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The Human Brand: How We Relate to People, Products, and Companies
When marketers use terms like "personality," "character," and "manner" to describe a brand, they're more accurate than they know. Consumers everywhere describe their relationship with brands in the same deeply personal way -- we hate our banks, love our iPhones, think our cell phone carrier is out to get us, and so on. What's actually going on in our brains when we make these judgments? And what implication does it have for our branding strategy at work and our behavior as consumers?
According to Chris Malone, a former CMO and marketing consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and Susan T. Fiske, an award-winning Princeton professor of psychology, these valuations comes from two simultaneous snap judgments of "warmth" (what intentions others have towards us) and "competence" (how capable they are of carrying out those intentions). Psychologists have long known that warmth and competence establish our impression of people; Malone and Fiske teamed up to study 5,000 U.S. adults and 41 leading brands, including such icons as McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Tropicana, Hershey's, and Mercedes, to find out if we do the same things with brands. Their research indicates that we see brands the same way we automatically perceive, judge, and behave toward one another.
Based on their research and rich with insight into the implications of their finding, THE HUMAN BRAND helps readers of all kinds to rethink the conventional wisdom about brands and corporations, loyalty and resentment; to articulate their deepest-seated responses to companies and act effectively on those responses; and to inspire companies and brand owners to embrace warmth and competence consciously--before the market forces them to. THE HUMAN BRAND includes answers to fascinating questions such as: Why do customers continue to give Tylenol a pass, despite recent missteps, and cut Toyota no slack at all? What is the real reason so many customers hate banks, oil companies, and airlines; and why have those companies failed to understand how deep that hostility goes? What is the fundamental human difference between Apple - the most valuable company in the world - and its rival Amazon? Why do customers rate the Hershey bar higher after being told of the good works of the company's founder, though the product remains unchanged - and what does that mean for product and service companies of all kinds? Why do we respond so strongly to brands-in-the-flesh like entertainers, actors, and athletes? And why does building better brands require better people behind them?
Ultimately, THE HUMAN BRAND shows that successful brands and companies always put the best interests of the customers ahead of their own, and forge genuine relationships driven by worthy intentions toward customers. It is essential reading for revolutionizing how companies behave and making organizations more responsive to what people really value.
According to Chris Malone, a former CMO and marketing consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and Susan T. Fiske, an award-winning Princeton professor of psychology, these valuations comes from two simultaneous snap judgments of "warmth" (what intentions others have towards us) and "competence" (how capable they are of carrying out those intentions). Psychologists have long known that warmth and competence establish our impression of people; Malone and Fiske teamed up to study 5,000 U.S. adults and 41 leading brands, including such icons as McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Tropicana, Hershey's, and Mercedes, to find out if we do the same things with brands. Their research indicates that we see brands the same way we automatically perceive, judge, and behave toward one another.
Based on their research and rich with insight into the implications of their finding, THE HUMAN BRAND helps readers of all kinds to rethink the conventional wisdom about brands and corporations, loyalty and resentment; to articulate their deepest-seated responses to companies and act effectively on those responses; and to inspire companies and brand owners to embrace warmth and competence consciously--before the market forces them to. THE HUMAN BRAND includes answers to fascinating questions such as: Why do customers continue to give Tylenol a pass, despite recent missteps, and cut Toyota no slack at all? What is the real reason so many customers hate banks, oil companies, and airlines; and why have those companies failed to understand how deep that hostility goes? What is the fundamental human difference between Apple - the most valuable company in the world - and its rival Amazon? Why do customers rate the Hershey bar higher after being told of the good works of the company's founder, though the product remains unchanged - and what does that mean for product and service companies of all kinds? Why do we respond so strongly to brands-in-the-flesh like entertainers, actors, and athletes? And why does building better brands require better people behind them?
