One of the most important and unmeasurable attributes of a brand is preference. We cannot always measure why we prefer one brand to another but we have specific preferences. I like Jif, Guinness, New Balance, Converse, Fossil, Apple, Android… my list could go on and on. Now our dear Sir Mix-A-lot had preference too. “I like big butts and I cannot lie…” Even his brothers can’t deny. He likes an itty bitty waste and a round thing in his face. Why? He just does. Or is there more to it?

So how do you build preference?

1. Attribute Ownership - You have to have a product or service that people want, that does something better, more conveniently, cooler, hotter, newer than anyone else. That is the entry point. You don’t have to do all of these at once. Owning one attribute is often enough to begin to build preference.
2. Living Up To and Out of the Brand Promise – If your brand promises something, it better deliver at least that much. Our world is too cynical (maybe rightly so) to lie. You get one chance to get a new customer. Two, if you’re lucky. If you can’t live up to your promise, change the promise to something you can live up to.
3. Leverage Your Brand Sneezers – If you have people who already love you, use them. Word of mouth is always the best marketing. Word of mouth comes with trust built right in. So incentivize your sneezers, give them a reason to sneeze louder and more often. The fact that Sir Mix-A-Lot brags to his friends about his preference means that they are more likely to take notice “that butt was stuffed deep in the jeans she’s wearing.” And now they can’t stop staring.

This certainly isn’t all you can do to build preference so what do you do?

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