BOOK

The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding 

BY DAVID AAKER

Learn how to guide, inspire and enable effective communication of a purpose-driven branding program.

In his book, “The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding,” branding expert, David Aaker, shows a pathway to business and social program leadership and offers five branding “must dos” to guide, inspire and enable effective communication of the program. The book includes:  

  • A thorough case for why social programs are the secret weapon to helping business leaders build stronger brands and more connected work cultures, while supporting important social causes 
  • Powerful case studies from organizations leading with exemplary social programs
  • Tools and insights for integrating social programs into the organization and business 
  • Five branding “must dos” when building signature social brands 

Download the first chapter today.  

Loved the first chapter? Order the book on Amazon.

About the Author 

David Aaker is the author of more than one hundred articles and 18 books on marketing, business strategy, and branding that have sold over one million copies. A recognized global authority on branding, he has developed concepts and methods on brand building that are used by organizations around the world. 

Connect 

Want to interview David Aaker or feature him on your next podcast? Please connect with us or David directly. 

Reach out to learn how David Aaker and Prophet can help your business create signature social programs that capture the hearts of leadership, customers, employees and brand followers.  

BOOK

The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding

BY DAVID AAKER

Read the book to learn five branding “must-dos” to guide, inspire and enable effective communication of the social purpose and program.  

Summary

Winners in the future will embrace social program leadership … or fade into irrelevance with customers, investors and employees. It’s not enough for companies to commit to reducing energy or have an ad hoc budget for grants and volunteering. The world needs the resources and agility of large businesses to address existential threats in society with imaginative and impactful programs. 

In his book, “The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding,” branding expert David Aaker shows a pathway to business social leadership that include four strategies:  

  • Employ resources to address the most pressing societal challenges – like climate change and identity inequalities 
  • Create impactful, inspiring, and mission-driven signature social programs that will help business leaders build brands that are more relevant and purpose-driven as well as impact important social challenges 
  • Integrate the signature social programs into the business to bolster the organization’s brand as a mission-driven enterprise that is “doing good”
  • Create and manage a portfolio of signature social brands that inspire, engage and communicate with passion and clarity by using the five branding “must-dos” 

Highlights 

  • A thorough case for why social programs are the secret weapon to helping business leaders build stronger brands and more connected work cultures while supporting important social causes 
  • Powerful case studies from organizations leading with exemplary social programs 
  • Tools and insights for integrating social programs into the organization and business 
  • Five branding “must-dos” when building signature social brands 

Take a sneak peek and read the first chapter here.

Endorsements

“David Aaker, the branding guru, shows how to leverage signature social programs using vivid case studies. Integrating the social program into the business creates a win-win infinity loop.  ‘The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding’ is a must-read book for the purpose era.”

Joe Tripodi 
Former CMO at Coca-Cola, Allstate and MasterCard

“Every company should adopt a social cause beyond profit-making. Aaker has written the perfect book to help you find that cause and build a unique program and brand that makes a difference.”

Phil Kotler
The Father of Modern Marketing

“This is a roadmap for nonprofits who want to build an inspiring brand and attract active business partners. The five branding “must dos” are game-changing.”

Eve Birge
Exec Director, White Pony Express, “All of Us Taking Care of All of Us”

 

About the Author 

David Aaker is the author of more than one hundred articles and 18 books on marketing, business strategy and branding that have sold over one million copies. A recognized global authority on branding, he has developed concepts and methods of brand building that are used by organizations around the world. 

Connect 

Want to interview David Aaker or feature him on your next podcast? Please connect with us or David directly. Reach out to learn how David and Prophet can help your business create signature social programs that capture the hearts of leadership, customers, employees and brand followers.  

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Naming in Today’s White-Hot M&A Environment  

Learn the five best practices to get M&A naming right.

Despite the uncertainty of the global pandemic and recessionary outlook, M&A activity continues to surge across all industries, with a record $2.9 trillion in transactions in 2021, and 2022 is expected to be even bigger. While not every deal requires naming, the large transformation deals do. In these cases, a new name is the most visible, symbolic and longest-lasting M&A decision. It’s an opportunity to start fresh and signal unity to employees and customers alike. But shockingly, many companies still get it wrong. 

Getting to a great name in these fast-paced environments requires significant care and attention. What sometimes starts out as “let’s brainstorm and come up with something cool,” can often turn into a highly emotional, intensely subjective process that can create leadership friction and decision-making paralysis, ultimately delaying a brand’s launch.  

Following are five best practices to get M&A naming right.

1. M&A naming is not a democracy. 

Since naming a new enterprise is something many executives experience just once in their careers, many leaders don’t want to make the decision alone. So, they invite stakeholders from every angle to weigh in. However, there will likely already be numerous decision-making voices at the table—including multiple CEOs, private equity partners, other investors or board members. In these multi-stakeholder environments, we believe the decision-making body should be kept to the right balance of as few executives as possible, but as many as necessary, with focused participation early in the process (yes, even CEOs).  

Despite the perception that naming is a fun, creative exercise, the reality is that it’s a high-stakes, emotional decision that will carry your organization into the next several years, and maybe even the next several decades. With this in mind, getting lean on the decision-making team, and ensuring they’re active participants from the very beginning, will lead to a more successful outcome.   

