It's more than a feeling.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a product person, or a marketing executive, we’ve all been taught that one of the most important parts of selling a product is identifying its features and benefits.

And we think that’s how customers make buying decisions about our product: by rationally weighing competing products and services and coming to a conclusion. So we create new features that match their needs and identify benefits that resonate.

But what if that’s not the way it actually happens? What if purchasers aren’t that rational after all?

It's all about emotions.

More often than not, today’s products and services fall into one of two categories:

They are highly comparable, and compete in a market where most competitors are nearly the same or can quickly reach feature parity. It’s easy for customers to compare products, but they are largely the same.
They are highly complex, and compete in a market where its difficult for customers to compare products because they are so different.

In both of these markets, it’s not only difficult to decide based on a direct comparison of features and benefits, in many cases, it’s simply impossible.

Instead, buyers first form an emotional connection with a company, then use that company’s features and benefits to justify and defend their decision.

A company that doesn’t make those emotional connections will still win some business, but it’s an uphill battle.

Brands are the basis for emotional connections.

And that's where brands come in.

A successful brand reflects the personality of the organization, and is what people form lasting emotional connections with.

Loud Dog helps selected organizations understand their brand, define it, and use it to build emotional connections with their audiences.