Brand Rituals

Instituting a Brand Ritual by Design

A good way to think of this is "inciting ritual through design." In other words, design your product in such a way that to use it requires consumers to execute a multi-step ritual. Start by determining the emotional need you'd like your ritual to fulfill. Through qualitative and quantitative research, look carefully at how people use your product to uncover their emotional reactions. If users experience frustration, uncover the source and create a design that a) eliminates the problem, and b) viscerally delivers its positive emotional antithesis. Be sure that the emotional reward you deliver is cohesive with your product's functional benefit. For example, while "relaxed" is a positive feeling, an energy drink ritual that tries to be "relaxing" would be counterintuitive. Once you've selected your emotional end-goal, design your way there. Rituals are typically multi-step processes, so consider the different steps that yours might include. Then, design your product such that to use it physically requires completing each step. Last, formalize the process of ritual performance with clear instructions that tell your user how to use the product. This ensures that everyone performs your ritual the same way, establishing that aforementioned sense of community. Simple directives also make the ritual easier.

What are Brand Rituals

Brand ritual generates a self-reinforcing cycle of brand loyalty thanks to three powerful forces: routine, community, and trust.

High Level Examples

Corona and lime. Oreos and milk. Gatorade showers and winning coaches.

Lunchables Example

Lunchables were born when the Kraft R&D team learned that kids often discarded their pre-packed lunches not for reasons of taste, but simply because mom had made them; in essence, as a small act of rebellion. To make lunch appealing, Kraft would have to give kids a sense of control. To grant its users a small degree of autonomy (a rare privilege for young schoolchildren), designers made Lunchables more like a toolbox than a ready-to-go meal. Its components are deliberately not preassembled. To eat a Lunchables pizza, kids must open the sauce packet and pour it onto the crust, then sprinkle the cheeses (two kinds!) on top. The only instruction is a photo of the final product, because telling kids how to build their lunch would counteract the feeling of autonomy that is critical to the ritual. This ritual is visible and appealing to other kids in the cafeteria as well as empowering to the eater, delivering the community punch. And the fun, tasty lunch aligns the brand's with the kid's values created trust, which is apparent in that this billion-dollar brand is now 25 years old and well into its third generation of users.

Power of Trust

The emotional authenticity of these experiences creates trust between the brand and the consumer; the consumer feels the brand is aligned with their own values (e.g., Gatorade is aligned with the values of working hard for the win and celebrating the win).

Instituting a Brand Ritual Observationally

The process ideally involves some level of co-creation with your consumer. If you observe your users already performing a ritual with your product, acknowledge and formalize their actions in your marketing campaigns. Oreo did this with their "Twist, Lick, Dunk," and "Milk's Favorite Cookie" campaigns, which established the Oreo brand as a purveyor of experiences, not just cookies.

Power of Routine

The routine, familiar nature of rituals makes them comforting—addictively so.

Power of Community

The social bonding amongst ritual followers—when a parent shows a child how to dunk their Oreos in milk, or when teammates dump a barrel of Gatorade on their coach—creates a sense of community, and the inherent approval of others reinforces the behavior.

Swiffer Example

To use a Swiffer floor sweeper, you start by attaching a fresh cleaning sheet, and you end by removing the now-dirty sheet. These actions are unavoidable and functional. Many users probably aren't even conscious that they're performing a ritual! So where's the emotion that makes it a brand ritual? Users have no choice but to compare the cleanliness and dirtiness of the cloth before and after using it. When they notice how much dirt the tool has picked up, this ensures a sense of satisfaction (even if it's subconscious) each time they use it.