It’s the little things…
Today on the blog, I want to chat about experience and association - how they both go hand-in-hand, and why they are key factors when it comes to your brand and its impact.
Have you ever gone somewhere and had an awesome experience? I mean, we all have. But have you proceeded to tell your friends about said experience and then completely forgot where it had been? You’re left saying “where was that again?” or “where were we?”. Chances are, you weren’t reminded enough throughout your experience WHO was providing it for you. Don’t let that be your brand.
So, what is Brand Experience and Brand Association? Let's break it down!
Brand Experience:
In the simplest of terms, Brand Experience is how someone feels when interacting with your brand.
Brand Association:
Brand Association is how people remember your brand - usually reinforced by your visuals, voice and persona.
To explain this in more detail - I am going to use a real life example from a recent trip of mine to Vancouver, BC.
I have a soft spot for restaurant branding and interior design - so, I am going to use an outstanding dining experience we had when we were there as an example of how experience and association make a difference.
The great thing about restaurants is that they are immersive and experience driven to begin with. You have so many opportunities to engage and communicate a message - which is why great branding can be so effective.
Enter, Botanist. “A world where day blurs into night, summer into winter, and food and drink are plenty.”
From the moment you walk in the door, you know exactly where you are and you are subtly reminded of it throughout the rest of your dining experience. To get to the Botanist, you walk up a set of stairs on the exterior of the Fairmont Pacific Rim - this entry point is reflected in the emblem of their logo, which you see on the facade in front of the stairs, as well as on the glass doors as you enter the restaurant.
There are 3 touch points I want to showcase (although there were many more throughout the evening) but I want to outline these specific ones because they truly encapsulate how the smallest details make a difference. This is where a lot of brands may miss the mark in the opportunity to reinforce brand awareness and association.
Touchpoint 1 - The Napkins
When you sit down, your table setting is an immediate reminder of where you are as the logo is embroidered into the napkins.
Touchpoint 2 - The Bread Plate
Yes, the bread plate. As they bring out bread for the table, you’ll notice they have slate bread plates in the shape of their arched stair logo with the actual logo subtly marked.
Touchpoint 3 - The Cocktails
As you go to take a sip of your drink, you’ll see they use a branding iron to melt their logo into the ice cube.
These may all seem like very small and very simple elements and you’re probably saying to yourself, “do these really matter?”. The answer is yes, they do matter and here’s why:
It doesn’t seem like much but all of these touch points subtly reinforce brand recall (the likelihood of someone recollecting your brand) in which you tie to your overall experience. It ensures that you never forget who created the experience for you because throughout your interaction you are reminded without even really realizing it.
This is truly what brand experience and association is all about. It’s about creating outstanding experiences and then bringing awareness to who you are so people will never forget who to associate that experience with.
You will never stand out by doing the bare minimum. Creating a successful brand is all about connecting the many moving parts - experience and association are two moving parts that should never be overlooked. It’s the little things that make a big difference.
Want to chat about creating a knockout brand experience partnered with positive brand association? Let’s turn the “where was I again” narrative into “I’ve got to tell you about this place called (insert your amazing brand here)!”. Connect with me.
