The connection between the happiness of the individual and brand success is a relatively recent concept, but it is one that is making waves globally. The buzz around the topic is exploding, with conversations taking place — locally as well as internationally — on happiness as a goal, a brand-positioning opportunity, and, as a metric of success in marketing, political and cultural arenas.
Consequently, brand and marketing leaders are sitting up and paying attention, with a steady increase in brand positioning around — and promises to deliver — happiness to consumers and the culture in which they operate.
That happiness should be taken seriously is underlined by such august bodies at the United Nations, whose World Happiness Report published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) last year ranked the UAE at 20th among 158 countries (credibly sandwiched between the UK at 21 and Belgium at 19 and ahead of all other Arab countries).
The criteria for the rankings included gross domestic product (GDP), life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices — all considered indicators of happiness.
And, underlining the importance placed on happiness, the UAE’s first Minister of State for Happiness — Ohood Al Roumi — was appointed to spearhead the new National Programme for Happiness and Positivity, encapsulating government policies, programmes and services that promote a positive lifestyle in the community as well as putting in place a plan for the development of a happiness index to measure contentment and satisfaction.
It’s all part of a worldwide trend that also sees a link between happiness and corporate success — identifying the search for the former as a potentially game-changing opportunity to be seized upon by brands and marketing leaders to enhance a positive image.
Despite its current fashionable status, the quest for happy customers should have always been fundamental to any brand marketing. And with a focus on what customer experiences and concerns lead to happiness, while looking at quantified metrics that can reveal where this insight authentically aligns with the brand and brand experience.
Indeed, the movement around happiness should not be viewed as a trend but rather an indicator of the cultural shifts guiding people’s lifestyle choices, brand relationships and purchase decisions. These can be defined as authenticity, integrity, community, connection, consciousness and social responsibility.
It’s easy enough with big name brands such as Coca Cola having promised at various times ‘ice cold sunshine’ (in 1932), ‘things go better with Coke’ (1963) and to ‘open happiness’ (2009) — and even for local corporates such as Majid Al Futtaim with its 20th anniversary corporate branding campaign last year which could plausibly claim ‘to create great moments for everyone, everyday’ in areas such as its retail and entertainment products.
However, it is evident that some brands will be more successful in enabling happiness than others... but the key must be to move beyond campaign slogans and display meaningful behaviours that chime with the promise of any slogan.
Looking through that happiness lens, the brand manager should adopt a big picture understanding of what kind of experiences, issues, cares and concerns generate happiness among staff, customers and partners, and then align any campaigns/sustainability programmes to support actionable results.
Basically, enabling happiness will be a competitive advantage in a competitive marketplace, enabling a product to stand out from the crowd by generating that feel-good factor to generate happy consumers who will engage with, buy and evangelise a particular brand over the rest.
Stretching this theory farther, the happy gene should be implanted in every organisation looking for success.
If happy customers are generated by a great product, price and service, that final decisive factor will be brought about by a happy team.
Indeed, there are countless studies pointing to the cost-effectiveness of a happy team, where employees stay longer at their jobs, perform better, and engender a strong company culture.
Again, it’s the basics that will help in fostering this positive environment in any workplace. This will range from showing an appreciation of employees by recognising their accomplishments, with management taking the time to know their staff names, engaging with them socially, avoiding demoralising micro-management, making the workplace both a fun and creative environment, where health, wellness and community services initiatives are celebrated.
The writer is a Dubai based global brand and marketing consultant.
