with its readers. The Washington Post has also been transparent in its reporting, admitting mistakes and correcting inaccuracies when they occur. This level of transparency and accountability has helped the brand build a strong reputation for accuracy and reliability, which is crucial in the world of journalism.

However, while these businesses have succeeded in humanizing their brands, many companies still struggle to create a clear brand identity that resonates with their customers. This can lead to a lack of trust, engagement, and loyalty among customers, ultimately impacting the bottom line.

That is why businesses must prioritize the development of brand guidelines that define their brand personality, values, and mission. They should also be transparent and authentic in customer interactions, admitting mistakes and using customer feedback to improve the brand experience. By humanizing their brand, businesses can create a strong emotional connection with their customers, fostering loyalty, advocacy, and long-term success.

Key Takeaways

  • Focusing obsessively on the customer is essential, but more is needed on its own to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.
  • Humanizing a brand involves creating a brand identity that aligns with the target audience’s values, beliefs, and desires to establish a sense of authenticity, trust, and transparency.
  • A brand’s personality should be consistent across all touchpoints to create a sense of familiarity and emotional connection with customers.
  • Humanizing a brand also involves being transparent and authentic in all customer interactions, including admitting mistakes and being responsive to feedback.
  • Humanizing a brand can foster loyalty and advocacy, create a culture of innovation and creativity, and ultimately drive long-term success.
  • Businesses should prioritize the development of brand guidelines that define their brand personality, values, and mission to avoid a lack of trust, engagement, and loyalty among customers.

Summary

Jeff Bezos’ customer-centric business approach has proven to be misguided. Nowadays, a successful brand must first adopt a humanized identity to effectively cater to its customers. It is crucial to establish meaningful and enduring relationships between the brand and consumers from the outset. Creating brand guidelines is the key to achieving a humanized brand. By understanding their brand identity, businesses can communicate and connect more efficiently with their clientele. Similar to courtship, a brand’s emotional appeal relies on building strong bonds, resonating with the target audience, and addressing their needs. In this competitive market, a humanized brand is essential for long-term success, fostering loyalty and advocacy among customers who promote the brand through word of mouth. Prioritizing the development of brand guidelines is vital to create a brand that positively impacts the audience, leading to favorable outcomes and sustained prosperity.

Humanize your brand for meaningful connections by Building a Brand To Last with me, Billy

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