Ultimately, THE HUMAN BRAND shows that successful brands and companies always put the best interests of the customers ahead of their own, and forge genuine relationships driven by worthy intentions toward customers. It is essential reading for revolutionizing how companies behave and making organizations more responsive to what people really value.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
47 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 17, 2022
3.5 stars. A good book with a valuable message. It was a bit dry though and took a while to get through.
June 9, 2017
This book points out the simple tenets of treating people well and honestly asking for forgiveness when you make a mistake. It not only makes you feel good but also benefits your business. It's encouraging to see a shift in attitude towards the customer and everyone benefits because of it.
March 23, 2024
A very decent book with lots of real-world stories, but not very actionable or lacks structure that enables you to utilize this knowledge, though there are snippets of it embedded within the stories.
However, this is a nit-pick; the stories are insightful on their own.
However, this is a nit-pick; the stories are insightful on their own.
May 6, 2017
Good book on how to build a business.
April 29, 2025
Love the construct of empathy and competence.
December 18, 2013
Warmth and Competence. Competence and Warmth. Warmth. Competence. A clear and ever-reinforced message of this book on how these primary human attributions to other people and to companies as well, we see, influences our loyalty, trust, and admiration. Chris Malone and Susan Fiske, a renowned social psychologist, finely balance case studies with sound and cutting-edge scientific research to detail the role these two factors have greatly enhanced our understanding and prediction of modern marketing.
Especially interesting topics were the discussions of Domino's and how worthy intentions can foster loyalty and skyrocket sales even if a product was at one time inferior (and yes, I hate food styling!), the story of Lululemon and the role of feeling included and remembered as a customer to foster loyalty as a proxy for discount (loyalty≠repeat purchasing), and stories of apologizing at Lexus/Toyota vs. BP.
Why not 5 stars? Well, this book didn't change my life, so I guess I have strict standards. It's a very interesting piece on marketing, concise in its message, and can impart immediate knowledge to brand managers everywhere, but I don't know that this is a classic for the ages. Maybe I'm wrong, but it does bias towards more recent companies and startups (aptly so, by focusing on the Internet revolution and its impact on the marketplace), so maybe it will date itself.
Finally, while I don't know the state of research in this field, I wasn't completely sold that high competence necessarily conveys envy. Certainly this is true in an environment where I am **competing** against a competent company (say that 3x fast), but as a customer, high competence instills a feeling of efficiency, reliability and subsequent trust, but envy isn't a word that comes to mind. This is merely a label, though, and doesn't undermine the theory that competence is a base attribution and strongly affects my perceptions as a consumer.
I strongly recommend anyone curious about modern marketing and branding to pick up this quick and informative read.
Especially interesting topics were the discussions of Domino's and how worthy intentions can foster loyalty and skyrocket sales even if a product was at one time inferior (and yes, I hate food styling!), the story of Lululemon and the role of feeling included and remembered as a customer to foster loyalty as a proxy for discount (loyalty≠repeat purchasing), and stories of apologizing at Lexus/Toyota vs. BP.
Why not 5 stars? Well, this book didn't change my life, so I guess I have strict standards. It's a very interesting piece on marketing, concise in its message, and can impart immediate knowledge to brand managers everywhere, but I don't know that this is a classic for the ages. Maybe I'm wrong, but it does bias towards more recent companies and startups (aptly so, by focusing on the Internet revolution and its impact on the marketplace), so maybe it will date itself.
Finally, while I don't know the state of research in this field, I wasn't completely sold that high competence necessarily conveys envy. Certainly this is true in an environment where I am **competing** against a competent company (say that 3x fast), but as a customer, high competence instills a feeling of efficiency, reliability and subsequent trust, but envy isn't a word that comes to mind. This is merely a label, though, and doesn't undermine the theory that competence is a base attribution and strongly affects my perceptions as a consumer.
I strongly recommend anyone curious about modern marketing and branding to pick up this quick and informative read.
October 10, 2023
You know how there are books completely composing of a single idea. Well this is one of those books. Written well enough, intelligent and insightful this book manages to bring together marketing and psychology without being too scientific or specific.
