Stairway to Brand Heaven & Hell

Inspired by a chat with Jared Spool.

Comments

[David Gillespie]

Interesting - I'd suggest perhaps though that a brand's behaviour would need to be consistent before it gained my trust. Thoughts?

[David Armano]

David,

Thanks for that feedback. You're right, trust is a result of all the previous steps. I've updated the visual.

[chronicler]

Great image! Can I have permission to put it in a post at my blog. It will underscore a point I am trying to make about American Airlines. I will give you full credit and a link to your blog.

[Senia Maymin]

Hi David,

1) LOVE the image. Really, really like it. Fun, envigorating.

2) I wonder about speaking to other people about the brand. Specifically, if you think about Kathy Sierra's "Creating Passionate Users," I think on the up-side above loyalty, you have "passion." Also, below the positive interaction and above the negative interaction, I wonder if there isn't the hearing-about-the-brand red-Beetle effect (you know, when someone mentions a red Beetle, all you start to see on the roads are red Beetles).

Best!
Senia

[Nishad]

Thanks

But shouldn't consistency be spelt with an e?

[David Armano]

@chronicler go ahead, credit it appreciated.

@nishad, it's been corrected. I think the image you are seeing might be cashed. Thanks.

[Bill (Dr. William J. Ward) a.k.a. DR4WARD]

Great visual. It makes important points in a fun and easy way.

Keep Digging For Worms!

[bruce nussbaum]

I just love the heck out of this. Brilliant.
Is there a "faith" category as well, as in having faith that a brand will always do right by you.
Bruce

[Michele Bouquet]

Love this graph David.
How exactly would you describe positive interaction Vs negative?
Is positive about having a dialogue opened to criticism that the brand responds to?

[patrick prothe]

This resonates. My current company gets it and really walks the talk. My previous company - a leading national childcare provider, did not. In so many conversations I had with both customers and employees, the steps unfortunately went down versus up.

[Peter West]

Great visual.

Would you consider adding "Value (uniquely meets a need)" as the first tier? It's a key differentiator (which raises the question of incorporating timeline - brand awareness, brand selection, brand interaction, brand evolution, etc.).

[Chris Hoskin]

Another awesome diagram.

A great conversation piece too;

>Are the steps linear?
>Can you go up as quick as you go down?#
>Does loyalty apply to someone selling engagement rings?
>Is the point where you are not in Heaven or Hell the most popular spot on the stairway.

Great stuff

[Pete Mortensen]

Beyond loyalty, there is surely evangelism, as any Mac-head will attest...

[Bob LeDrew]

LOVE this. A lot.

[wow!]

lame

[Russ Unger]

What's the difference between disloyalty and loyalty?

Better yet, is disloyalty simply "not loyal" or is, perhaps, instead it's more of an aversion type of thing?

I think that disloyalty means that something kind of becomes a commodity and people will "shop anywhere" for their fix. That's bad, but you still may be able to get some action in that mix. Aversion, on the other hand, is kind of like spitting when you say the name.

So I wonder which is it that you have at that bottom-most step.

Likewise, once you get to the top step, there is probably evangelistic, right? Being loyal is fantastic, but if brands can get someone to be evangelistic, then that would be heaven, since, again, that word of mouth thing, is something you can't get by throwing money at people.

And, of course, the best possibly way to get back up the stairs once you've traversed too far down is through positive word of mouth, I suspect.

[Eric Reagan]

Nice image David! I think your graphic illustrations should start coming with sound clips as well. Nicely done.

I also agree with what has been stated above. A loyal customer will help spread the word about a brand they are fond of. Likewise, the disloyal customer will spread the opposite.

[MaX]

That's great !
It makes me think about "le jeux de l'Oie" as we say in French...
Yet better, that game where to get to "heaven" you have obstacles (your consistency, credibility, etc...), but in that game should you miss a point your are sent back few steps through "toboggan/slides"... Which would mean direct link between upper and lower stairs... upon some particular "mistakes"... but I agree, the image might become more complicated...
:)

[Mary Anne Davis]

I question loyalty as the top tier of attainment after 8 years of it in DC.

[Tom O'Brien]

David:

Nice graphic. If only I could convince people that building a brand community (or doing viral marketing) wasn't the shortcut to loyalty!

