Should brands be our friends?

Brands should not aspire to be our friends, they should aspire to be brilliant.

OK, it’s a rather simplistic soundbite, but I honestly believe that a poorly defined ambition to ‘be social’ is leading many companies to compromise the quality of their consumer experience in favour of a sort of fuzzy online matey-ness. They follow the practice of Comcast and Dell – creating a chatty Twitter feed and a down-to-earth blog – but ignore the spirit of what makes these touchpoints work: usefulness.

They’re not talk for talk’s sake. They’re friendly, and funny, and social, but their aim is not friendship or comedy or socialising, but a better consumer experience.

I coined my smug little soundbite in a conversation with the excellent Richard Gray, a strategy and change consultant for the likes of Nissan, RSA and Yell. We were brought together by Paul Squires of Imperica for his in conversation with… series, to talk about brand anthropomorphism, and it proved to be a really fruitful exploration of the potential and pitfalls of giving human characteristics to brands.

Check out the full transcript of our discussion and add your own thoughts.

Friendliness, sycophancy, usefulness, efficiency, empathy – what are your priorities for a brand and how do they intersect?

Brought into the world on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 and filed under 1000thoughts.