Automotive Industry Ranks Highest For Brand Intimacy, Chevy Performs Well.
The automotive sector has the highest average brand intimacy compared to all other industries, according to the 2017 Brand Intimacy Report, which utilizes a comprehensive model to measure and compare brand relationships between company and consumer.
Chevrolet ranked highly at #6 in the automotive industry and #16 overall. Within the industry Chevrolet also ranks #1 among millennials, also known as Generation Y. This large consumer group accounts for 29 percent of the automotive market, according to data from J.D. Power and Associates.
A Power From Within
As a representative of the GM brand you have a lot of tools at your disposal to close the sale. A program like GM Business Choice is an obvious feature of your utility belt, but you also can harness a power from within, one you might not have considered...
You have the forces of brand intimacy on your side. You can offer genuine accessories with rich features, strong warranties, and that are emblazoned with the brand markings your customers are deeply connected to. The other guys simply can't do that, and you have the first opportunity.
Measuring the Relationship
The intensity of the person-brand relationship is measured in three stages: sharing, bonding, and then fusing. Sharing is the stage where a person is informed about the brand and interact with it on a regular or semi-regular basis. Bonding is when the attachment is created, the person is committed to and trusts the brand. Fusing is the final stage, when the person and brand begin to fuse together — the identity of the person becomes linked to the brand itself.
These are the brand advocators who have grown to see the company and its products as a part of themselves. They are the people at the car shows, with signs on their walls, shirts on their backs, and multiple vehicles in the driveway.
Chevrolet stuck to industry averages for sharing and bonding, but they had a noticeably higher percent of customers in this final fusing stage. In fact, their fused percentage was higher than any of the top 10 car and truck manufacturers in the study. Higher than Ford, Toyota, and Honda, just to name a few.
How to leverage this bond
When a customer has a strong relationship with your brand they tend to prefer genuine accessories over aftermarket competition. Customers who have become linked to the brand are also willing to pay more for its products if need be.
Show your brand enthusiasts all the options available to them, or ensure they have the tools they need to research available accessories. Often times it's simply awareness that creates the barrier for entry.
You don't need to rely solely on a customer's brand intimacy to close the accessory sale either. In addition to the impalpable bonds they hold or powerful logos they may bear, GM Accessories give the customer a feature-rich product which has been designed and tested for their exact vehicle, and because of this — backed by the vehicle's factory warranty.