Your customers are having a relationship with your brand right under your nose. Do you know if it’s a strong, healthy one? Our connection with brands is much like any other relationship in our lives, with some being healthy while others are not. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for people to form codependent or dysfunctional relationships with brands. Therefore, it's essential to build strong brand relationships with your customers. Despite being legalistic trademarks, brands have become an entity, almost human-like, with which people form a personal connection. The corporate structure with its trademarks, colors, taglines, and messaging guidelines are irrelevant to customers.  What matters is the brand's presence in customers' minds, memories, thoughts, and emotions. Creating an attachment is crucial.  Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, introduced the concept of the Emotional Bank Account years ago, which can apply to these relationships customers have with your brand. Emotional Bank Accounts have positive and negative deposits in them all the time, only the assets held within are how we feel about the brand.  Just like we have these accounts with people in our lives, brands also make deposits and withdrawals in these accounts. In this episode, we explore the ideas behind these five rules and how they help you form a strong emotional bond with your customers with a robust deposit history in their emotional bank accounts, ensuring their loyalty to your brand. Here are a few key moments in the discussion: 01:29  The podcast begins with the idea of brands and what they are. 08:04  We kick off the five rules, with the first one, “Focus on emotional benefits and value to your customers, not just on product features.” 19:13  We talk about the importance of storytelling and why it matters in branding. 20:25  Ryan explains that trust is foundational to the relationship but not the place to stop and why.  23:48  We share the final rule and explain why people need practical ways to make emotional connections, not wispy, ethereal concepts that don’t mean anything in the real world.  _________________________________________________________________ Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here. Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE. Follow Colin on Twitter HERE. Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University.  To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.