The Human Brand: How We Relate to People, Products, and Companies

Praise for The Human Brand

"This insightful book explains in simple terms why trust is at the heart of every healthy relationship not just between people, but between companies and their customers. The Human Brand will cause you to completely rethink your current approach to customer relationships, and that′s a good thing."

Tom Long, chief executive officer, MillerCoors

"The Human Brand is a brilliant synthesis of psychological science and marketing wisdom. Engaging, insightful, and deeply original, this is an essential book for every business reader."

Daniel Gilbert, author, Stumbling on Happiness, and Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

"The Human Brand is a must–read for those who want a truly evolved understanding of how to earn loyalty and create lasting relationships with customers. It′s a timely look at how modern corporations hold onto customers and how we drive them away."

Beth Comstock, chief marketing officer, General Electric

"Chris Malone has a unique talent for uncovering customer insights that challenge conventional wisdom and uncover new growth opportunities. In The Human Brand, he and Susan Fiske offer a new way to understand brands, deliver more memorable customer experiences, and drive profitable growth."

Ravi Saligram, president and chief executive officer, OfficeMax, Inc.

"Susan Fiske′s renowned work on warmth and competence explains how we unconsciously judge people and companies. The Human Brand is a must–read for anyone with an interest in why we make the choices we do."

Jennifer Aaker, coauthor, The Dragonfly Effect, and professor, Stanford University Graduate School of Business

"The Human Brand offers truly ground–breaking insights on the psychology of customer choice and loyalty, challenging us to rethink what really matters to our customers and what it takes to build strong and authentic relationships with them."

Ann Muhkerjee, chief marketing officer, Frito–Lay North America

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Back to the Future 1
Why our immediate future so strongly resembles our distant past

1 Warmth and Competence 19
The two timeless judgments that drive our behavior toward others

2 The Loyalty Test 39
Why we expect companies and brands to commit to us first

3 The Principle of Worthy Intentions 61
The simple and reliable way to demonstrate warmth and competence

4 The Price of Progress 85
How faceless commerce leads to a focus on discounts

5 Take Us to Your Leader 105
What we learn from the people behind the things we buy

6 Show Your True Colors 127
Why mistakes and crises are a golden loyalty opportunity

7 The Relationship Renaissance 151
Navigating the road ahead

Notes 169

About the Authors 185

Index 187

Chris Malone is founder and managing partner of Fidelum Partners, a research–based consulting and professional services firm that helps clients achieve sustained business growth and performance. He was chief marketing officer at Choice Hotels International and senior vice president of marketing at ARAMARK Corporation, and has held senior marketing and sales positions at Coca–Cola Company, the National Basketball Association, and Procter & Gamble. He lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and three sons.

Susan T. Fiske is Eugene Higgins Professor, Psychology and Public Affairs, at Princeton University. She investigates social cognition especially groups′ images and the emotions they create at cultural, interpersonal, and neuroscientific levels. She is author of over three hundred publications and winner of numerous scientific awards, including election to the National Academy of Science. She and her husband divide their time between Princeton and Vermont.

Winner, Business: Motivational, 2014 International Book Awards
Silver Medal Winner, Networking, 2014 Axiom Business Book Awards

Spotlights what it takes for companies and brands to earn and keep customer loyalty in the digital age.
Entrepreneur.com (selected as a Best Business Book to Get Cozy With This Fall )

This insightful book explains in simple terms why trust is at the heart of every healthy relationship not just between people, but between companies and their customers. The Human Brand will cause you to completely rethink your current approach to customer relationships, and that s a good thing.
Tom Long, chief executive officer, MillerCoors

  The Human Brand is a brilliant synthesis of psychological science and marketing wisdom. Engaging, insightful, and deeply original, this is an essential book for every business reader.
Daniel Gilbert, author, Stumbling on Happiness, and Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

  The Human Brand is a must–read for those who want a truly evolved understanding of how to earn loyalty and create lasting relationships with customers. It′s a timely look at how modern corporations hold onto customers and how we drive them away.
Beth Comstock, chief marketing officer, General Electric

Chris Malone has a unique talent for uncovering customer insights that challenge conventional wisdom and uncover new growth opportunities. In The Human Brand, he and Susan Fiskeoffer a new way to understand brands, deliver more memorable customer experiences, and drive profitable growth.     
Ravi Saligram, president and chief executive officer, OfficeMax, Inc.

Susan Fiske s renowned work on warmth and competence explains how we unconsciously judge people and companies. The Human Brand is a must–read for anyone with an interest in why we make the choices we do.
Jennifer Aaker, coauthor, The Dragonfly Effect, and professor, Stanford University Graduate School of Business

  The Human Brand offers truly ground–breaking insights on the psychology of customer choice and loyalty, challenging us to rethink what really matters to our customers and what it takes to build strong and authentic relationships with them.
Ann Muhkerjee, chief marketing officer, Frito–Lay North America

  Today s technology makes it appear as if marketing has become more complex. In fact, it hasn t especially for those brands who think and act like the shop on the corner. People s connection to what they buy, and who they buy it from, is what s important. That s been the same for generations. The challenge is in making large brands appear small. The Human Brand cuts through the complexities of marketing local in the digital age to tell the simple truth: connections are key.
Patrick Doyle, president and chief executive officer, Domino s Pizza, Inc.

How do we earn the lasting loyalty of others? Chris and Susan provide fundamental, yet powerful, insights into building relationships that matter. They challenge us to come out from behind the curtain and lead with courage, conviction and heart. Never before has the humanization of brands and leadership been so vital to success.
Jay Gould, president and chief executive officer, American Standard Brands

  By re–focusing us on the primal foundations of survival, The Human Brand takes a major, comprehensive step towards understanding the real drivers of commercial success. If you care about what ignites, engages and sustains deep, strong relationships with your brand and company, read this book.
Susan Fournier, coauthor, Consumer–Brand Relationships, and professor, Boston University School of Management

  In all the noise and all the confusion, these insights on what really matters for corporations to maintain true customer loyalty make The Human Brand invaluable.
John Williams, president and chief executive officer, Domtar Corporation

  The insights detailed in The Human Brand have completely reshaped our thinking and approach to building lasting alumni relationships and financial support.  Our resurgent alumni results in both areas are a testament to the timely and timeless value of warmth, competence and worthy intentions.
Daniel J. Curran, president, University of Dayton

Malone and Fiske offer compelling new evidence on the dangers of excess focus on short–term shareholder value.  Their anecdote–rich book is helpful for any business concerned with how to retain customer loyalty and trust in these complex times.  
Noreena Hertz, author, The Silent Takeover and Eyes Wide Open, and professor, Duisenberg School of Finance

  The important insights in The Human Brand help explain why B Corporations are able to attract the best talent and the most evangelical customers, and why they deliver lasting benefits to our society and to shareholders.
Jay Coen Gilbert, cofounder, B Lab