This campaign received overwhelming support and photo submissions. It highlights how to get customers to engage with the brand for a good cause, in this case by demonstrating consumer engagement with the iconic Disney ears, a form of intimacy in itself (“wearing” the brand). This effort also created a sense of shared values, pride and trust. Disney further enticed consumers with their sweepstakes and a chance to receive something special. Acknowledging the appeal, Disney also showed flexibility and consideration by doubling its donation.105
Like Disney, a preponderance of Netflix’s users are in sharing. In fact, Netflix has more customers sharing than Disney. This suggests, as with Disney, that the brand has no shortage of users entering the intimacy funnel. Despite being a new brand, they have a broad range of appeal and are also above average in bonding. Netflix is at an average rate of fusing, suggesting more success in the first two phases of intimacy. Since Netflix has fewer customers in fusing, it will be interesting to see how this evolves over time. The brand’s future looks promising, as binge watching is addictive, a quality that bodes well for leveraging the ritual archetype, a powerful intimacy driver.
Sharing is a key stage as it begins the formation of intimate feelings. This is a stage of great potential, where the relationship can prosper and grow. In this stage, consumers feel they can count on the brand to perform consistently, and often start to invest emotionally in the brand, making the relationship more of a two-way street.
In the last decade, Disney and Netflix have both invested heavily in areas that are capable of attracting new customers and strengthening bonds with existing ones. In 2012, Netflix began producing original content, and since then they’ve created countless successful TV shows and movies that are exclusively streamed on their service, which have won numerous awards. This dedication to content creation could be an attempt to create stronger bonds with their consumers, who now rely on the streaming service for more than just convenience. The exclusivity of the content is also likely to attract new subscribers who are eager to watch the new shows and movies that they can’t stream anywhere else.
Disney has done some major investing of its own, most notably in the purchases of Marvel Entertainment in 2009 and Lucas Films in 2012. Spending roughly $4 billion on each of these companies, Disney now owns even more of the most iconic franchises in the world, including Star Wars and The Avengers. Like Netflix, they’ve invested in opportunities for new content, and because it’s Disney, they’ve targeted two nostalgia gold mines. These acquisitions are probably intended to create new relationships rather than strengthen existing ones, but that doesn’t mean stronger bonds aren’t likely to form.
The automotive industry produces the most intimate brand relationships, compared to fourteen other industries researched in our study. Cars and motorcycles are among the most significant purchases consumers make. The buying process and purchase decision are made only after great consideration and study to align with one’s tastes, economic sensibilities and status/stage in life. It therefore shouldn’t come as a surprise that almost one-third of the top 20 most intimate brands are cars or motorcycles.
These results suggest the strong bonds people have with their cars and the ability of this category to connect powerfully with consumers. Many archetypes score high in this industry for the top brands, as you would expect. Fulfillment of the brand (how well it exceeds expectations, delivers superior service, quality, and efficacy) remains a top deciding factor.
A nuance to understanding the importance of car brands related to fulfillment may be the safety factor. On the road, we need to be confident that our purchases are performing reliably and dependably. The necessity for car brands to be reliable can be especially important for the bonding stage, which involves building trust between the consumer and the brand. For consumers to truly bond with a brand, they need to know they can rely on their products, especially when it comes to their safety. Whether purchasing or leasing an automobile, the choice comes with a great deal of commitment. More than with other products, consumers will invest a great deal of money and time into their relationship with their car. This makes the bonding stage especially crucial for automotive brands. Perhaps that’s why five of the top 20 brands with the highest rates of bonding are in the automotive space.
Another important aspect of automotive brand intimacy is the identity archetype. What a consumer chooses to drive speaks volumes about who they are, or, perhaps more importantly, how they see themselves. Especially with luxury brands, a car can be a clear indicator of lifestyle, status and personal values. Based on the price, size, speed, design, color, fuel-efficiency, special features, and country of origin of a car, a car can reflect a great deal about the person who owns it. In the bonding stage, acceptance and attachment are more significant, which may align well with those that identify a brand with identity.
The head to head chart contrasts a pair of similar automotive brands: BMW, the top-ranked automotive brand (#9 overall), and Mercedes (#56 overall). Both German luxury automakers are known for their quality and above-average performance across the brand intimacy archetypes of indulgence, fulfillment, and identity.
However, BMW has achieved a stronger brand intimacy quotient because more of its users have some form of intimacy with the brand (47 percent for BMW, compared to 30 percent for Mercedes), across all three stages. We can see where BMW has done a better job in connecting emotionally with its drivers and that translates to a much stronger, more intimate brand. Additionally, bonding scores increase among those 35 years and older and those making $75,000 or more.