We also recommend that clients resist the temptation to test name candidates with employees—while inclusion is a noble goal, this step gives employees a voice in the decision, rather than treating them as an audience we want to inspire with our ultimate reveal.  

2. The name you want is probably taken, but there’s a better name out there that isn’t. 

This one is a tough pill to swallow. But with most M&A deals being highly global, getting a name to clear across many trademark classes and geographies requires deep, divergent thinking. Yes, ‘Mosaic’ is taken. No, you cannot have the name ‘Fountain’. ‘Iris’ does indeed tell an intuitive metaphorical story, but four other organizations already beat you to it!  

While we wish it was easy enough to just call the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and ask for an exception, unfortunately, it’s not. But by exhausting creative exploration, you can uncover an adjacent or new idea that tells an even richer story. Sometimes that means you’ll get lucky with a simple, metaphorical real word that isn’t yet taken. Sometimes it’s about coining a gettable, “sticky” new word, and sometimes it takes getting comfortable with an idea that is more abstract—and more ownable. With an estimated 213 million companies in the world, naming isn’t just a creative game. It’s also a numbers game. And arriving at an answer that is inspired, strategic and viable requires diligence, objectivity and a willingness to push past your comfort zone. 

3. Every name has varying degrees of legal risk—but not every risk is a deal breaker.  

To add on to point #2, almost any name you consider will have some degree of risk associated. No name is ever given an ‘all clear,’ so getting legal involved early on can help you understand what degree of risk your organization is willing to take on, which will then influence the types of names explored. What’s more, different legal teams may employ different legal strategies to pursue or secure a name, from acquiring a mark to petitioning for co-usage with another party.  

When Google launched Alphabet, even an enterprise of their size and influence couldn’t clear the pure URL of alphabet.com or secure the pure ‘alphabet’ social handles, which were currently being used by other organizations with the same name, including a division of BMW. But Google believed Alphabet was the name that best represented the story they wanted to tell, so they went to market understanding there were legal risks associated with that name and launched with another URL—the very clever www.abc.xyz. All to say, legal baggage associated with your favorite names can be investigated and often worked around, as long as you have legal embedded in your process from the very beginning. 

4. Fast-paced M&A deadlines can work in favor of a successful naming outcome.  

With all the critical decision points and process gates leading to deal closings and ultimately a new brand launch, getting a name identified, cleared, designed and launched can feel like a daunting process. At Prophet, we believe sticking to an objective process and adhering to a thoughtful naming brief as the source of truth enables teams to use time pressure in a way that works in their favor. Having less time can actually be the forcing function teams need to evaluate ideas objectively, leave emotion and biases at the door and make quick, but meaningful decisions. When there is no time to second guess or decide by consensus, teams often trust their guts and arrive at impactful answers. 

5. And finally, remember that a name is a powerful asset—but not the only asset. 

Although we always say your name is your most visible asset, it is not your only asset. This is especially important in M&A environments, where there are multiple parties coming together under a shared value proposition that is oftentimes broader and more aspirational than their previous strategies or stories. While the name can certainly signal part of this new experience, it cannot tell the complete story on its own. We help clients see their name in the context of other strategic levers, like the promise they make to their customers, their visual language, or the experiences they aim to create.  


FINAL THOUGHTS

Naming in M&A environments poses its own challenges but launching a new brand at this scale and on the global stage—and doing so with a name you feel confident in and inspired by—is a deeply rewarding experience.  

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Three Ways Brands Drive Value in Turbulent Times 

Companies often want to cut back brand marketing during recessions. It’s a mistake. 

Buckle up, brand marketers. While a recession is by no means certain, it’s clear that the markets are unsettled. As consumers cut back on their spending, layoffs start and revenues slow, jittery leadership will begin to look for ways to slash spending. Brand marketing budgets are often high on the list. 

However, that’s a mistake. A well-built portfolio of brands is critical in a recession–or even just a downturn. Healthy brands generate more trust, they’re more in demand and have more resilience and strong brands retain customers, even in the face of lower-priced alternatives. In fact, in past downturns, companies that held marketing budgets steady or increased them bounced back best, reports the Harvard Business Review

For example, Reckitt Benckiser increased marketing spending by 25% during the 2008 financial crisis, as rivals trimmed their budgets. With a larger share of voice, the UK-based consumer goods company saw revenues gain 8%, and profits rose 14%. Most of its competitors posted profit declines of 10% or more. 

The 2021 Prophet Brand Relevance Index® (BRI), which was fielded in late 2020 during the pandemic and a period of high market uncertainty, proved this point. . As obvious as it seems in hindsight, consumers flock to names they trust in times of instability. They’re less inclined to take risks, and trust is significant to them. 

In the 2021 BRI, the average relevance score of the top brands jumped 5%. In other words, in a time of uncertainty, these leading brands became more relevant than they had been in times of relative calm.  

Strong brands allow companies to justify and maintain pricing power because consumers understand the value equation. Products from companies like Apple, KitchenAid, Dyson, Bose and USAA on the whole cost more than competitors. But because consumers appreciate their value, they are willing to pay more. 

That advantage holds for B2B companies as well. When selling through intermediaries, B2B firms that deliver greater value can retain a negotiation advantage with channel partners. Weak brands have less leverage and are easier to squeeze. 

