Question

• With regards to Consumer-Brand Relationships, a company’s product enables consumers to build or elicit specific bonds or relationships. Discuss the five types of consumer brand relationships in which consumers may experience with specific products. For each relationship illustrated in your text, be sure to identify a specific product(s) (i.e. Cars, Computers, Mobile Phones, etc...), as well as an example of the consumer brand relationship a consumer may have with that specific product.

Answer 1

Basic Relationship: The salesperson sells to the final customers. This is also known as direct sales. Most of these companies have mature business practices when it comes to the wholesale model. Unfortunately, they are typically not very digital native or data driven decision makers. When brands sell their products to wholesale distributors, there is a disconnect with the amount of consumer data the brand will have access to once those sales take place. The data that comes from a direct to consumer relationship is extremely valuable to brands.

Reactive relationship: The sales person sells the product and encourages the customer to call for any comments or enquiries. Always be aware of what is going on in the world. An average day’s news won’t be significant to the masses, but the one day when it is your brand shouldn’t miss a marketing opportunity due to a lack of awareness.

Accountable relationship: The sales person calls the customers to ensure whether the product is working as per satisfaction and if there is any problem in the product. Furthermore he also asks the customer for any suggestions / feedback to improve the service / product. Thus he is taking responsibility for the sale. Using the right CRM also reduces churn rate or the customers who decided to stop using or buying the products or services of a brand. Personalized and customized products make this possible by drawing interest of the customers.

Proactive relationship: The company works continuously with its large customers to help improve performance. This is especially seen in financial companies wherein the movement in the financial market induces the company to make changes regularly. However at the same time, these financial companies have to take care of their customers as well. Thus they take regular feedback from their large customers thereby developing their products accordingly. Proactive Customer Service presents the opportunity to meet and exceed customer expectations, strengthen customer relationships and boost the value of your customers through both their business and their advocacy.

Partnership relationship: The company works continuously with its large customers to improve its performance. An example would include General Electric which has stationed Engineers to its third party service centers to improve overall performance. Thus even in partnerships GE is ensuring optimal relationship development with the parent brand. New markets – by partnering products together a popular firm in the US seeking new customers from Europe might collaborate with a successful European brand to enter this new market, and with this the joint product might have to adapt to the new market.