How are you going to refuse a starving, three-legged cat?

Posted on November 2, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

Someone said yell at a dog and they will come back, but yell at a cat and that will be the last time you see it. That doesn’t work; I have yelled and they keep coming back!

I have been trying to get pet-free since my last dog died a few years ago. Only had one mean-as-hell, very old, inside cat left to go. Since then, the mean-as-hell, very old, inside cat is still alive, and getting older and meaner, plus I have managed to add three chickens and four feral cats to the program. That is down from six feral cats, so I guess we count that as progress?

The original six started out as kittens dropped in my yard by a neighbor’s cat. That got whittled down to two when one disappeared, two moved in with neighbors down the street, and another disappeared right after I had him fixed and spent $80 on him to help his poor eyesight. (Didn’t like my choice of frames?)

Two left! Then a homeless female shows up at the food dish followed by a very skinny, three-legged male. I don’t know how he lost his lower rear leg, but he gets along fairly well without it.

I am a sucker for animals, especially for things like skinny, three-legged, feral cats! In particular, the vocal ones who speak to me, and he is a talker! Took a while but I have tamed him, and he has become a very affectionate little cat, and putting on weight.

What is this all about? (You knew this was leading somewhere?)

The lesson my cat story can teach us is this: the things that touch our hearts are the things we will spend our time and money on. What that means is customers must care about the brand, because those customers spend their time and money on what they are passionate about. I am not suggesting you cut off a leg to gain sympathy, but unless the customer develops some kind of emotional connection to your brand, it isn’t really their brand. And if it isn’t really theirs, another brand can come along that gets them to care, and it will become their brand.

I didn’t want these cats, but they have become mine because they made me care. That is easy for animals to do, I know, but brands can do this also. Two classic examples of brands that really pull this off are Harley Davidson and Apple. The question is how do we establish that emotional connection? And I am not suggesting it is easy.

HD and Apple have relationships with their customers and always have. There is a bond there. They listened when others were telling. And they responded to what they heard. Social media is a tool that brands can use to develop better hearing. Some brands are using this new tool and discovering new things about themselves and their customers. And some are trying to use it but failing, because they are still telling and not listening. Are you listening or telling? Shut up, listen – then respond.