You’ve lost that loving feeling...

We like to think we make rational choices. That we compare the options, weigh up the benefits and make a considered decision. Sometimes we do. But think about the brands you repeatedly buy, recommend, work for or simply want to be associated with. There is usually something else going on. A feeling. Familiarity. Trust. Excitement. Belonging. Perhaps even affection. We don't just understand these brands. We feel something towards them. And that emotional connection can be incredibly powerful.

Because a well-built brand has many of the characteristics we instinctively look for in people. It has beliefs. Values. Personality. A particular way of speaking and behaving. It can be warm, rebellious, reassuring, ambitious, playful or quietly confident. And just as we're naturally drawn towards certain people, we're drawn towards brands whose characteristics resonate with something in us. They might reflect who we are, remind us of who we want to be, make us feel understood or simply create a sense that these are our kind of people. That's why two businesses can offer remarkably similar products, at similar prices, yet inspire completely different levels of attachment.

That connection matters inside a business too. A powerful brand gives people something to belong to, not simply somewhere to work. When its beliefs and personality are genuinely reflected in how the organisation behaves, it can attract people who identify with them and give teams a shared sense of what they're building together. Customers feel it through the experiences those people create. Employees see their own contribution to something bigger. One reinforces the other. And suddenly something that sounds inherently emotional becomes remarkably commercial: greater preference, loyalty, advocacy, stronger culture and more people choosing to come back.

Which is why defining the emotional dimensions of a brand shouldn't be treated as the softer side of strategy. Exploring how you want people to feel, what characteristics you want to embody, what you believe and how that should translate into behaviour can become a genuine source of distinctiveness. Products can be copied. Features can be matched. Prices can be undercut. But the relationship people build with a brand is much harder to replicate. When customers want to buy from you, talented people want to work with you and teams want to pull in the same direction, you've created more than recognition. You've created attraction. And attraction has commercial value.