In this stage, where the relationship between consumer and brand becomes more committed and significant, one thing BMW does is reward series 7 customers with special incentives and offers as a way to offer more to build bonds. The Ultimate Benefits program encompasses lifestyle offerings, extending the relationship beyond the automotive realm.106 BMW collaborates with premium brands to deliver luxurious experiences to their drivers. All BMW owners are entitled to these benefits, but BMW 7 series owners get access to an exclusive level of luxury services and personal attention. Benefits include access to prestigious sporting events, travel upgrades and priority restaurant reservations.107
In the meantime, has Mercedes lost its way? The brand has made committed strides after divesting itself of Chrysler and revamping its stodgy image and car design to better compete for younger buyers. Yet it still did not rank in the Top 100 Powerful Brands of 2016.108 While sales and business seem to have improved, the brand itself does not seem to be innovating or advancing compared to years past. That said, Mercedes performs better with younger consumers than it does with older ones, although BMW still outperforms Mercedes across all ages. Older users (ages 35–64) prefer BMW, and Mercedes ranks higher among men than women. Car brands seem to perform best in the middle-income areas and with older adults. In extremes of income, the prevalence of intimate car brands diminishes. This suggests the brands maintain an overall appeal that requires the broadest demographic sample to maintain their ranking and stature.
A smart approach taken by Mercedes is the fostering of their Mercedes-Benz Club of America, or MBCA, a community of 30,000 people with a passion for Mercedes-Benz—those likely to be in the bonding stages.109 Although it is not affiliated with Mercedes-Benz USA or Daimler-Benz AG, the club is sanctioned by MBUSA.110 The community offers discussions and forums for every type of Mercedes user, from Women on Wheels and Young Guns to Gullwing, SLS and AMG.
It encourages people to get together to participate in rallies and test drive new car releases. The MBUSA group of technical advisors, drivers, restorers and engineers share their knowledge with other members on various topics related to the upkeep and maintenance of their Mercedes-Benz vehicles. This continues to deepen the connections, communications and brand experiences with other like-minded users.
While both brands try to connote trust, it’s important to consider safety when reviewing stages for intimate car brands. Think of the major b
rand recalls or safety related issues that cars can have. From Toyota’s incident seven years ago, to the more recent challenges faced by Volkswagen, safety issues and product recalls can have a major impact on consumers. Brand intimacy is hard to achieve and maintain. Like bonds between people, it requires sustained efforts and continual nurturing. Scandals and mishaps, especially those related to safety, can quickly erode trust and assurance exemplified in bonding.
While both Mercedes and BMW have intimate customers who are sharing, bonding, and fusing, it is notable that BMW is stronger across all the stages than Mercedes, and has more customers who are intimate.
We chose to compare these two brands because the intensity of the bonds they form are reflective of their products and their businesses—perennially enduring, solid, and rooted in excellence. The bonding stage reflects this level of intimacy clearly. Since sharing is the most popular phase and the initial stage of intimacy, and fusing is rarer and reflects a level of intimacy that smaller quantities of consumers reach, the bonding stage is effectively the pinnacle of brand intimacy for the largest number of consumers. BMW and Mercedes are both intimate brands with strong bonds, highlighting the ability of these brands to connect powerfully with customers.
As strong as automotive brands are in our study, we see that lately, many are partnering with highly specialized niche brands to distinguish themselves in a saturated and competitive luxury vehicle market. Top-end buyers particularly appreciate these partnerships, which seek to combine rareness and quality—when something’s bespoke and not everybody knows about it. Yet niche brands are also appearing in mid-level luxury cars. Volvo contracted with Orrefors, the Swedish glassworks, to design a gear selector for its XC90 sport utility vehicle and its upcoming S90 sedan. The crystalline knob is etched with the studio’s name, along with “Sweden”—a nod to the sort of national pride that automakers like to showcase. Compared with the cost of developing an all-new model, a shrewd relationship with a small brand can efficiently shift or reinforce consumer perceptions for a car maker or provide something more distinct and limited.111
With the dramatic evolution in this category caused by technology and with trends like car sharing and autonomous driving affecting every manufacturer, creating more intimate brands may be the underlying necessity for automotive brands in the long term. This is especially true for millennial consumers, who are more willing to use self-driving vehicles and car sharing services than older generations, and three times more likely to abandon their vehicles if costs increase or impacts to the environment are lessened.112
The most desirable and powerful stage for a brand and consumer is the rare territory of fusing.
In the past, brands were eager to build loyalists—seemingly drone-like armies of passive servants obedient to the brand. As we know, the tables have turned; consumers today have more influence and impact regarding if a brand thrives or dies. However, many brands today have succeeded almost in spite of themselves. Think of the trapped loyalty that some brands have benefited from—consumers who regularly use products because they either cannot change or feel unable to justify the pain of switching. The utility companies, telecommunications, cable companies and other former monopolistic entities are typical brands with these trapped stakeholders.
So, if loyalty isn’t the best place to aim a brand’s performance, then where should it be aimed?