Basically, if you want to be human (brand) you should aim to be both warm and competent. Communicate what you do well eg. your benefits and USPs will get you only so far unless you show some warmth along the way. Because people need to notice you to have opinion of you and they need to like before they can trust you.
So nothing new or revolutionary here. Just things you came across, tested and with plenty of examples.
If you are new to idea of emotional branding and psychology in marketing in general you will find this rather eye opening and original. If not, you might still find it insightful because when these principles of warms and competence are applied on personal level they will can help you become better communicator.
Basically, if you want to be human (brand) you should aim to be both warm and competent. Communicate what you do well eg. your benefits and USPs will get you only so far unless you show some warmth along the way. Because people need to notice you to have opinion of you and they need to like before they can trust you.
So nothing new or revolutionary here. Just things you came across, tested and with plenty of examples.
If you are new to idea of emotional branding and psychology in marketing in general you will find this rather eye opening and original. If not, you might still find it insightful because when these principles of warms and competence are applied on personal level they will can help you become better communicator.
September 24, 2014
Very insightful book with case studies that I have not encountered in other publications.
The main premise is the definition of the brand as a person – an instantaneous evaluation in a two-dimentional scale of competence and warmth.
The evaluation can be applicable to people and also to brands. Loyalty test, where brands and well-known individuals evaluated on the scale of competence and warmth give an interesting result, though, not an unexpected one ;-)
As many modern publications, the book suggests that public short-term oriented corporations will find it more difficult to be perceived as warm and authentic. This environment will give an opportunity to smaller organizations to generate loyalty and passion from consumers.
The main premise is the definition of the brand as a person – an instantaneous evaluation in a two-dimentional scale of competence and warmth.
The evaluation can be applicable to people and also to brands. Loyalty test, where brands and well-known individuals evaluated on the scale of competence and warmth give an interesting result, though, not an unexpected one ;-)
As many modern publications, the book suggests that public short-term oriented corporations will find it more difficult to be perceived as warm and authentic. This environment will give an opportunity to smaller organizations to generate loyalty and passion from consumers.
March 12, 2018
Just finished reading "The Human Brand: How We Relate to People, Products, and Companies" (2013) by Chris Malone and Susan T. Fiske. Surprisingly good book that I stumbled upon while browsing Amazon.
The book underlines why we people inherently hate banks, gas companies and telecom companies and how warmth and competence (i.e. customer loyalty) are the two most important aspect of company perception, especially when companies screw up big time. In other words, "humanizing your brand". It also describes why especially big companies can't be customer-centric.
The book uses Domino's "Pizza Turnaround" ad as an example of how brand humanizing works: by show the people behind the company face the harshest critics.
The book underlines why we people inherently hate banks, gas companies and telecom companies and how warmth and competence (i.e. customer loyalty) are the two most important aspect of company perception, especially when companies screw up big time. In other words, "humanizing your brand". It also describes why especially big companies can't be customer-centric.
The book uses Domino's "Pizza Turnaround" ad as an example of how brand humanizing works: by show the people behind the company face the harshest critics.
January 27, 2014
This book has changed the entire way I think about marketing. Disclosure: the author is a current parent at my school, and has helped us with marketing research. But even were that not the case, I would endorse this book just as strongly. Chris offers a paradigm shift by foregrounding warmth and competence as the two key dimensions of marketing from which all else flow. Incidentally, this is a great companion to Simon Sinek's START WITH WHY. Read Sinek first for the philosophical viewpoint, and then read Malone second to see how to enact this new approach to marketing.
December 14, 2014
This is one of the best business books I have read in some time. The case studies are current, and many have played out in the news - but looking at them through a lens of evaluating warmth and competency gives each a new spin. I HIGHLY recommend this.
February 20, 2014
sensible, but pretty repetitive. a quick read.
July 16, 2014
Well researched, good content liked the book.
April 25, 2015
Worth waiting, worth buying and worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews