So here’s an interesting way to look at what brand experience is all about. Imagine walking into a fancy restaurant. Well-known chef, famous for his good, quality food. Now take your mind to another restaurant. Equally appreciated, delivering the same kind of food standards. BUT with one difference… whereas the first restaurant makes a fine steak the way it’s supposed to be made (saignant, clean cut center of the plate, with some vegetables nicely laying on the side, and a splash of whatever sauce moving like a tiny river on the plate, professionally put on the table), the second one has a similar plate but with no steak. The steak gets delivered just a minute later on a hot stone on your table, all steaming, simmering, grilling and sizzling. The waiter puts it down with an elegant movement, sprinkles some rough salt on top and gently adds a bit of green on top. While the aroma of the steak tickles your nose and the sizzle of it entertains your ears, he enthusiastically tells the story of the two brothers who own the wine vineyard of the wine you chose. What a different experience that is! Same item, same quality, different way to engage the consumer. Guess what restaurant I like going to?
Why does the “sizzle” matter?
anyone can make good steak
Quality is the most fragile thing there is. No matter how many patents you have, how well you have vertically integrated your supply chain and perfected your quality standards, no matter how much R&D you spend, anyone who really wants to go after you WILL (one day) copy you and maybe perfect the product you so delicately protected.
sizzle is difficult to copy
Branding, brand equity and brand engagement are difficult to copy. They are strongly linked to your brand, and your brand alone. The depth of everything “surrounding” the product is complex, deep, tangled: stories, emotions, associations, … you name it. All those good things that make a brand unique!
sizzle draws the consumer in
Brand engagement not only shows consumers what the brand’s true colors are, it also opens up that two-way communication with the consumer… it literately “draws them into the brand”, creates closeness and bonding. Result: a relationship that is difficult to copy and even harder to break.
sizzle adds the emotional layer
Go back to the restaurant example. Guess what? People will come back for more. Not just for the steak, but for the feeling they get when they are IN that experience. Human beings thrive on emotions, and seek repeat of pleasure.
Now; I don’t suggest to focus on the sizzle only. Without that good, juicy, perfectly cut, well-cooked tenderloin steak there is no reason to add sizzle in the first place! The sizzle is the cherry on the cake; without cake there is no need for cherry.
Selling the sizzle and not the steak is something good salesmen have known since forever. They were the marketers avant-la-lettre:
Enjoy your meal 😉
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