The wealth of options and possibilities available to us as customers at every step is incredible. In virtually every area of our consumer lives, we have to make a decision. Bread? Okay, but from which bakery? Cheeses, cold cuts… from which producers, in which supermarket? Audio equipment, restaurants, cars, furniture, hotels, clothes, gadgets… Online and offline – a multitude of possibilities everywhere.
I've recently started to observe my consumer choices more closely. When we have a favorite brand of perfume, phone, or clothes – the matter is simple. What happens when we genuinely face a choice and the offer is very rich? I’ve often caught myself reaching for certain products instinctively, without thinking. Since I've been involved in marketing for over a dozen years, I decided this couldn't be the case! I need to know what makes me choose these particular products/services/brands and not others.
Assuming that price is a very important criterion for choice, it doesn't eliminate the multitude of options. Every sector is prepared for such a filter – in given price ranges, we still have a huge selection. In virtually every case, at the product level, all brands offer more or less the same for the same price. After such an analysis, I realized how much the brand means to me – its values, its communication style, the entire world of experiences it invites me to or not, and finally, client service – the ability to build relationships. I learned from my own experience that, regardless of the industry, it’s hard to compete on price today, especially in the Polish market where the customer is a typical bargain hunter. The average Kowalski will always look at every zloty twice, but more or less consciously, their decision will be significantly influenced by everything else – trust, authority, credibility, and finally, the relationships that the brand builds with the user and its environment.
There are no good, desirable relationships without trust and credibility.
In my opinion, such a relationship cannot be built without mutual satisfaction – on the one hand, the brand and the people behind it should be satisfied with what they do, and on the other hand, the recipient, the user of the brand, should be satisfied with consuming that brand, with belonging to the world that the brand creates, with being part of a community that identifies with similar values. In the end, the customer should be satisfied with a fair transaction, a win-win in its purest form.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a group of students. I was asked to share my professional experiences. I did a little soul-searching, reached back in my memory, and organized the facts. The common denominator for my memories is satisfaction. I’ve always derived it from work, functioning in a kind of symbiosis – with my colleagues, business partners, friends, or acquaintances.
A long time ago, together with a group of friends, I produced a major event for a popular music television channel. The party was broadcast live on that channel. When I watched the dancing crowd of young people from behind the stage, I knew I had done something good, that this was what was expected of me, that these people would remember this evening for a long time. A moment later, I received an SMS from my father: "Looks great! I'm proud of you!". I didn't need any other words or forms of recognition.
Currently, at Mobile Vikings, we try to give our users satisfaction every day. Not because the network works flawlessly – that's the norm, but because of the sense of belonging to the Viking community and the guarantee that every issue will be resolved. I am greatly impressed by how much importance our users attach to the relationships they build with us. I know that for many of them, this is the primary selection criterion – we have a human face, or rather many human faces, because everyone on the team contributes their brick to building trust in the brand. We are aware of this and consciously build dialogue with the community, providing them with excellent service and support. Every email from a user thanking us for a swiftly resolved issue is the best reward.
I believe you can’t do something well if you don’t believe in it, if passion isn't behind it, if at the end of the day you don’t receive the reward of satisfaction. You can't build relationships without credibility and authenticity. If I don't believe in myself and doubt what I'm doing, how can my client believe me?
It's a cliché, but this pattern can also be applied to relationships or friendships, because we should operate with universal values. Regardless of whether we are communicating to thousands of users of our brand, to a group of friends, or to a partner, let's remember this. Amen.
Viking Bartek, Chief Marketing Officer at Mobile Vikings
