by Masingita Mazibuko It is a sunny Sunday afternoon, clear blue skies with modest cloud cover. The open roads are calling. In the distance, there’s an unseen sound – deep, throaty, distinctive. Before long, the source rumbles into sight. It’s a throng of Harley Davidson riders, all kitted out in leather, all sitting self-assuredly on malleable leather seats. For them, biking is more than simply a means of getting from A to B; it’s a time of bonding.
It’s the evening before the launch of a new product in major cosmopolitan cities around the world – New York, Tokyo, London. Enthusiasts camp on the streets in lengthy undulating queues to secure their opportunity to be among the first to buy it. The stores are Apple outlets and the campers endure rain, snow, sun and wind in addition to uncomfortable camping gear and trashy fast food.
Clearly, both Harley Davidson and Apple offer quality products which act as the foundation on which the brands have been built.
However, are the product intrinsics the sole determinants of the Love – yes, Love – accorded them by consumers?
A fantastically intelligent friend of mine is ever at the mercy of eager men yearning for her attention. Some are suave, having mastered the art of ukushela, or courtship. Others, well, the art of courtship seems to elude them.
In my opinion, courtship is no different to what we do when we seek to recruit consumers and build their relationships with our brands. 
Now, the foundation of a relationship is based on a connection, meaning that consumer intimacy is a critical starting point in brands building a relationship. The marketer needs to ascertain the gap in consumers’ lives that needs filling, must then inform or create the experience, and the bond will be formed.
Think about the ‘Got Milk?’ campaign from the Californian Milk Board. To encourage brand/milk consumption, it highlighted the role it plays in the lives of its target audience by showing people attempting to consume dry or sticky foods without lubrication.
Going back to my friend, from the countless stories that she has shared, different emotions bring rise to different relationships. So marketers need to have clarity on what kind of emotion they want to evoke.
My friend is the independent sort with certain specificity about what she wants, so any act of courtship that involves macho tendencies irks her immensely. Conversely, an act of courtship that suggests an equal partnership is met with her favour.
Going back to brands, think of the sense of innocent freedom evoked through the purity in Disney’s movies. Or the nurturing nature of Hallmark, evidenced in every message they convey or reminder they give us of key moments in our lives. These two examples speak to a clarity of brand character, and of consistency in the emotions their marketing campaigns – acts of courtship – evoke.
Then, securing a future relationship implies relevance. To be relevant and evolve seamlessly along with consumers requires not only being in tune with the events and happenings informing their world, but a sense of simplicity in what the brand stands for.
By this I mean is the brand easy to get, especially for a non- marketer. Think ‘Oprah’ and ‘empowerment’ – she helps us find an ‘aha’ moment every time we come into contact with her be it on her TV show or magazine.
At the end of the day, however, love – personal or for a brand – can’t be faked. It has to be simple, genuine and consistent. Remember, acts of courtship often end in marriage, but that can end in divorce.
Masingita Mazibuko, marketing director at Unilever, contributes the monthly “Africa Style” column to MarkLives.com. The views expressed within this column are entirely her own.