Oprah's Secret Source of Mojo

I recently read an article about the end of the Oprah Winfrey show and the fact that other shows were going to have their work cut out to replace it in terms of broad appeal and popularity. The reason that she has been able to create such a special and enduring relationship with her audience intrigued me, and on reflection I think that the author is absolutely right.

The unique magic that Oprah brought to her show was that despite the fact that she is exceedingly rich, always beautifully turned out and mixes with celebrities on a regular basis, she manages to never alienate her audience. In fact, the exact opposite. We love her because no matter how wealthy or famous she has become, she always makes us feel like she is one of us. We all want to be on the Oprah Winfrey show or have our story taken up by Oprah or her magazine because we feel like she gets us, better than almost anyone in our lives - sometimes even our closest family and friends.

It is this sense of not just sympathy but true empathy and understanding that makes Oprah so unique. Due to her ability to make her audience feel loved and understood she has become one of the biggest brand success stories in history - because of course, she is a brand as her magazine, her show and even her store in Chicago will attest to.

Which leads me to draw a parallel here between the bond that many brands try to build between themselves and their audiences and too frequently fail to create. Why this bond fails to materialize is a conundrum that has many marketers scratching their heads because they certainly spend enough time searching for that oh so elusive 'consumer insight.

My experience has shown me that there is a fairly important difference between audience insight and audience empathy. The first tells the audience that the brand in question has ferreted out a fact about their mindset or their lives that they are now going to play back to them in a way that hopefully will make them more inclined to buy the brand or product in question.

Audience empathy on the other hand goes beyond saying to the audience that the brand has learned a little something about their lives. It demonstrates a deeper undestanding and ability to relate to what it means to be the person the brand is trying to reach and therefore has a far greater ability of really making a meaningful connection.

Clearly, not every brand is a candidate for the creation of audience empathy - sometimes we just want to know that the soda being advertised is going to be damned refreshing - but for many brands if they thought more in terms of the creation of audience empathy instead of searching for a mere consumer insight, might find that it made all the difference to their sales and success.