Here we are again, halfway through February: Love is in the air, spring is peeking around the corner, and candy hearts are in high demand.
Brands spend all year trying to woo consumers, but what better time than Valentine’s Day to dive into how to truly win their hearts? While it all starts with having a standout product and/or service, building on that foundation with meaningful marketing and advertising strategies can take customer relationships to the next level and foster long-term loyalty. Brands that get clear on their values, communicate those values authentically to key audiences, use personalization to enhance that authenticity, and respect consumers’ privacy needs just might find their customers crushing on them like it’s night one of “The Bachelor.”
The strongest relationships are those built on trust, and trust isn’t possible when you’re trying to be someone you’re not. With 87% of shoppers reporting they have paid more for a product because it came from a brand they trusted, building trust with consumers should be paramount for brands in 2025. To earn that trust, brands must get clear on their values and communicate those values authentically to prospective consumers, through both words and actions.
“Consumer behavior is often aspirational—there’s something about your specific brand that consumers want to be a part of,” says Susan Mandell, Basis’ VP of Brand Development. “It’s crucial to understand what sets your brand apart and lean into that in meaningful ways.”
Aligning values with action is key for building lasting connections. “If you’re a brand that talks about making social change or giving back, you might embrace a model where each purchase includes an added benefit for someone or some cause—a pair of shoes or socks donated, a membership gifted, a tree planted," says Mandell. "Backing your brand’s values up with such actions can further deepen the unique relationship with your consumers.”
The reality of showing up authentically, however, is that not every brand will be every consumer’s cup of tea. By the same token, brands that try to appeal to everyone may end up not appealing to anyone at all. “The thing with authenticity is that people can smell lies,” says Mandell. “They can tell when brands are going back and forth trying to try to cater to everyone. People want what’s real and authentic, and brands that lean into that desire will be able to build trust and foster deeper connections with their audience.”
A worn-out opening line won’t do much for the date you’re trying to woo, and a generalized approach won’t win over your customers. Personalization has long been the key to a great customer experience: Nearly 90% of today’s consumers prefer personalized ads and 87% say they’re more likely to interact with ads for products they are personally interested in or searching for.
But effective personalization doesn’t mean simply changing the name of a city in ad copy or partnering with a trending content creator just because they’re trending. Instead, it can be helpful to think of personalization as an extension of brand authenticity—a way to speak to target audiences in a manner that both resonates with them and stays true to brand values.
“Knowing who you are, who you want to be, and what you stand for as a brand is critical,” says Kelly Boyle, Group VP of Client Strategy & Insights at Basis. “That foundation can then serve as a jumping-off point for personalization, which is key to fostering the types of long-term, deep connections that most brands really want.”
Once a brand understands its values and the audiences that connect with them, it can show consumers how they personally fit into its story. For auto companies, this could look like showing cars in hiking or adventure-focused scenarios for certain audience segments and urban environments for others. Or, a CPG brand might place ads alongside recipe videos on YouTube, personalizing both the creative and the placement to its target audiences’ interests and behaviors.
“So much of effective personalization comes down to understanding who your audience is, what they care about, where they spend time, and how that overlaps with your specific brand,” says Boyle. “A personalization approach that’s really going to resonate is one where it doesn’t feel obvious—where an ad just organically fits with the things a consumer cares about, and they might not even realize that it’s personalized.”
If you want a love (and/or a digital marketing strategy) that lasts, you need to focus on an approach that respects the needs and boundaries of your object of affection. And, today, data privacy is at the forefront of many audiences’ minds: More than 70% of customers surveyed in 2024 were increasingly protective of their personal information, and 64% felt that brands are reckless with their personal data. It’s clear that there’s a deficit of trust between brands and consumers when it comes to data privacy.
“Brands today are looking to connect with customers in exciting, meaningful, and privacy-friendly ways,” says Jane Frye, VP of Integrated Client Solutions at Basis. “Contextually aligning with trusted content is one powerful way to engage audiences while also respecting their privacy. Leveraging first-party data is another key strategy for accomplishing this: By analyzing behavioral insights from first-party data, brands can identify the channels and ad placements that resonate most with their customers. This allows them to personalize their approach while respecting consumer privacy.”
Indeed, building trust is not only essential for earning consumers’ hard-earned dollars and building lasting relationships with them; it’s also an important aspect of navigating increasing signal loss and privacy concerns. Using first-party data effectively is a key strategy for privacy-compliant marketing that offers valuable insights into customer needs, wants, and preferences, enabling brands to foster authentic connections. By embracing privacy-friendly marketing approaches like the use of first-party data, brands can strengthen relationships and enhance long-term brand equity with target audiences.
Just like cheese, wine, and blue jeans, strong customer relationships get better with time. For brands, then, the time to start building (or expanding upon) those relationships is now. To that end, it will be critical for them to get clear on their values, show up as their authentic selves, embrace meaningful personalization, and respect consumers’ boundaries in order to help strengthen trust across the entire customer journey. Brands that do so will not only foster stronger relationships but also position themselves for long-term loyalty and growth. And who doesn't love the sound of that?