An economic downturn may mean fewer people are spending on a given category, reducing the size of the pie. But strong brands get to take a bigger bite. Here are three ways to protect and build brand value, even in stormy economic periods: 

1. Strengthen the Brand’s Foundation 

Strong brands, often with a years-long history of consistent investment, already have a robust foundation. Brand equity stems from clarity of purpose. These brands know what they promise and how to deliver on that promise in the market. That clarity of purpose ensures an efficient spending of dollars. 

Even companies that believe they’ve adequately defined their brand’s purpose need to take a closer look, finding new ways to sharpen, deepen and extend that focus. Purpose–the reason a brand exists in the world– should be clear internally. And it should shine through to customers in every offer, channel and message. 

This is also a great opportunity to lean into the stakeholder networks. With a well-defined purpose, it’s easier to ask key stakeholders–customers, employees, investors, influencers and community members– to step in and act as brand ambassadors. They can amplify a brand’s voice and purpose. Because trust matters so much more right now, word-of-mouth endorsements carry even more resonance. 

2. Make Sure the Story of Value is Clear  

While this is most evident in B2B marketing, it’s just as important when dealing with consumers. People are worried about money, especially with inflation and interest rates rising. There’s an increased focus on the value equation of their purchases. They want to understand all the trade-offs they make between price and quality.  

Customers have a lower tolerance for confusion. This is a moment for marketers to be exquisitely clear about the value in each part of their portfolio. It’s too much to expect people to confront a number of brands and sub-brands and understand why they are priced or marketed differently. Spell out precisely what they get by trading up or down within the portfolio.  

3. Stay Nimble, Rebalancing Brand and Demand Investments 

Agility is important. Marketers should be having earnest internal debates about how and whether to rebalance spending between brand and demand marketing.  

Brand marketers will–and should–argue it’s an important time to continue building trust and equity. Demand marketers, as well as financial leaders watching revenue trends most closely, will want to focus more on driving immediate sales. Our latest research, Brand and Demand Marketing: A Love Story shows that brand and demand marketers must find ways to work together – and those that do are able to deliver better outcomes that are tied to the overall business goals. Everyone wants to ensure they are the brand chosen at the end of people’s purchase decision. 

We’re betting that a year from now, CMOs will have plenty to say about how they’ve threaded this needle and which investments yielded the best results. But right now, brand and demand need to work in tandem, more closely than they have in the past. 

Strong brands can be confident that they’ll continue to lead the way, delivering the innovations that matter most to consumers. 


FINAL THOUGHTS

As economic conditions continue to soften, brand marketers should brace themselves to defend budgets–even if the U.S. enters a recession. And they should take steps to ensure those brand investments. By shoring up brand purpose, clarifying each offer’s value, tapping stakeholders’ networks and carefully considering the balance of brand and demand marketing, they can keep brands strong through every downturn and in the next cycle of recovery.  

Get in touch with our team today to help make the case to your board and executive leadership team on the value of investing in your brand during uncertain market conditions.  

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Brand-Building in the Metaverse: A Marketer’s Guide 

Understanding how this next frontier will redefine the relationship between brands and consumers.

It’s hard to have a conversation about technology these days without hearing the terms blockchain, Web 3.0, NFT, decentralization or Metaverse. These concepts are undoubtedly the building blocks of the next generation of the Internet – but as a marketing or innovation expert, what exactly should you be considering?  

Below, we provide our thoughts on how this next frontier will redefine the relationship between brands and consumers – and how brands can position themselves to win. Brands must be clear on their “why” (strategic objectives) as well as their “what” (experience value proposition and activation strategy). 

What is the Metaverse and Web 3.0? 

First a simple explanation of what the Metaverse and Web 3.0 are. Web 2.0 is built on contribution, interactivity, collaboration and social media. However, whoever controls the data on their “centralized server” has access to a lot of information.  

This imbalance is what Web 3.0 is trying to solve. Web 3.0 is a space where people operate on decentralized platforms. This means moving away from the big tech giants and intermediaries and shifting towards democratized, collective governance. The users create the content! 

We are at the beginning of the Metaverse. There are still a lot of limitations including visual, user experience, commercial infrastructure and sustainability considerations. However, brands are already out there on the Sandbox, Decentraland, or other platforms, exploring unique value propositions to offer to users and their consumers.  

Is Your Company Leveraging the Metaverse to Elevate Your Brand? 

In the Metaverse, consumer brands will continue to enable commerce, interactions and experiences for people. Brands must think about how they will engage with customers in this new world. What will their needs be? What will touchpoints–including marketing and sales channels–look like? What are the limitations, or rather, the possibilities of what a brand can stand for in the Metaverse? How should marketing campaigns be launched to attract the target audience?  

We found that brands that have invested in the Metaverse follow five key trends, which reflect a wide breadth of opportunities for marketers: 

  1. Broadcast: increase brand awareness through large live events
  2. Engage: drive consumer engagement by creating communities and immersive experiences, especially younger demographics
  3. Advocate: engage loyal customers with exclusive offerings 
  4. Inform: create gamified, interactive education on their products and services
  5. Sale: launch virtual offerings and explore new business models  

The Metaverse offers a novel and uninhibited space for brands to test and learn. Because of this, brands are eagerly diving in, testing the waters and making a splash with bold moves. However, the Metaverse is far from merely a new touchpoint/channel/platform for marketing activation. Eventually, it will redefine the entire world brands operate in.  

