Turn foreigners into fans

Foreigner means someone who is an outsider and belongs to some other group or community. In business context, a person who is not familiar with a brand and its products, has not used a company’s brand or has been using competitor’s brand is a foreigner for that particular brand. On the other hand, a Fan is someone who is an enthusiastic devotee or admirer of something. In business context, a person who admires a particular brand, does its positive word of mouth, and keeps on bringing new business is a Fan of that particular brand.
The journey of converting a foreigner to a fan of a brand can’t be defined through pushing products for sale, it has to be driven through emotional connect. Emotions build relationships between brands and consumers, create aspirations, develop respect, build trust, create memories and so on. Customers choose a few brands over many others because they are able to align themselves with a set of emotions rather than set of features.

Let’s have a look at examples from a few brands that have used power of emotions and have created millions of fans for their products.

1. ‘Think Different’ campaign: Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign launched in 1997 didn’t showcase products rather it showcased that creative people with passion can change the world for the better. The people who were selected to appear in the ‘Think Different’ campaign were bold thinkers, innovative and independent. This campaign stressed that Apple was an innovative company that along with its creative users, could change the world.

This inspirational campaign connects emotionally with audience, inspires them and gives a message to value their own creativity even if they view themselves as being somewhat outside the mainstream.

2. ‘Ripple’ film: Nike Golf's film Ripple released in 2015 shows the inspiring effect of Tiger Woods's greatness on young Rory McIlroy. The film covers the inspirational journey of Rory McIlroy growing up watching Tiger Woods’s performances, victories and posters in his room. In the film, eventually Rory McIlroy reaches at the same level to compete against Tiger Woods, one of the best Golfers in the world. This film also shows that Tiger Woods has sustained his position for many years and playing with Rory McIlroy, who is 13 years younger than him.

The inspirational film connects emotionally with the audience who admire, wish and practice to become like their role models. This film also connects emotionally with role models, who sustain their positions through continuous practice and perfection, and are able to compete with much younger players.

3. ‘The Boy Who Learned To Fly’ film: Gatorade’s ‘The Boy Who Learned To Fly’ is an animated short film showcasing Usain Bolt’s story and his evolution from humble beginnings in a Jamaican schoolyard to becoming the fastest man in the world. This movie highlights that Usain Bolt got very much worried about people’s expectations from him and what if he would not win. His mother motivates him and tells him that he could perform better without worries.

This film connects emotionally with the audience, inspires and gives a message to keep worries of others expectations and results aside and focus on performance.

4. ‘TMP Panyee FC’ film: TMB bank’s film features the island of Koh Panyee in the South of Thailand where a floating fishing village clings to a rocky outcrop in the middle of the sea. Despite the fact that this village doesn’t have any land to play sport of any kind, in 1986, inspired by the World Cup in Mexico, some kids in the village got the idea to start their own soccer team. This film shows that how kids built the floating soccer field on water and later emerged into one of the best soccer teams in Thailand.

This film connects emotionally with the audience, inspires them and gives a message that lack of resources can’t act as excuses in achieving dreams. With determination, we can create platform for ourselves and define our journey.

5. ‘Fat to Fit’ video: Fat to Fit video released by UTV motion pictures features Aamir Khan going through an extreme body transformation for his upcoming film Dangal. The video shows that for the movie, Aamir Khan first gained 27 kilos and then transformed himself from a stout 97 kg man to a fit man flaunting six packs. When he has almost achieved his body transformation, inspirational music adds to the enthusiasm and motivation.

This video connects emotionally with audience, inspires them and gives a lesson that it is only a game of willpower and all you need to do is push yourself every day to achieve your goal.
The above examples show that by making audience feel better about themselves, by appealing to their emotional states and aspirations, brands can create bonding with their audiences. Over the period of time, audience who were foreigner for a brand gets attached and turn into brands’ fans.

The brands that emotionally connects with audience could establish a bond beyond just purchase of their products. Emotional connection gives brands special preference in customers’ minds, builds life-long attachment, which in turn can foster the brand’s profitability.

(The article is authored by Harsh Pamnani, marketeer and author. He is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur. His LinkedIn profile is https://in.linkedin.com/in/harshpamnani)

(Image: Gatorade)