What do you think of when you hear the name Coca-Cola? You might think of the red can, or the fizzy feeling you get in your mouth when you drink it, or the taste of the soda, or its white script logo. All that stuff that you just thought about is Coca-Cola’s brand identity. Its logo, typeface, slogans and colors combine to create a brand identity. Without all those things, you’d likely not think of anything other than soda when you hear the name Coke.
While they sound similar, brand experience and user experience are actually quite different. Your brand extends into countless areas of your organization. It’s not just your product marketing or logo, — your brand can extend into your customer service, human resources, your website and much more.
User experience, however, is much narrower, focusing on a specific experience and how people interact with it. It can be a broad focus, like how a customer experiences and uses your website, or narrower like how they use a specific product or service. User experience can be closely tied to customer satisfaction.
Consider the following: you want to order a new video game system. So you hop online to research the latest version of the console you’d like. You use the game system manufacturer’s site to order the console, and when your gaming system arrives at your home, the package and the console itself affect your user experience. The console should be useful, fun and provide an engaging user experience. All of those things — the site, the package and the console are part of your user experience.
Taking it back to the Coke example above, the feel of the can and how easy it is to open are part of its user experience.
Your brand’s promise and the experience you provide users go hand in hand. Here are four ways you can connect the two:
What is your brand’s purpose? And how is it communicated? The brand promise should have a role in important product decisions.
Keep in mind: Is your brand fulfilling its promise to users?
You know your brand’s purpose, but do the rest of your employees? Having everyone on the same page about what your brand wants to achieve and why creates a shared purpose and helps introduce more meaning into product development and user experience.
User feedback can play a valuable role in product development. It can also tell you whether your user experience objectives are being met.
Hard data like how people use your site, mobile site and products can help inform your user experience and brand experience. Knowing this information can help you properly serve your customers.
Your brand’s user experience can set it apart. Think about the last time you had a brand meet an unmet need for you with its user experience. Maybe it was an easy way to refill and receive your prescriptions or a way to order and receive your groceries. Regardless of the experience, if it met an unmet need, you’re likely going to remember that brand. Think about brands like Netflix, Amazon or Uber. They all meet previously unmet needs with a simple, easy user experience, and as a result, people remember them.
Your brand’s user experience and brand experience work together to create a memorable experience for your customers and potential customers. Knowing what sets you apart from your competitors, using user data, and providing a user experience that is easy and meets an unmet need can help your brand stand out.
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