Fusing is the ultimate stage in an intimate relationship, where the brand is an extension of a person’s personality and values. Fusing is when a consumer and a brand are inexorably linked and co-identified. This is a very powerful stage and very significant in terms of the potential for what a brand and a person can experience. Harley Davidson is a brand with among the highest rates of fusing. Its success in building intimacy is based on the fact that its product is more than a motorcycle; it’s a lifestyle, one centered on emotional attachment and pride. This is true whether you’re an employee or a buyer, or both. Customers not only buy the product and its merchandise, they tattoo the brand’s logo on their body, they attend rallies and company sponsored events. Leveraging the powerful connection people feel to Harley, the company created The Harley Owners Group, an organization that sponsors rallies, offers special promotions and keeps Harley owners in close contact with the company and each other. Today, this group has more than 365,000 members in 940 chapters throughout the world.113 It contributes to charities the group admires, and enables both members and the brand to create a community of shared interests and activities. Harley has also started to do more traditional advertising and social efforts to broaden their audience; however, its core success has been in its ability to translate emotional attachment into a powerful community of devotees through events and merchandise.
In brand intimacy, we focus on the bonds that form between brands and consumers, and believe that all three stages of brand intimacy are more reciprocal and rewarding territories for brands and their users. When you become two halves of the same coin, you’re fusing—a blurred and blissful state of co-identification. In this powerful stage, the brand and the user are almost one and the same in terms of values, tastes, and expression. Consumers, employees, and stakeholders of fused brands are their biggest evangelists. Brands here embody the needs and desires of their most ardent users. The result is a synergistic, mutually beneficial, and unshakable bond. We believe being fused is a better form of loyalty, a new and more desirable end state for a brand.
Another example is Diet Coke, who celebrated their biggest fans by selecting over 50 fan tweets and turned them into beautiful visual representations in the real world. Partnering with illustrators, painters, sculptors, and graphic artists, Diet Coke created magazine ads, cakes, billboards, clothes, jewelry, and more, all using the adoring tweets of their biggest fans. After years of connecting with their most passionate fans through social media, Diet Coke felt they needed to return their appreciation in a big, real way, again creating reciprocity and a feeling of being co-identified.114, 115
Coca-Cola and Harley-Davidson are two brands that demonstrate the benefits of fusing. Both are iconic and quintessential brands that have thrived for decades, with a powerful and devoted following. These brands both embody emotional connection and the rewards of connecting deeply with consumers.
Coca-Cola, which ranked 23rd overall in our study and has a quotient score of 46.2, has two times its industry average of fused consumers, a testament to the bonds formed over generations and the status of the brand.
Even more impressive is how the bonds they’ve formed seem to be mainly around the combination of nostalgia and ritual—two deeply emotional and rooted archetypes that drive behavior. For those that remember the powerful advertising of Coca-Cola through decades, from the “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” display of diversity to the touching Mean Joe Greene ad, this brand has tried to become synonymous with American culture and a simple way to enjoy the moment.
Further highlighting its strength, Coca-Cola performs equally well with men and women and ranks consistently across income brackets. The only slightly concerning sign for Coca Cola is that is performs more strongly with older versus younger consumers, suggesting it may need to find more ways to engage millennials. When asked about being willing to pay 20 percent more for Coca Cola products, 17 percent of our total users agreed, 6 percent more price resilience than the category average.
As we expected, Harley-Davidson tops all automotive brands and ranks second overall in terms of fused customers at 14 percent—more than double the industry average in the automotive category (which, as we mentioned, contains one third of the top ten most intimate brands). This is a profound performance by a brand that is emotionally charged and forms strong bonds with consumers.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the intimacy stage associated with co-identification is where Harley-Davidson thrives. Their iconic bikes are an integral part of their riders’ lifestyle, and the brand name is aesthetically synonymous with leather jackets, bandanas, and handleba
r mustaches. Their customers don’t just love the brand; they become the brand, engulfed in its quintessential look and surrounded by other like-minded riders. Harley riders are perhaps more willing than any other customer to merge with their brand.
Few brands in our rankings perform as well across all the archetypes as Harley-Davidson. Only one archetype out of the six failed to score high for the brand—enhancement—and that is because it is less relevant for Harley users. This creates a profound mix of supercharged archetypes that combine to propel this brand and the bonds it creates forward.
Harley ranks strongest with men. It also ranks highest among those 35 years old and older, and performs well across all income levels. Regarding economic equity, among its fusing customers, 18 percent were willing to pay 20 percent more for Harley-Davidson products. Like Coca-Cola, Harley’s stronger performance with older consumers could potentially hurt them in the long run, as millennials are now the largest demographic in the United States.
However, Harley seems up to the challenge. They’ve recently released bikes aimed toward this younger demographic, including an electric prototype, Project LiveWire. These bikes are cheaper, smaller, and more stripped-down than traditional Harleys, because the company understands that this generation is different, valuing simplicity and design over status and flash.116
Harley has also attempted to expand their base with the “Roll Your Own” campaign, which celebrates individuality while challenging the stereotype of the typical Harley rider. Their recent focus on foreign sales has also been represented in their brand. For example, Brazilian Harley dealers serve pastries and espresso to their customers on Saturday morning, building a sense of community and showing their customers acceptance and respect.117 These additions to the Harley brand represent an invitation to new riders that builds on the loyal base of millions of baby boomers.
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