If a brand helps you be mentally or physically healthy, do you love that brand more? Especially in corona times, this is a question that keeps entrepreneurs and marketers awake. After all, who doesn’t dream of a sustainable and healthy relationship with their stakeholders? Gutzandglory organised the very first – because of covid restrictions – edition of its Engineering Emotions Sessions on the theme of sustainable connecting under the working title “How healthy is your brand doing?”.
10 kg of potting soil for everyone
The venue for this exclusive event for – a limited number of our – customers was no dusty meeting room. The beautiful green location (a reconversion project) suited the theme perfectly. The Private Loft in Ghent turned out to be a very inspiring place indeed. On the programme: interesting lectures by top speakers, a mastermind workshop, a healthy lunch … and everyone went home with a bucket of sustainable potting soil in their hands. An original give-away to further grow all the sustainable and healthy ideas, suggestions and tips of the day.
Jane Fonda started
Sustainability and health are hot topics today, both for consumers and businesses. Covid-19 has provided another acceleration of this trend that was already going strong in the past few months. “Health has been important since Jane Fonda got us into fitness in the 1980s, ” said speaker Christophe Jauquet. He is the author of Healthusiasm, a renowned marketing book subtitled Making Customers Healthy & Happy.
Look look, a pyramid!
Brands can help consumers become a better version of themselves. In his presentation, Jauquet pulled out Maslow’s pyramid to show what companies focus on best today. After basic needs such as food and security were met, for many people it has long been about emotions. Do we feel valued? Do friends offer us what we want? According to Jauquet, today more and more people are also already looking for the next stage in the pyramid, that of aspiration. How can we become a better person? Become a better version of ourselves?
Etex understood that COVID impacted employee well-being and that action was needed to be taken. The company partnered with Oopla to organise the Etex Challenge, a series of 28-day challenges to get as many employees as possible moving around the world.
Healthier is better
Becoming a better version of yourself? Health and sustainability obviously play an important role in this. A healthier person is a better person. Some companies and organisations already deal with this in an exemplary manner. No coincidence, then, that Ageas, Etex and Stop Parkinson were invited to this event to present their cases. The speakers each highlighted a different aspect of what health and sustainability can mean.
Etex understood that COVID impacted employee well-being and that action was needed to be taken. The company partnered with Oopla to organise the Etex Challenge, a series of 28-day challenges to get as many employees as possible moving around the world.
Don't underestimate the impact of emotions
Jelle Demanet (professor UGent and HoWest) underpinned the other speakers’ stories with neuroscience. He studies how brains are put together and how we make decisions. His research – and that of others – shows that the emotional functioning of our brains – the so-called System 1 – is very important when judging brands. Emotional responses can be very powerful and even have a major impact on consumer loyalty.
What did we learn today?
Sustainable means as much as “long-term value”. To connect with your stakeholders over the long term, you must also invest in them over the long term. A sustainable connection between brand and stakeholders is only possible if you also focus on the physical and mental health of your stakeholders.
Actively contributing to a healthier world, to a healthier life of consumers, of employees, that is crucial. How do you do that? With sustainable or healthy products, services, activities. Tip: go for sustainable branding built on a purpose that is socially relevant and forms the basis for engagement. Engineering emotions for a sustainable connection. Anyone still need some potting soil?
