In social media marketing, brands need to get personal. If this is done, strong brands will be created. Reverse branding is when a customer creates a brand with their own brand. This is critical in creating strong brands. One of the fundamental rules of social marketing is that customers and the brand must create relationships with each other.

An important marketing statistic is that 97% of all brand purchases are made on the recommendation of a friend. Only 10% of all purchases are made through traditional and old ways. Building friendships and having “friends” recommend our products is just basic and fundamental social media marketing. A large part of a marketer’s time is now spent building brands that create “friendship” with customers.

In my research, I have found an interesting development. This development is what I call reverse branding. This is when a customer creates a relationship with his brand. The brand then has a personal relationship with the customer that intensifies the brand’s presence.

There is a fundraising case for a university. They were having some success in raising money for this university for scholarship funds. The manager of this fundraising group had an idea. He created a five-minute meeting with students who had obtained scholarships thanks to the efforts of this group. These were students who would never have been able to afford college without the efforts of this fundraising group.

These were kids who had “compelling” content. These were children who came from the middle class. They had working parents who would never have been able to afford to send their children to college without the efforts of this group. These talks were a game changer for this fundraising group. The talks made their work, their brand, personal. These students created a brand with the fundraisers. They had names, they had faces, and now they existed, compared to other college students.

The talks created differentiation, positioning and a strong brand. The talks created a reverse brand. The students created a differentiated and positioned brand with their brand. End users created a brand with the brand. In this particular fundraising group, after the discussion with the students, weekly fundraising productivity increased by 400%. The reason for this is that the students were now a brand etched in the minds of the fundraisers. This brand now became personal.

Three things create a reverse brand. Customers create IMPACT with your brand. Employees see for themselves how their work benefits others.

Reverse branding creates APPRECIATION. Employees come to feel valued by end users. Although employees know intellectually that their contributions make a difference, the gratitude of end users is a powerful reminder of the value of continuous quality improvement and innovation.

Reverse branding creates EMPATHY. Employees develop a deeper understanding of end-user issues and needs, and therefore become more committed to helping them. The researchers found that when product development teams had contact with customers, they were more likely to create offers that exceeded sales and market share projections.

Dean Hambleton

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