Even Small and Medium-Sized Businesses Can Build “Brand Power

The relationship between a brand that represents a product and its customers is no different from the relationship between one human being and another. When we evaluate a person, we often rely on three emotions: trust, love, and respect. For example, we say, “That person is trustworthy,” “That person is truly lovable,” or “That person is worthy of respect.”

These three emotions are related to one another to some extent, but in a strict sense they are independent. Trusting someone does not necessarily mean loving or respecting them. Likewise, finding someone lovable does not automatically imply respect. However, when we feel all three emotions simultaneously—trust, love, and respect—we come to regard that person as truly precious.

If even one of these emotions is missing, the relationship has limitations. Trust without love is like a year without summer—lukewarm and unsustainable. Love without trust or respect is like a car without an engine: no matter how hard you push, it cannot go far, and the relationship remains unstable. When all three emotions coexist, strong attachment forms.

Let us apply this logic to the relationship between customers and brands.

Customers may trust a brand’s quality (e.g., “I trust the quality of Samsung products”).

They may love a brand (e.g., “I really love Godiva chocolate”).

They may also respect a brand’s values or philosophy (e.g., “I respect Patagonia because I agree with its commitment to environmental protection”).

Loyalty and Advocacy: Two Outcomes of Strong Brand Relationships

When trust, love, and respect coexist in the customer–brand relationship, customers exhibit two types of behavior:

• Brand loyalty purchasing behavior
• Brand advocacy behavior

According to my research, when customers feel trust, love, and respect toward a brand, they continue to purchase it over time and actively recommend and defend it to others. Brands that achieve this state enjoy high profitability.

For this reason, companies invest heavily in cultivating these three emotions. They promote product excellence and attractive design to build trust, use emotionally engaging advertising to generate affection, and emphasize their role as advocates of socially meaningful issues or philosophies to earn respect. However, such efforts require substantial financial and human resources, making them difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises.

So how can smaller businesses foster all three emotions toward their brands?

Example 1: A Real Estate Broker’s Personal Commitment

The first example comes from my own experience in the mid-1970s, when I was looking to buy a home in Lawrence, Kansas. I was introduced to a real estate broker who, every year at the end of the year, personally delivered calendars featuring his photo and name to his clients. He would visit each home, offer Christmas greetings, and ask about their families.

This form of customer service was time-consuming and physically demanding. Seeing a successful real estate professional personally delivering calendars on cold winter evenings left a strong impression of his professional dedication. Through these calendars, customers consistently remembered his face and name and maintained positive feelings toward him.

His sincerity, effort, and strong work ethic earned him customers’ trust, affection, and respect. As a result, his customer repurchase rate approached 60%—a clear example of loyalty purchasing behavior. Moreover, when people asked for recommendations, many—including myself—enthusiastically referred him, demonstrating brand advocacy behavior.

Small business owners should pay close attention to this example. This broker overcame limitations in financial and human resources through personal commitment, effort, and sacrifice. What is particularly noteworthy is that he did not choose a convenient method of distribution; he visited customers personally, even in cold weather.

Example 2: TOMS Shoes and “One for One”

The second example is the now-legendary brand TOMS Shoes. Its founder, Blake Mycoskie, introduced the brand philosophy known as “One for One,” which simultaneously instilled trust, love, and respect in customers. He conceived this idea after seeing many children in Argentina living without shoes during a trip in 2006.

Under the “One for One” model, for every pair of shoes purchased, the company donates one pair to someone in need. TOMS shoes were not inexpensive, nor were they superior in quality or style compared to other well-known brands. Yet in the intensely competitive footwear market, TOMS achieved rapid growth despite having no obvious product differentiation.

This success was driven by customers who resonated with the brand’s values, repeatedly repurchased the products, and actively promoted the brand. The emotionally powerful “One for One” philosophy harnessed the immense force of organic social media, embedding trust, love, and respect in customers’ minds. This, in turn, generated both brand loyalty behavior and brand advocacy behavior.

Key Takeaways

From the second example, two key lessons are worth remembering:

• A distinctive and emotionally compelling brand philosophy that puts social justice into action
• The use of a simple, clear brand slogan—“One for One”—that effectively communicates the brand’s values

Through these elements, TOMS overcame limitations in financial and human resources by leveraging the power of organic social media.

Conclusion

Brand power is not reserved for large corporations. Even small and medium-sized businesses can build strong brands by cultivating trust, love, and respect through sincerity, emotional connection, and shared values.

About Choong Whan Park USC

Choong Whan Park USC is a globally respected marketing scholar, author, and thought leader whose career spans several decades and continents. Based in Los Angeles, California, he is widely known for his pioneering work in branding and consumer psychology and for his leadership as Director of the Global Branding Center.