Marketers need to maintain a long-term perspective as they consider brand building in the Metaverse:   

1. Bolstered and Enriched Brand Promise and Equities 

Entering the Metaverse does not mean starting over. A strong brand in the physical world can focus on bolstering its image in the Metaverse by reinforcing its message, amplifying its reach and innovating new ways to delight customers.  

Because the Metaverse also offers a fundamentally different way for consumers to experience the world, brands should seize the opportunity, which offers them the ability to explore how their existing equities can be reimagined in a new space and in a holistic and multidimensional way. Entering the Metaverse can unleashes new possibilities for both themselves and their customers.   

For instance, Nike created the virtual world, Nikeland, on Roblox’s online gaming platform. Nikeland is complete with customizable avatars, Nike headquarters buildings, mini-games and apparel. It builds on the brand’s mission to create immersive and engaging communities that offer a personalized experience for every user.  

Louis Vuitton, one of the most storied brands in the fashion industry, has embraced digital transformation in the Web 2.0 world with a successful omnichannel approach. In the Metaverse, LV has continued to stay at the front of the pack by launching the mobile game “Louis: The Game” to commemorate the 200th birthday of its founder. In the game, players can explore six different Metaverse worlds while learning about LV’s history, earning virtual branded memorabilia and even collecting in-game only NFTs. The game allows the brand to honor its deep heritage and timeless legacy in an entirely new way that enriches the customer experience and deepens their connection to the brand. 

2. Multi-Sensorial and Immersive Branded Experience 

Regardless of which approach you choose to take, the Metaverse has meaningful implications on how a brand comes to life visually. Nike extends its signature curve of the Swoosh into the Nikeland with a bright and dynamic color palette. LV applies its iconic emblem to the character and landscape designs of “Louis: The Game.” These robust visual assets have made their Metaverse experiences stand out among the others.  

However, in the Metaverse, establishing a brand using logos, typography and color palettes alone is not enough. Current brand identities and visual systems are largely made for two-dimensional usage, but the Metaverse requires us to expand our thinking and create brands that are conversational, multidimensional and multi-sensorial. Brands need to create meaningful interactions to immerse the users and reward their visit. 

How does a brand express itself through aspects such as dimension, motion, sound, touch and conversation? How can a brand build towards a holistic identity that is not just an eye-catching way to create buzz, but rather a lasting way to reinforce what it stands for and position itself for long-term growth? These are the important questions brands must consider while entering the Metaverse. 

Think About Your Metaverse Strategy Today 

Whether you’re a skeptic or an evangelist, there is no doubt that the Metaverse will create an unprecedented shift in how consumers and brands interact. As Web 3.0 technologies continue to develop and companies race to build our future virtual world, brands must think about how they will show up and how they will engage their customers in the marketplace of tomorrow. Traditional and digitally native brands alike have an opportunity to redefine themselves in the hearts and minds – and screens – of their consumers.  

As a wrap up, these are the questions brands must be able to answer: 

  1. Your target audience: Who is hanging out there? 
  2. Your business outcome: What are your strategic objectives? 
  3. Your experience value proposition: What do you do there? 
  4. Your campaign strategy: How to activate and engage your audience?
  5. Your costs: What costs do you need to have in mind?  

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Metaverse is like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona; it will take a while to complete. But we have strong convictions on how to be successful in the Metaverse. Stay tuned for our next articles that address these points in more detail.

Schedule a conversation with our digital practice today to discuss how your brand can be set up to win.

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Demystifying Today’s Confusion Around Brand Purpose and Social Impact

Both brand purpose and ESG strategy are important to build a relevant brand, but they do not have to be one and the same.  

The idea of brand purpose is not new. For years Prophet has helped clients fuel business growth by defining their purpose – an evergreen and inspirational North Star that articulates the core business strategy and guides internal and external audiences by answering two key questions: What do we believe? And why do we exist? While brand purpose has long been a critical first step in building and maintaining brand relevance, today, it has become a highly discussed and often misunderstood catchphrase.

A recent “Wall Street Journal” article investigated “the brands-with-purpose strategy,” questioning Unilever’s decision to assign each of its 400 brands a socially or environmentally focused purpose. As purpose continues to rise to the top of brand builders’ “to do” lists, these conversations illustrate a growing misconception: Purpose is being conflated with social or environmental impact. While it’s true that purpose and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies are both critical to building a relevant brand, not all brands’ core reasons for existing can or should be centered around social or environmental impact. 

Brand Purpose and Its History

Over the last century, in the first iteration of purpose, brands often focused on signaling strength and building employees’ and shareholders’ confidence. Under legendary CEO Jack Welch in the 1980s, General Electric existed “to be the world’s most valuable company.” Brands formed consumer relationships through one-way mass media communication, and consumers had more transactional expectations of brands, so many brands anchored their purpose (or mission, as they were often called) around a strong product portfolio, optimized operations and a healthy balance sheet that resonated primarily with shareholders. This is no longer a viable option.

