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Greetings from Edinburgh,
Strangely enough, I woke from sleep this Sunday after hosting an American-style Thanksgiving here with some clear thoughts on how we need to get our clients thinking about their brands.  (Yes, pathetic, I know.)

But, as we sat around the dinner table last night and I was explaining that yes, the cheese was an appetizer not “pudding,” and no, my spinach dip in a bread bowl was not intended to look like a hedgehog, I started to see the true power of brands and how they enable social interaction and storytelling.

You may be saying: I have heard this before, but what does that mean exactly?  How does it work?   And most important, how do I go about doing this for my clients?

People look to brands that share the same values as they do.  They need to relate to a brand, believe in it and emotionally connect to it in some way.   I am loyal to Ralph Lauren because I share the All-American, preppy clean cut values that the brand represents. (RL=American, intelligent, sophisticated, classic.  Me=American (so I am told often here in the UK), I value intelligence, sophistication and like a classic style.  My sister-in-law boycotts Target because they stock certain baby products that are made by companies she feels have unethical practices.    (Target does not equal socially conscious; however, sister-in-law=socially conscious.)

Similarly, consumers also build their social networks around shared values.   A new mother may join the “Moms of South Bay” Yahoo! group to get advice on a kid-friendly brunch spot in town, or what the latest technique in potty training your two-year-old because she feels they share the same parenting values and trusts their advice.   A young college graduate joins a Purdue University alumni association group to try to find a new job on LinkedIn because he shares experiences from his time in college with those members and immediately has many things he could speak to an alumni about.

We have an opportunity–through our client’s brands–to not just communicate values, but to connect a brand’s values to a consumer’s values in such a way that enables their social interactions in their various networks.  As marketers, it is our job to be a matchmaker, to connect a brand and its values to the right consumer group and, in a manner that makes the brand a tool to talk about, interact with and share stories across their various social groups.  Nike has done this brilliantly with their “Human Race” campaign.  Instead of using traditional media to say: “We are now doing good in the world,” they found a way to enable people to share their values of being an athlete and doing good in the world, and they put their brand at the center of that connection. For some of the ways you can see how they are enabling people to participate and build their social network, check out http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/category/challenges/ .

So, imagine yourself as a matchmaker.  You have a client (your brand) and they are looking for their soul mate.   Ask yourself, what values does the brand hold?   What does the brand’s resume look like?   What kind of people would be attracted to this person and why?  What group of consumers (or, target) shares those values?  How are they interacting with the brand now? What stories do they tell about the brand?  What can we do as value matchmakers to connect them and to encourage the consumers to share their experience with their social group?   Answering these questions opens the door to innovation, greater experiences for our brands and, ultimately, will exceed our client’s business objectives.

And, on a final note, the hit of my Thanksgiving feast was my Aunt Millie’s ambrosia fruit salad.  After recovering from the horror that I did not provide a separate plate for it, thus guests needed to put it on the “savory” plate, they all obliged me and tried it with some ham.  Two thumbs up and I now know my Scottish brethren have been enlightened on using marshmallows beyond hot chocolate.  Now I can connect them to http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4556302334.  I see a new business opportunity already!

–Meg Way, meg.way@uk.rapp.com