The key to effective brand management is creating a positive and memorable brand experience for customers.A Brand experience is the ecosystem that exists around a brand or product, manifested in the sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses evoked by a brand. The Brandberries has exclusively interviewed Ahmed Soudodi, Head of Brand at General Motors’ Chevrolet Arabia, to get his take on the how-tos of creating an enticing brand experience.

 

BB: There is a general understanding that brand experience is all about appealing to human emotions to create a connection to drive customer behavior. In your opinion, what is brand experience really all about?

Ahmed Soudodi

AS: A brand experience is about designing a sensory experience that brings a person into a lasting and meaningful relationship with a brand. As people, it’s in our nature to have an intrinsic need to make connections with one another. We like to hang with our tribes. And part of what makes a successful connection is finding the right place to make it happen. To win consumers’ hearts, as marketers we must provide them with a unique and engaging experience that will resonate with these sensibilities, give them a reason to believe, and a sense of pride to be associated with our brand. 

At Chevrolet, we understand that our customers’ life cycle extends beyond their vehicle purchase – while their journey might begin on our Chevrolet Arabia website or in our dealer showrooms, our brand needs to engage them across various touchpoints in their ownership lifecycle. This is why, at Chevrolet, we are dedicated to ensuring our customers’ needs and wants are always at the center of everything we do.

BB: What makes a brand experience “connect” with customers? What are the building blocks that result in a great brand experiences? How important is consistency and relevance in crafting experience strategies?

AS: To “Connect” with a brand consumers have to have a positive emotional connection with that brand, the brand has to appeal to their core values and provide a seamless, a positive consumer friendly experience to keep people coming back to our websites and stores.

Consistency and relevance are key when it comes to creating successful brand experiences. At Chevrolet, we pay very close attention and have a team of experts in place to make sure that everything we do remains true to our DNA. Our brand’s mantra of Finding New Roads guides all of our activities, ensuring we constantly push boundaries, challenge the status quo and unlock new possibilities.

BB: Can brand experience make or break a brand? What does an unpleasant brand experience cost a brand?

AS: Brand experience affects a customer’s satisfaction and loyalty towards a brand – unpleasant experiences can have a direct effect on brand loyalty, driving once loyal customers away from your brand.

Moreover, we live in a world where negative feedback around brands travels a lot quicker than positive feedback. Customers usually recount their experiences in their circle of influence and on social media causing even greater damage to the brand in the medium term. If this isn’t remedied then long-term effects of an unpleasant brand experience can be devastating for a brand and its products or services.

BB: Are brand experiences measurable? Can you mention some of the proven to be successful methodologies to measure the impact of a brand experience?

AS: Of course, brands can measure customer experience through several methods, we at Chevrolet believe that the NPS (Net Promotor Score) is the right measure.

Buying a car is the second most complex decision any one has to make after buying a house, consumers today can seek help in their decision making process by talking to friends and family, seeking opinion on social media, checking out blogs for insights so word of mouth on positive ownership experiences can really help in pulling consumers down the funnel in their final stretch in the decision making process.

BB: One of the key attributes of a brand is its product packaging. How can packaging help in building a memorable brand experience?

AS: Brand packaging is the visual stimulus that exists in a brand offering. This is one of the reasons we pay extra attention to our vehicles’ styling at Chevrolet; it evokes emotion and desirability but also has to be deeply rooted in human insight on what consumers are seeking, in a certain car, in a given segment, based on their key buying criteria and what they are willing to pay a price premium for.

BB: If you’re to describe the attributes of the brand experience of Chevrolet, what would you say?

AS: At Chevrolet, possibilities sit at the core of our brand and behavioral values. We are a brand that champions the pursuit of new possibilities, which is why our mantra of Finding New Roads shapes all of our brand experiences.