More than Turkey

Happy Friday, sippers,

How was your week?

One of my highlights this week was our Google Montreal Appreciation night, organized for the 3rd year by my colleague and friend JP Gauthier. A beautiful event where 150 leaders of the Quebec Media and Brand Building industry were serenaded by Billie du Page. The entire point of the evening? To say thank you.

Since Monday is Thanksgiving here in Canada, the focus of my week has shifted entirely to this idea of saying thanks. 

Think about the impact of true gratitude—that warm feeling you get when someone genuinely sees your worth. It's the powerful, validating sense of being seen: "I see you, and thank you."

That feeling is not passive; it's a huge emotional driver. And that is why, in branding, gratitude is an active, strategic force.

Last week, we talked about the internal discipline of triage; this week, we explore the external, emotional currency that discipline earns: loyalty driven by genuine recognition.

Most brands focus on what they want from the customer (a purchase, a click, a quote, a subscription). Strategic brands focus on what they owe the customer for their trust and time.

The Strategic Value of Brand Gratitude

Gratitude in branding is about recognizing the customer's choice as an active, deliberate investment. Loyalty programs are functional; brand gratitude is emotional. It is the differentiator that turns transactions into lifelong relationships.

Here are three ways brands can transform a personal feeling into a strategic asset:

1. Shift the Conversation from "Why Buy?" to "Thank You for Buying"

When a brand's communication is 90% product promotion and 10% customer recognition, the relationship is transactional. Gratitude reverses the power dynamic.

• The Conflict | Most brand communications (emails, social posts) are designed to exploit the customer relationship (pushing the next purchase).

• The Recognition Shift | Use content to explore the value of the customer's existing choice. A simple "Thank you for being here" campaign, or a personalized message celebrating a loyalty anniversary, reinforces that their patronage matters more than the next sale. This sustained validation is key to driving future consideration and is the ultimate "switching repellent."

2. Gratitude as a Data Point: Recognizing Effort, Not Just Dollars

Brands often tie rewards solely to spending (the functional benefit). Strategic gratitude ties recognition to engagement (the emotional investment) —showing your customer you see their worth.

• The Old Way | "Spend $100, get 10 points."

• The Gratitude Way | "Thank you for being with us for five years," or "We see you spent 1 hour and 46 minutes a day on shorts this week—thank you for giving us a slice of that precious time." By acknowledging the non-monetary effort a customer invests (their time, their attention, their advocacy), you build a deeper emotional contract.

3. Giving Thanks to the Brand Ecosystem

Gratitude must flow through the entire brand vertical, your brand ecosystem. Active recognition is the essential lubricant that keeps the whole system running smoothly.

• To Your Partners & Employees | Recognizing the people who help you deliver on your promise creates consistency. Internally at Google, programs like gThanks and gKuddos allow peers to award each other bonuses to say thank you for great work. This operationalizes recognition, showing that the company values the contribution of every player in the brand's ecosystem.

• To Your Community | Recognizing the creators and advocates who tell your story (the influencers, the early adopters) shows humility and trusts the consumer. Modern brands are built by the community, not just the company.

The Sip Takeaway:

This weekend, as you gather with family, think about the relationships you prioritize. The most powerful ones aren't based on what you ask for, but the ones you willingly give.

The strategic value of gratitude lies in making your brand less about its functional output and more about its human input. It transforms the question "What does the customer want from me?" into "What do I owe the customer for their belief in my brand?"

I am personally grateful for my partner, M, my daughters, my family, friends, and the colleagues and fellow brand builders I work with every day. 

And, of course, to all the sippers who read me every week.

Here's to a weekend of giving thanks, seeing the worth of those around us—and building powerful loyalty.

See you next week,