Emotional branding speaks to consumers\u2019 heart: the case of fashion brands

Youn-Kyung Kim,Pauline Sullivan

doi:10.1186/s40691-018-0164-y

Youn-Kyung Kim, Pauline Sullivan

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-018-0164-y

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Abstract

In this highly competitive market, fashion brands struggle to distinguish themselves to increasingly apathetic consumers. To become more competitive, fashion retailers employ emotional branding as a way to engage their customers, addressing the growing trend of consumers’ seeking emotional relationships with a brand. Although brand technicalities such as product attributes, features, and facts may be unmemorable, personal feelings and experiences better shape consumers’ evaluations of brands. This study illustrates why emotional branding is essential, especially to fashion brands, when developing brand strategies in a volatile marketplace. Trends that support a need for these strategies include consumers’ desires for positive experiences, expressing authentic self, achieving warm glow from helping others, and co-creating design or ideas with the brand. We propose a model for emotional branding strategies that focuses on sensory branding, storytelling, cause branding, and empowerment. The case studies we provide for each strategy describe how fashion brands can engage customers through emotional branding.

Highlights

In an ever-changing and highly competitive market, fashion brands struggle to distinguish themselves to increasingly apathetic consumers (Clark 2017)
Timberland has developed a creative way of empowering adults by incorporating co-creation on social media and through community involvement. In this fiercely competitive retail environment where countless brands provide similar products and service with good quality, consumers would turn to brands that appeal to their emotion
Emotional branding addresses consumers’ desire to have positive experiences, express authentic self rather than idealized self, achieve warm glow, and participate in co-creation. Retailers who direct their strategies toward meeting these consumer desires have been successful via sensory branding, storytelling, cause branding, and empowerment

Summary

Introduction

In an ever-changing and highly competitive market, fashion brands struggle to distinguish themselves to increasingly apathetic consumers (Clark 2017). We define emotional branding as a brand’s strategy that stimulates consumers’ affective state, appealing to their feelings with the aim of increasing consumer loyalty toward the brand. We explore marketplace trends that support emotional branding defined by consumer experiences, authentic self, warm glow, and co-creation.

Results

Conclusion