Pet Branding
In Youngme Moon’s latest title, Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd, the Harvard Business School professor mentions a case study covering Sony’s robotic dog, AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt, or “pal” in Japanese). The ability of the robot to follow commands isn’t what makes the case study remarkable; rather, it was the AIBO not following a master’s orders that make the product special and relate-able to the importance of being “human” or “pet like” as a brand.
In 1999, the lucky owners of the original AIBO model shelled out $2,500 to be amongst the few people to claim ownership of one, as they ran in limited quantities. With a hefty price tag, you’d expect consumers to anticipate a flawless robot that will listen and execute commands. By designing the AIBO to resemble a dog, Sony marketed the robot as a pet, more than a robot. Marketing and branding the robot in the light (that it was a pet) made all the difference. The technology behind the AIBO was very much primitive, and Sony knew this. The AIBO was not perfect in listening to demands, but rather than getting frustrated and start complaining, owners of the AIBO loved the experience of playing with one. Consumers were left saying: “oh, it has a mind of its own” when their AIBO failed to listen to a command. It was indeed just like their pet dog or cat, that is sometimes disobedient, but loved regardless. This is something brands should try to emulate.
Your brand or business is just like the AIBO or a pet in that it is not always able to please everybody at all times (maybe it’s not good for/with kids for example), but it does have the best intentions in mind. You can (and will) make mistakes as a business, but by managing expectations and seeming like you care, you’ll be able to turn negative events into less negative events. Sony managed consumer expectations by marketing the AIBO as a dog/pet, not a robot so people would not expect a Jetson like creature in their homes. When you brand your business, make sure you can over deliver on your promises, and when something negative pops up, make sure your customers know you care and it was not your intention to do something bad, just as it wasn’t Rufus’ intention to do something wrong.
The word “loyal” is often used in marketing to describe consumer retention rates associated with a brand or product, but when you think of the word in its truest sense, it describes a sense of faithfulness to something or someone. Moreover, what you are actually loyal to is the characteristics of either a person or a product. By itself, mayonaisse offers little to be loyal too, but add in some personality through branding, and pow, you can have people choose Hellmann’s (or Best Foods if you’re on the Left Coast) over Miracle Whip every time. There must be desirable characteristics attached to the personality of every brand for anybody to be loyal to it.
Often times, we associate the word “loyal” to dogs’ relationships with their owners. Brands should seek dog-like loyalty from their customers (not to call their customers “dogs”). The ultimate form of loyalty can be shown in the form of a true story about a dog named Hachikō.
In 1924, Professor Ueno from the University of Tokyo took in Hachikō as a pet. Every morning, Hachikō would see the Professor to the door of their home as Ueno went to work at the University; the two would later reunite at the local train station when Ueno came home from work. The duo had this routine going for one year until Ueno died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. For the next 11 years, until his death, Hachikō would show up to the train station awaiting his master at the same time, every day to no avail.
While the story is indeed sad, it is delightful to see undying loyalty actualized. The story itself warrants a few questions to be asked. Does your brand leave much to be desired? If you stopped doing what you were doing today, would people care? Would they await your return for 11 years (or 77 in dog years)? It seems like in order to be great, you have to be more than human-like as a brand. A profit generating business is the last thing you want your consumers to associate your brand with being. The next best thing is being a human-like brand. Better than that, well, you can strive to be a Hachikō-like brand.
For dogs, the quote is “man’s best friend,” for your consumer’s it should be “brand’s best friend.”
