Robin Lickliter on the Power of Positivity in Branding

Sparks’ CXO, Robin Lickliter, recently wrote an article for Shots on the power of kindness in commerce, sharing insights from industry professionals who successfully prioritized positivity.

Read on to discover how essential generosity is for fostering brand awareness in today’s world.

The Foundational Strategy

Lickliter describes kindness and generosity as “foundational elements of an effective brand strategy.” Authenticity and genuineness are easily detectable and serve as major green flags for potential customers. People tend to be attracted towards more humane brands as opposed to corporate entities.

Here are Lickliter’s examples of successful acts of kindness integrated into marketing campaigns:

• The Happiest Hour: In partnership with Upworthy and the Cannes Can Diversity Collective, Sparks highlighted brands like Google, Mastercard and TikTok that strongly showcased effective positivity in campaigns.
  
  
• 100% Black-Owned Company campaign: This campaign by Google was designed to promote smaller Black-owned businesses by encouraging customers to shop from them, especially during the holiday season.
  
  
• WhereToSettle app: Mastercard developed this app to help Ukrainian refugees find suitable locations in Poland. The app updates frequently to improve its accuracy and reliability for those in need of resources. Watch the film below:

These examples illustrate how brands that genuinely care about their audiences can make a difference in the world while simultaneously forming customer relationships. It’s a win-win. Efforts to make a positive impact reflect your brand's character kindly, therefore boosting customer loyalty and trust. Lickliter, along with the industry leaders she cites, demonstrates that there are many ways to approach brand kindness.

A shift from a transaction-focused strategy to one centered on kindness can be transformational. By prioritizing genuinity, compassion and warmth, your brand can:

• Transform Negatives to Positives
• Amplify Consumer Engagement
• Build Authentic Connections
• Increase Long-Term Impact
• Improve Reputation

To read the article and learn more about the power of authentic branding, click here.