How Small Moments Shape Brand Loyalty

The development of a brand starts with your purpose, values, identifying your differentials and attributes, and then requires you to work on your personality and expression, which you constantly need to reflect on and refresh. Staying relevant and aligning to what is undoubtedly an expression of your brand is not only vital, but is the MOST fun part of building brand equity.

Here are four brilliant examples of how brands have created activations and habits which not only show attention to detail but reinforce the emotional bond you have with them.

The first is Coca-Cola's "Friendly Twist" activation which dates back to 2014. In Colombia, Coca Cola designed special bottle caps that required two bottles to be twisted together to open, serving as an icebreaker for college freshmen to encourage conversation and connection. Students would buy a coke from a vending machine only to discover they couldn't open it without using someone else's coke lid to twist against theirs. What a fantastic way to get students speaking to each other and having fun. Coca-Cola's brand expression is about creating and sharing moments of happiness and they nailed it!

When Jake White became the coach of the Blue Bulls they hadn’t won a trophy for about 12 years and they had won 23 trophies prior to that. Jake manifested their 24th win. Everywhere you went you saw 24 – on their jerseys, in the stadium, in their change rooms, on their presentations. It was a visual brand building exercise linked to a goal and it worked! Don’t forget to build your brand visually.

When reinforcing your brand think of every touchpoint that you can use to enhance the brand experience. 'Hello Gorgeous' is what comes up when you log into Virgin Active’s Wifi, which is so on brand. The detail you can delve into for your brand goes as far as the smell in your office, the hand soap in your toilets, the coffee you serve, your verbal greeting, your email signature... the list goes on.

I listened to Steven Bartlett (Diary of a CEO) interviewing Jimmy Fallon and then sometime later the reverse took place, and Jimmy was telling his audience how Steven’s team had taken photos of him throughout their interview as well as writing down significant things he had said. After the interview they presented him with a coffee table book of these photos and the quotes. This says a lot about the Steven Bartlett brand – attention to detail, making his guests feel appreciated and special...

A brand is more than a logo, it’s the sum of every interaction, every detail and every moment of connection you and your whole team create. The little things from a unique bottle cap to a thoughtful gift, build loyalty, trust and emotional resonance over time. By designing these experiences intentionally, you don’t just communicate your brand - you make people feel it.

“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints.” - Jonah Sachs, author of Winning the Story Wars.