If happiness is an objective for all of us, isn’t it time marketers paid more attention to this in their strategies? Too many campaigns tell us that a brand will transform us into the people we want to be, delivering fulfillment and happiness – in other words, who you are now, is probably not good enough.

However, recent research has shown that spontaneous purchases don’t necessarily make your customer happier over the long term. A spontaneous purchase may initially be pleasing, but this quickly wears off replaced with a sense of dissatisfaction. Perhaps because the purchase caused you to break your budget, your diet, your principles or you just generally acted out of character. But anything that leaves you feeling somewhat negative, is not what you want associated with your brand.

So how do you build a brand strategy that delivers long-term brand contentment?

Stop telling your target market they need to be something that they don’t want to be.

Does your brand work to satisfy your customer’s needs (fueled by inspiration) or their wants (aspiration hungry)?

I am all for ambition and personal growth (aspiration), however, this should not be at the expense of a person’s values (status quo). Marketing campaigns that are truly aligned with the target audience will embrace both the person of today, and the person you want to be.

If a brand keeps pushing an individual to be something that doesn’t match their values and belief systems, it won’t generate contentment and resultant loyalty. Any appeal is merely short-term and ultimately requires more work and more investment to find customers and keep them satisfied.

So what are you looking for?

It is time to interrogate your market research to understand what inspires and nourishes. You will want to explore what is important to your target individual (note, not audience or market) so that you can market to an individual of ONE (and enough individuals will add up to a market of size).

Loud, brash promises of deals that are too good to be true coupled with garish colours, irritating jingles and in-your-face promotions will only have short-term appeal and are not the tools to establish brand loyalty.

Ask yourself what you need to feel satisfied and content and this will point you in the right direction. Values and emotional drivers such as self-belief, personal growth, courage, warmth, kindness, and trust are universal…make them work for your brand.

Let’s go back to the neuroscience.

There is a wealth of information available on what drives human behaviour and decision-making. Rather than simply doing what was done before or trying to be clever, invest in research that will align with your objectives and the needs of your customers (and their pre-wired brain).

Put it all together with authenticity.

Ensure that your brand pillars are truly represented in your brand execution. Too often we fall into the trap of having the right words on paper but fail to follow through. Don’t let your emotional involvement get in the way of the brand’s delivery. And when in doubt, take your latest campaign and show it to an independent person, and ask them what they see as the brand values. Their answers may just surprise you.

Ultimately if you value your target market, you want them to be happy – and you will want to be part of the journey that gets them there.