Personal Connections, Consistency, and More – Advice from a Brand Authority
by Michele von Dambrowski
A former marketing executive for Nike and Starbucks, Scott Bedbury entertained attendees of the 18th National Healthcare Marketing Strategies Summit with stories of the transformation of an elitist athletic shoe company and the reinvention of the coffee category. Author of A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21st Century and advisor to Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health, Bedbury also offered guidance for brand success and personal happiness. His advice included:
- Connect to basic human needs to create a meaningful brand experience. All of us, Bedbury notes, need to feel safe, welcomed, recognized, valued, part of something bigger, rewarded for our efforts, loved, love for someone else, and empowered. “You can usually find four or five [needs] that you can leverage,” he says.
- Do “dream state” research. Ask consumers to close their eyes and describe the absolutely perfect experience in a certain place, whether it’s a coffeehouse or medical practice. Bedbury did that research through focus groups when building the Starbucks brand, where his team found that music, daylight, an oasis between work and home, a comfortable haven for being alone, romance, learning, and a stimulating environment were all key in describing the perfect coffee experience.