Grow Your Business by Developing Relationships

There are four types of relationships that people can have with other people:

* Passion
* Intimacy
* Nostalgia
* Partnership

These are the same types of relationships that people can have with brands. It's important for a person to understand the relationship they could have with your brand, because relationships are emotional and long lasting.

Here are the descriptions of the four types of relationships:

Passion -- This type of relationship is one filled with excitement and enthusiasm. It's a strong, powerful interaction full of anticipation and satisfaction.

A primary aspect of a Passionate relationship is "newness." People will expect your brand to continually innovate to enhance their experiences.

Intimacy -- Your brand has a relationship of Intimacy if you can say to people, "Our brand knows something about you, and your needs and desires. We understand you and can fulfill your needs and desires." Intimacy is an understanding -- shared thoughts and ambitions.

If you think your brand has a relationship of Intimacy, you must be able to complete the following...

"We know you want/need _____________. Enter into a relationship with our brand, because we can fulfill your wants/needs with or by _________________."

Nostalgia -- A brand has a relationship of Nostalgia if its customers have a mixed feeling of happiness and longing evoked by past experiences.

Does your brand have a relationship of Nostalgia? If so, what's the memory that the brand conjures up?

Partnership -- When a brand has a relationship of partnership, it makes the claim that it's working side-by-side with people to enhance people's lives.

If your brand has a relationship of Partnership, how is it working side-by-side with people to achieve the same goal? And, what is that goal?

Keep in mind that the relationship your brand has with people is a feeling. If you decide your brand has a relationship of Passion, you're not going to create ads with a headline, "We have a passionate relationship with you." The goal is to get people to read your ad, visit your website and get the feeling that they can have a passionate relationship with you.

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Here's your exercise for this month.

Get a group together at your brand and decide what relationship you would like your brand to have with people. Then, review your marketing initiatives and ask yourselves, "Do I get that feeling?" If not, you must tweak your communications and website to ensure that people understand the relationship they can have with your brand.