I eyeballed the shirt. Bright orange. I just love orange! White logo. Looks snappy. Long sleeves. Perfect. It really will look great with my jeans. I must have it!!
Happily, I took the shirt to the counter and paid for it. It was only on my drive home that I really started thinking about why I had to have the shirt.
Now you might think it’s a big brand shirt. Nope. It’s for the gym I joined – Orangetheory®. Straight up, I’m not typically inclined to buy or wear branded shirts from businesses, since being a walking billboard isn’t my usual thing, even if I frequent them regularly. Case in point, I’d been a member of a few gyms over the years and never once felt inclined to buy any branded material from them. So what was going on here?
Brand attachment – that’s what was going on.
Brand attachment is defined by JoAnn Sciarinno as “the emotional connection between humans and brands.” It’s what makes your brand stick, and it happens when you put together these three elements:
- Affection
- Connection
- Passion
So back to Orangetheory® and my drive home, furiously connecting the dots that made me want to buy their clothes. Team sports have always been my thing and that was the first reason it appealed to me. One coach leads up to 24 people through cardio and weight training exercises, cueing and coaching along the way. I hadn’t played sports in a long time and this made me feel like I belonged to a team again. I liked it.
The bud of affection starts to grow.
Top it off with the fact that I get greeted by name and a big smile each morning when I walk in, they remember my birthday (which as cool as this is, isn’t quite so cool when they tell you that you have to do birthday burpees – but they cheer me on as I wheeze through more of them than I would like to say, and I feel good that I can still stand after…which really is the point isn’t it?) I’m encouraged by name through the workout, and if I don’t show up for a couple of weeks I usually get a Facebook message from my coach asking if I’m doing ok. Makes me feel darn good.
Affection cinched.
Some of the workouts also include partner training. One of us does one exercise until our partner tags us out, or we have to do the exercises together. That starts putting faces and names together and the connection builds. And of course there are challenges. Nothing like a little bit of competition against the other teams to see who can go the farthest, or get through the most rounds, to get you and your partner working toward a common goal. And the feeling of connection doesn’t stop there, they go even bigger. Studio celebration events, fundraisers for various charities, supporting a family at Christmas at each location, entering teams into obstacle course races, and more! They build their ties within the membership and the community.
Connected? Give me a high five!
The passion for this gym starts with the coaches. I’ve heard hundreds of times that one of the coaches bleeds orange, she loves her job so much. That kind of passion is contagious, especially when they add in individual celebrations to really encourage you to do and share your best. Did you beat the distance of your last run? Awesome! Did you row farther than you did before? You rock! First time you’ve been that weight since high school? Holy snap that’s amazing!! Let’s take a picture and share it with the world!
I love checking the feeds to see what team member has done what this week and giving them my likes and encouraging comments. It makes me feel good that they feel good. Or proud when I’m the one that’s being celebrated. I just LOVE that place! Who do I tell about it? Just about everyone!
Passion solidified.
Put it all together and there I am at the counter paying for a bright orange shirt I can’t wait to wear.
Getting your brand to stick is all about developing those three factors that create that kind of brand attachment.
Need some help developing that kind of awesome for your business? We’re the impact agency that will do it. Feel free to connect with us and book a complimentary consult today. We’d love to get your brand to stick like it never has before!