Brands may want to establish relationships with consumers, but when do marketing efforts cross the line and become creepy? Each time they use a loyalty card, consumers know that their purchase habits are being tracked by many retailers. And many consumers appreciate receiving coupons for items they frequently purchase. Consumers generally like to receive information that makes their lives easier, such as ways to get the best use from a product. But most consumers don’t want brands, either retailer or manufacturer, to be overly intrusive in their lives. Knowing where consumers set a boundary and not crossing it is what separates good relationships from bad.

Marketing is about generating “want” and alignment with the values of the brand. All brands have to aspire to being wanted. It is the order of the natural world. Our earth is a place of change and the intrinsic attributes and value that we unconsciously place on wantedness defines the character and the outlook for that brand. To be wanted is the expression of the desire to be of value to the world.

Good grief. Our propensity for dreaming up new ways to express constant truisms will never cease to amaze. We started out with “high touch — low touch” and have evolved to “wantedness.” It’s still all about brands that deliver their promise and retailers that deliver great customer service and meet shopper needs for a segment better than anyone else geographically accessible to that shopper which, with online shopping, means anywhere in the world.

Brands have to cater to the values of their customers. In the experience and on-demand economy this is more important than ever. Remember, the idea that Millennials and Generation Z are less loyal is a myth. But what makes a consumer “loyal” has changed significantly.

Corporate social responsibility in 2017 has gone mainstream. The best ads have always been emotional. The most emotional thing a brand can do is to do good with impact. Doing good means different things to different segments of customers.

Without significant data on their customers, this kind of targeting wouldn’t be possible. Social campaigns need to mirror the values and preferences of the customer.

“Wantedness” or a higher level of engagement from a brand to its customers and vice versa may be relevant in high-involvement categories and with big-ticket items, especially lifestyle purchases such as mountain bikes, hiking gear, luxury cars, high-end fashion, premium consumer electronics and the like. It is much less relevant to FMCG because the involvement in buying shampoo or cereals is much lower.

I’m not certain I agree with the statement that not all brands or retailers can aspire to this level of engagement with consumers. When I think of iconic brands across all product lines, I think of Rolls Royce, Rolex, Ducati, Hermes, etc. These are brands that captivate “loyalists” even if those loyalists cannot afford to own those products. There are plenty of enthusiasts for these brands, and those brands are more than dedicated to their consumers. Such brands need not necessarily be luxury brands. The brand and/or retailer may signify a hobby, a personal passion or whatever for the consumer. So this aspect of a consumer not even owning the product yet still exhibiting the effects of the “wantedness” of the brand shows that any brand can aspire to this. And in some cases it can happen overnight with the power of social sentiment these days.

The idea of loyalty being a two-way-street between customers and brands is becoming increasingly important in today’s retail world. Effective marketing techniques will always be vital to a company’s bottom line. However, aspiring to a “wantedness” level of engagement with customers will both increase a business’ revenue and build brand loyalty.

In today’s digital world, reaching this level of engagement is now within reach for all retailers. Technologies such as address verification and chatbots work to personalize the shopping experience to each individual customer. Both facilitate obtaining quality customer data, which retailers can leverage to make product recommendations based on past purchases, offer coupons based on a customer’s shopping habits, and better tailor the overall experience to customer needs.

Every retailer’s wantedness list must include getting to know a customer and their unique needs, and this starts with collecting quality data.

It’s not just higher-end brands and luxury goods that need to create a level of wantedness. Commodity items, which are largely the same between brands, need it even more as a way of capturing a greater share of a business that is often driven by price. For example, toasted “O” shaped breakfast cereal made from oats and sugar are offered by dozens of brands, and are mostly identical. Why does Cheerios have more “wantedness” than dozens of others? The house brand’s primary motivator is price. But Cheerios — as evidenced in their heart-warming ad campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi — establishes a higher level of “wantedness” by appealing to a different emotional motivator that transcends price and appeals to a desire to be closer with one’s family.