Intangience is the language of human connection, the science of connecting values that the best brands stand for with people who share those values.

The system developed by marketing guru and Ross Advertising CEO Ernie Ross to bring marketing campaigns such as Carib Brewery's Can You Feel It and Hold on to the Carnival campaigns to life, is now being used to educate businesses on how to strengthen their connection with the consumer.

Ross said major corporations such as Coca Cola have invested millions into establishing a connection with their customers on a value based and emotional level and as a result they have generated returns on their investment in the billions.

His methods have been published in Forbes magazine and now is available in the form of a certified masterclass on the ReThink channel on YouTube. He also conducted a course at the United Nations's University for Peace (UPeace).

The methods are centred around identifying the values shared between a customer and a brand, defining your brand to have a far-reaching message, and finding the best strategies to convey your message to the customer so that they could feel the same way about your brand and what it stands for.

In an interview with Business Day Ross said learning and utilising the intangible value of your brand is one of the key skills entrepreneurs need to learn if they want their brands to have the maximum impact on a market.

[caption id="attachment_949689" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ernie Ross lectures at the University for Peace. -[/caption]

What is intangience? It is the way brands express themselves to their customers. It is how businesses and people can connect on an emotional level with shared values – and once brands are able to master the art of intangience, they will go from a business to a brand to a household name.

“Intangible values are relative to what your brand must represent and is embodied in the product,” Ross said. “Once the value is there, which is the meaning that one has, the worth of the product, which is the price the market is willing to pay for that product, will go up.”

The language of human connection

Ross said the word intangience is a combination of intangible, as in intangible value, and science, as in the science of human connection. His philosophy is that something only has value when it holds meaning for those who seek to possess it.

He said the value that people place on any relationship can be identified as intangience – whether it is a personal relationship like a spouse or a friend or relative; or if it is an acquisition of an item like a car or a diamond ring.

In the context of marketing, brands can establish and increase the value of their brands through that connection in values.

“Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Nike – when you hear those words you think of expense, quality and luxury. You are thinking through what the brand has come to mean. They are just words but they mean something. They mean something because those brands have learned the art of how to tell the story based