In today’s world of unprecedented access to data and elevated customer expectations, brands have an ability – and indeed a responsibility – to speak directly to the needs and motivations of consumers. McDonald’s falls squarely in this realm. The fast-food giant exists “to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone.” With a focus on the customer, the brand is built around taste, happiness, ease and accessibility. Many brands today successfully anchor their purpose around the key impact they make in customers’ lives, even as they implement strong and cohesive ESG strategies.

Over the past two years, the pandemic, social justice movements, political polarization and climate crisis have accelerated the transition to the next stage of brand purpose. In this environment, consumers are more socially- and environmentally-minded than ever before and, thus, a socially- or environmentally-oriented purpose can be a viable strategy.

For those brands attempting to build relevance by elevating social or environmental impact into their purpose, two key considerations can help ensure authenticity and avoid accusations of virtue signaling or greenwashing – creating an authentic connection between the business model and social or environmental impact and taking meaningful action to back up the brand’s purpose.

Create an Authentic Connection Between the Business Model and Social or Environmental Impact

The closer the inherent connection between the business model and the social or environmental impact at hand, the more authentic the purpose becomes. Patagonia’s dedication to climate protection, for example, is a natural fit with its outdoorsy audience. Tesla’s quest “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” aligns with the gas-free cars it produces. Oat milk brand Oatly exists “to make it easy for people to turn what they eat and drink into personal moments of healthy joy without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the process.” As an oat-based milk provider, Oatly can credibly deliver against this purpose simply by continuing to produce oat milk over dairy or almond milk.

Take Meaningful Action to Back up a Brand’s Purpose

Brands must also consistently take real, substantial action to bring their purpose to life. Oatly backs up its purpose with actions like opting to include its environmental impact statistics on the back of its packaging and leading a campaign to encourage lawmakers to require all food producers do the same. Some of Unilever’s brands including Ben & Jerry’s and Dove have been able to authentically build social impact into their purpose through true dedication, as evidenced by in-market moves over many years. Including their recent move to go as far as to sue their parent company “to protect the brand and social integrity Ben & Jerry’s has spent decades building.”

The idea that brand purpose must always be focused on social or environmental impact is a misconception. It is neither authentic nor prudent for every brand to integrate social or environmental impact into its purpose, and many brands with strong ESG strategies do not articulate social or environmental impact as part of why they exist.

Warby Parker, for example, investigated what mattered most to its customers and decided to focus its purpose on style, fit, value and the buying experience – needs that its customers valued more than the brand’s ESG commitment to donate a pair of glasses for every pair purchased. The beloved direct-to-consumer glasses and contacts brand exists today because they “believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket.” While its “buy a pair, give a pair” ESG strategy continues to be a critical driver of employee recruitment and retention, its purpose centers on the key impact it makes in consumers’ lives.

Purpose is the North Star – It’s Not the Whole Universe.

Purpose does not – and should not – provide all the critical elements of a strong brand strategy. A purpose must be brought to life through everything the brand does – internally, by whom it hires, how it supports its employees and how it recognizes the values it stands for, and externally, by the promise it makes to deliver value for customers, the way it portrays itself through its promotional marketing, and, yes, its ESG strategy.

Hellmann’s mayonnaise appears to be following in the footsteps of Ben & Jerry’s and Dove, after integrating an explicit emphasis on social impact into its purpose a few years ago. The condiment brand appears to have an authentic dedication to fighting food waste and is determined to build its brand about this social impact. Additionally, Hellmann’s focused on this food waste initiative explicitly and exclusively in this year’s Super Bowl commercial.

If it continues to consistently live up to this purpose through its actions as well as its advertising, it can create a relevant brand that could differentiate it from the competition – as long as it also continues to relentlessly reinforce its core promise to deliver the best tasting mayonnaise on the shelf. Though the Super Bowl commercial focused entirely on fighting food waste, its tagline “Make taste, not waste” indicates that Hellmann’s is on the right track to creating a relevant brand purpose by balancing consumer benefit and social impact.


FINAL THOUGHTS

Many relevant brands build their purposes around a dedication to making an impact in customers’ lives and maintain a strong ESG strategy that dovetails with this overarching purpose. Those brands who do opt to explicitly integrate a social or environmental impact into their purposes must create a coherent connection to the business model and deliver sustained moves in-market to remain relevant and authentic. 

Ready to understand what role social or environmental impact should play in your brand and organization?

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Three Ways Leading BRI Brands Stay Top of Mind for Consumers 

Three things head brands do well to fulfill consumers’ fundamental needs and become an everyday go-to

Each year Prophet asks more than 13,500 U.S. consumers about the brands that matter most in their lives. We codify our findings in the Prophet Brand Relevance Index® (BRI), a tool to help companies understand the significance of relevance and how it can be harnessed to unlock growth. The 2022 BRI revealed the highly coveted group of relentlessly relevant standouts—brands that resonate by appealing directly to our heads and hearts. 

But some brands stand out because they appeal to our practical nature above all else. They’re the brands we rely on day after day—to help us problem solve, check off our to-do lists and keep our lives running smoothly. Brands that rank highly in our head category build relevance with consumers by reinforcing promises with performance and enabling autonomy.  

