The Emotion of Brands

Customers associate emotions with the product and also with the brand. A large part of the value of a brand is nothing more than emotion, the remainder of that value coming from information that the brand conveys about the company or product. For many people, a brand is a signal of quality, where even the basic trademark is thought to indicate the quality of the company that it represents. That quality signal certainly leads to an emotional benefit of the feeling of security and trust in that company’s products.

The brand, however, is more than a signal of quality, providing intangibles such as passion, excitement, and an honest relationship between the company and customer. For example, the fact that the Chrome browser (a product) comes from Google (a brand) is informative about product quality. Because it is a Google product, users expect it to safely install on their local machines without fear of a Trojan horse virus. The value of the Google brand goes even beyond the assurance that it can be safely installed. Customers feel a sense of satisfaction and empowerment when using any high-performance product that Google provides. Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google’s brand message is an optimistic one: the dream that anything is possible. Optimism is emotional; optimism and hope are valued in addition to the utility value of the product.

Put differently, consider that there are many browsers for personal computers, and Google’s Chrome browser offers its current functionality as well as the promise and excitement of future developments. The ultimate goal is to create emotions supported by the product and associated with a brand. The product must deliver appropriate emotions to build equity in the brand and, although intangible, the brand must consistently communicate appropriate emotions to create desire for the product.