TO'B

[Pinny]

wow how amazing through design you can articulate a message that companies continue to screw up, maybe this will get them thinking

[Bonnie Larner]

David, how 'bout making your diagram a board game. The design makes it ideal for folding in half. Roll the dice, and players could pick up cards that say things like "customer walked and store and was ignored, move back 2 spaces," or "you delivered your ____ the day you said it would be delivered," move up 2 spaces. Would make a great holiday gift for agency clients.

best,

bonnie
Richmond, VA
USA

[Harry Bishop]

Great imagery! Being truthful (or not) in your branding and messages has a real impact these days, we all know you can't hide from your end customers any longer, but I've not seen it put into such a good image before.

Thanks

Harry Bishop
http://www.harrybishop.ca

[Patrick Byers]

I love this image. Perfect example of great "impact-per-inch" executed creatively.

I'm going to have to link to this in a future post.

Cheers,

Patrick Byers
The Responsible Marketing Blog
http://responsiblemarketing.com

[David Tokheim]

Once again you have nailed it!
A new way to look at "brand hell."

[Rebecca]

This is a great visual for not just branding but also what happens inside companies between employees, managers and social interactions with vendors. It is a shame when great leaders start going down the staircase. People are so perceptive-and the leadership team is on stage everyday. This is a great reminder for us all and what can happen to our personal brands.

[Alan Wolk (The Toad Stool)]

Nice chart, but sort of disheartening that it's being seen by so many as "news."

You'd think something like this would be so obvious as to constitute Marketing 101.

Yet the actions of so many companies tell us that clearly it's not and that it's a message that's worth repeating.

Maybe the clarity of your graphics will help bring it home this time.

[P31dionne]

There are six steps to brand heaven, but only five to brand hell. Where do you address not being credible in the road to brand hell?

[P31dionne]

I agree with the passion or evangelist as brand nirvana, but I think there should be an equal opposite pit of despair for the consumer who detests and takes action to hurt your brand.

[bzal]

That's cool, that's simple and makes a lot of sense.

I'd consider only to make stairways to hell MOVING STARS - it's easy to go down, but going back is tough as hell.

rgds

[Pritam]

David,

Why should heaven stop at just personal loyalty, dont you think Brand Advocacy would be the next logical higher step and similarly at Hell Brand Tarnishing will be a higher (Lower?) level. Do you agree?

[Brian]

Hey David:

Love the graphic! Simple visuals like this are a great teaching tool for new employees, clients, etc. Thanks for putting this together.

With your permission, I'd like to blog about "Brand Heaven & Hell" at CelticSuite206.com. I'll give you full credit and link to your blog. Please let me know if you're OK with this.

Thanks again!

Brian

[shoe-g]

This is awesome.
Can I translate this graph into Japanese ,post this graph on my blog ,also put your credit and link.

Thanks

[Lena]

Great! May I translate it into swedish and post the image on our blog together with credit and link?

[P31dionne]

May I use this image (credited to you) in a training session at our ad agency? Also, I like the game idea, so can I create one that uses your image and all the legs that it provides? It would go great with the training session. Please let me know. Thanks!

[Justin Frolic]

Wonder if this dude ever read the Bible? it would appear not cause he is WAY off.

JT
www.FireMe.To/udi

[Andrea]

I never comment on sites I happen upon during research sessions, but this link was too good to pass up.

GREAT image. I got a "too-true" chuckle out of it.

Now please excuse me while I go try to avoid some hell ...

[Daniela Trifone]

Really nice graphic David but I feel like something is still missing from the real world: where should we place the complete absence of interaction?
Someone probably think it should be placed right in the center of the diagram but maybe when we talk about "brand experience" a lack of communication, expecially online, is pretty similar to a negative interaction as it causes negative feelings. What do you think about?

[Gina]

Hi David

I am a Human Resource Manager within my organisation, I loved the graphic and it made a huge impact.

However,wihtin our organisation we have people who are Atheists, and I feel that this graphic would not have impact on them.

How would you change this graphic to overcome ethical implication?

[Roland Smart]

David,

I really enjoyed this visual and referenced it in a blog post on my site. .... I'm fairly new to blogging and a friend mentioned that you might not be cool with having other people show the image on their blogs. If so, I'm happy to remove the image and just have a link to your site.

Thanks for considering this request.

Best.

Roland