In addition to our overall BRI ranking, we have identified the top brands that speak directly to consumers’ heads.  

While top performers among head rankings excel at making the best products, delivering consistent experiences, and meeting important needs, among other attributes, we discovered three additional things head brands do exceptionally well to fulfill consumers’ fundamental needs and become an everyday go-to.  

1. Pursue Partnerships with Industry Leaders  

Top-performing head brands reinforce their positioning as a trustworthy, reliable solution by pursuing authentic partnerships with leaders in the space. Zelle (#9 in head rankings) enables easy, real-time transfers between hundreds of trusted yet “traditional” banks that have yet to get on the digital bandwagon. The Costco Next (#24 in head rankings) loyalty program allows members to purchase products directly from “hand-picked” suppliers. Brands like these take steps to surround themselves with trusted organizations and consequently appear legitimate to consumers when guaranteeing a job well done. 

Clorox (#65 in overall BRI rankings, #14 in head rankings) does this especially well. The leading cleaning brand appealed to consumers as a necessity for keeping our homes clean and safe early during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite already offering household products with medical-grade certifications, the brand seized the opportunity to partner with hospital systems to stock their inventories and pledged multi-million-dollar donations to those working on the front lines. These extra steps helped position a brand already known for quality cleaning products as an active part of the solution. Clorox successfully bridged the gap between health and wellness and household maintenance, becoming a fixture in under-the-sink cabinets across the nation. 

2. Simplify Complex Tasks 

High-ranking head brands provide clear, easy solutions to complicated problems, giving consumers a sense of control and ownership. They understand daily errands can be time-consuming, confusing, and frustrating. So, they tackle these common tasks with enthusiasm—providing streamlined, accessible, convenient, customizable experiences, to keep things functioning. While brands like InstantPot, Tide, and CashApp have reinvented the way we cook, do laundry, and split the bill, one brand stood out for its ability to make one of the least flashy annual to-dos somewhat enjoyable.  

Filing taxes–it’s one of the most important interactions we have with the government each year, and yet it often leaves consumers feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and frankly, bored. Yet, enter TurboTax (#70 in BRI Rankings, #7 in head rankings), a tax preparation software that has succeeded because it was the first to solve such a tedious process, streamlining the many stages of filing traditional paper tax returns. TurboTax’s software relies on a recall method, prompting users at each step of the process to claim additional deductions or list additional work, eliminating human error associated with the process. Its partnerships with top investment brands and banks also mean consumers’ information can securely and automatically be uploaded into the return, with the click of a button. Customers can even input documents on their own time, as opposed to setting up a meeting with a traditional accountant. These innovative fixes help TurboTax remain relevant as the best-selling tax preparation software and take some of the sting out of filing taxes, which consumers are greatly appreciative of.  

3. Raise the Standard by Defining Your Own Grade of Excellence  

Many highly-rated head brands design trademarkable technologies to integrate with all their products. These brands underpin dependability with high-performing, trademarked technology and consequently reinforce their reputations as trustworthy, reliable options by championing it. Unsurprisingly, many automotive brands appear among BRI rankings– Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda—no matter how luxurious or basic, eco-friendly or gas-guzzling, cars are an integral part of life. At any point in time, they can be filled with kids, groceries, suitcases, camping gear, moving boxes, empty coffee cups, and memories. So, we rely on them to get us from A to B as safely as possible.  

Toyota (#23 in BRI rankings, #16 in head rankings), known for manufacturing top-notch vehicles with reliable performance, positions its cars as “built to last, created to perform and designed for life.” Similarly, Honda (#30 in BRI rankings, #22 in head rankings) rose to the top of the head category due to its cars’ long-term dependability. With products that consistently rank among the best energy-efficient options, rarely break down, and consider safety from the beginning, the brands could solely rely on their performance to make sales. Instead, both brands continue to innovate new driver-assistive technology and redefine safety standards with ownable, pervasive technology. Trademarked Toyota Safety Sense™ technology is standard on all new models, to complement its already award-winning built-in safety features. The Honda Sensing® suite boasts modernized safety and driver-assistive technologies featured in a range of its vehicles. So, when it comes to making a smart investment, consumers turn to the cars they know uphold the highest standards—even if those standards were set by the brands.  

What Lessons Can We Learn from Leading Head Brands? 

To go from an amenity to a necessity and build relevance in the daily lives of consumers, brands need to: 

  • Pursue partnerships with top leaders in the space to demonstrate your commitment and expertise
  • Find a way to simplify complex tasks—prioritize user experience and service design when creating your offerings to ensure consumers can use your products easily or quickly
  • Whether it’s messaging around a new technology or suite of offerings, continue to raise standards of reliability, performance, and experience, and find a way to talk about (or trademark) it that’s unique to the brand

FINAL THOUGHTS

Want to learn more about how the most relevant brands are tapping into the head and heart of consumers? The Prophet BRI serves as a roadmap for building relevance with consumers. Contact our team to learn how to apply the insights from the 2022 Index to your organization. 

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How Budweiser APAC is Creating Authentically Iconic Beers: A Conversation with Matt Che 

The industry-leading beer company discusses how to manage a strategic portfolio of resonant, purposeful brands in an authentic and effortless way. 

Building brand relevance with Chinese consumers remains top of mind for emerging and legacy brands alike. Budweiser Brewing Company APAC (Budweiser APAC), part of AB InBev and a key player in both the global and China beer markets, claims some of the most storied beer brands in the world as part of its portfolio – from Budweiser, founded in 1876, to Harbin, founded in 1900. Despite their longstanding histories, these brands are constantly evolving and innovating to maintain relevance in an increasingly fragmented and competitive market.  

Tom Zhang, an associate partner at Prophet, sat down with Matt Che, CMO of Budweiser APAC, to discuss how the Budweiser APAC portfolio continues to house the top beer brands and resonate with Chinese consumers through strong purpose and values.

Matt Che 
CMO at Budweiser APAC 

Matt Che is Chief Marketing Officer at Budweiser APAC, who leads the marketing team in China, Korea, India & Southeast Asia. An over-20-year veteran of marketing and sales, Matt oversees all brand marketing activities including Budweiser, Corona, Hoegaarden, Cass, Harbin, Blue Girl and Sedrin, etc. He is also held accountable for driving marketing-led business growth. 

Regarded as a trailblazer in the industry, Matt contributes to the growth of Budweiser APAC by creating a series of aggressive campaigns and driving marketing digital transformation. 

Matt Che earned a master’s degree in arts from the University of Birmingham. He also completed various marketing courses for executives at Harvard University, Stanford University, and Kellogg School of Management. 

As a major FMCG group, how does Budweiser APAC maintain a pulse on Chinese consumers and the latest trends? 

We must remain curious and constantly consider how the relationship between our brands and consumers is evolving. My thoughts are three-fold.  

First, there is a shift away from educating the consumers. Brands need to think about how to communicate product benefits and brand values in a way that is “effortless” and most resonant to consumers, allowing them to take in the information willingly and easily. Rather than standing on moral high ground and preaching to consumers, brands should view consumers as their equals and strive to grow together. To be a relevant brand means being humble. Champion the consumer. Recognize, appreciate and celebrate them. 

The next trend I see is a shift in focus from brand building to full-funnel marketing throughout the consumer decision journey. With the maturation of digital, social and new retail, there are more ways to not only build brand awareness but also close the gap between awareness and purchase. However, the marketing mix from awareness to consideration to purchase is varied, and we need to consider different content assets at each stage of the funnel to deliver the right message at the right time. As marketers, we must hold ourselves accountable for the full customer lifecycle.  

Lastly, the innovation cycle of FMCG products is changing. Previously, innovation was centered on a few big bets that would generate significant commercial impact. Now, innovation is also a way to drive brand equity. For instance, we launched the Budweiser Brewmaster Reserve in China, an ultra-premium product made with the highest-quality ingredients. Rather than measuring its success with immediate sales KPIs, we are looking at whether it contributes to brand equity. Marketers should approach innovation more strategically to shape the today, tomorrow and future of the brand. 

With Budweiser APAC’s extensive portfolio, how will you drive innovation of products and experiences to meet increasingly diverse consumer needs?  

The traditional notion of brand loyalty no longer exists in this age of fragmented markets. Instead, each brand should strive to build occasion-based loyalty. Consumers might go out to KTV with friends and choose Budweiser, then grab some late-night street food with Harbin. On the weekend they might have a picnic and bring some Hoegaarden, and then order a Corona at the beach while on vacation.  

Rather than spending our marketing budget attempting to make one brand the beer of choice for every drinking occasion, we take a very nuanced approach in segmenting consumer drinking need states and occasions to a high degree of specificity. In each of these need states and occasions, what are the consumer’s functional and emotional needs? Once we understand those, can beer as a category deliver on them? If so, then we can consider which of our brands has the story, value proposition, and DNA to own an iconic demand state and occasion.  

Of course, we will still source sales volume from adjacent drinking occasions, but the center of gravity and the “hook” we communicate to consumers must be clear and distinctive. Once we have this, we must then be disciplined about focusing brand-building efforts on channels and occasions that are core to the brand, allowing each one to own distinctive space in the portfolio. 

Many Budweiser APAC brands go beyond the product to communicate a higher purpose to consumers. Why is this important? 

A strong purpose is what makes a brand stand the test of time. Consumers might select you once or twice based on eye-catching packaging or a unique product, but purpose is how brands can earn an unwavering position in their customers’ hearts and minds. The way purpose manifests will change over time, but the purpose itself should be timeless.  

For instance, Budweiser has always championed authenticity – being true to yourself and living on your own terms. For the Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine’s Day), Budweiser launched the “All Love Is Love” campaign. We released limited edition bottles that featured illustrations of people of all genders, and the bottles can be paired together in different combinations to feature two figures kissing.

The message is clear – regardless of how you define love, we respect, celebrate and champion it. We’re communicating with our customers as equals, meeting them where they are to convey the brand’s higher purpose.  

Purpose must be built over time. Rather than inundating consumers with a once-a-year massive campaign, we should reinforce the messaging consistently to build a purpose that is lasting and authentic. This is an example of “effortless marketing” in action.  

This reminds us of Corona. Corona is a strong example of how brands commit to ESG initiatives. Why is this important to Budweiser APAC and consumers? 

ESG is among the top priorities for AB InBev globally, and it’s deeply rooted in what we do. As the largest beer company in the Asia Pacific, Budweiser APAC is committed to achieving a future that’s sustainable and inclusive.  

Although there have already been many exciting results, I don’t think we as marketers should overly commercialize ESG. While its successful integration into company strategy, operations, and culture can potentially drive customer love and as a result sales volume, this cannot be the starting point.  

For instance, Corona’s brand essence is about a slice of lime, the sunset, and the ocean. It’s clear and simple. As a result, the brand is genuinely concerned about ocean conservation and marine protection. Corona partnered with Blue Ribbon, the biggest ocean conservation organization in China, and launched limited edition bottles on World Oceans Day, encouraging consumers to use less plastic.  

This March, Corona also initiated the “Ocean Restoration” program for the second year, partnering with fishermen across Fujian and Hainan provinces to recycle plastics from the ocean. Through our continued efforts, Corona is now the first beverage brand in the world to achieve a net-zero plastic footprint, meaning it recycles more plastic than it produces.  

However, the goal of Corona’s ESG efforts is not to convince consumers to drink more Corona but to convey the importance of protecting our planet for future generations. If these initiatives draw consumers to the brand, then that is a positive externality of our ESG efforts, but it cannot be the intention behind them. 

Nowadays, many marketers experience tension between longer-term brand marketing and shorter-term demand generation. How do you resolve the tension to balance “fast and slow”? 

As I mentioned before, marketers have the challenging task of building today, tomorrow and the future. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, especially as marketing has traditionally been less focused on immediate commercial growth in favor of long-term brand building. But our remit is expanding, and we must not only identify consumer needs but also the commercial potential of these consumer needs.  

In my role, I’m working more closely with our commercial leaders to ensure alignment from the get-go and help balance the tradeoff between “fast and slow.” It’s important to align across marketing and sales teams on what long-term success looks like as well as what challenges might arise in the short term. Collaborating with sales allows us to better identify commercial realities such as pricing, competition, and potential cannibalization within our portfolio. 

In April, AB InBev appointed our first global chief growth officer, a newly created position that aligns sales and marketing under the same umbrella. This indicates a clear mindset change.  

Budweiser and Harbin are the official beer sponsors for the 2022 World Cup. How will Budweiser APAC use the event to engage fans and create a memorable brand experience?  

With the resurgence of COVID-19 in some areas of China, consumers are once again dealing with certain levels of anxiety, uncertainty and stress. Thus, we are adjusting our messaging.  

We want to keep things simple and help consumers unleash the fun – not only the fun of the World Cup but the fun that comes with being with family and friends and forgetting about your worries for just a moment. We want consumers to be able to just enjoy the game and enjoy a beer. 


FINAL THOUGHTS

For marketers to shape the today and tomorrow of their brand, they must have a systematic approach to understanding the increasingly complex consumer landscape. To build brand relevance, they must balance long term-brand purpose and short-term demand generation across the full marketing funnel. 

To learn more about how your organization can build brand relevance and drive uncommon growth, contact us today.  

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How Top Brands Get to the Hearts of Consumers

Three standout trends the top heart brands are doing to become relentlessly relevant to consumers.

It’s no secret that the brands consumers are obsessed with hit closest to our hearts–the ones that make up our identities and help express who we are. The brands we call “magic makers” make us feel true affinity and loyalty: the sneakerheads, gamers, Tesla owners and devotees get it. There is no logical explanation for this kind of love— the kind of love that has lines wrapped around the block at Gucci and people camping out to see the next Marvel movie, even amidst a global pandemic. In the 2022 Prophet Brand Relevant Index (BRI), our annual study which asks 13,500 U.S. consumers which brands are most relevant to their lives, we learned what the top-performing brands do to attract such devoted consumers. For one, they create emotional stories and connections that consumers just have to have and experience. Unlike their counterparts, brands that appeal more to our head and practical side, these brands, fill an emotional need that goes straight to our hearts.

In addition to our overall BRI ranking, we have identified the top brands that speak directly to consumers’ hearts.

Top 25 Heart brands, ranked:

So, what do the top heart brands do to be considered relentlessly relevant to consumers? We discovered three standout trends where brands appealing to consumers’ hearts are excelling.  

Bringing the Fantasy to Us

To create “magic,” brands need to do more than fill a need in our life—they must make us feel like part of something bigger and provide connection and stimulation to escape monotonous days. Gaming and platforms such as PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox enable escape and connection, and respondents agree that they could turn to their consoles to engage in new and unexpected ways. Marvel, Disney, MLB and NFL joined our top ten for brands that “Connect with me emotionally,” making us feel part of something bigger than ourselves. The power of these “magic makers” is to transport us out of our lives and into the past, the future or another planet entirely—and recently that transport mostly happened in our homes.

Nothing gets you closer to a shared in-person experience than live sports and the NFL had an especially strong showing in its first year in the BRI. Despite a variety of controversies, the NFL had more viewers in 2021 than in the previous six years. Because the experience of watching a game depends on live viewership, advertisers could count on a present audience, a rarity in today’s TV market. Innovations in adjacent categories also helped NFL: Sports betting laws opened up and a record 45.2 million Americans are expected to bet on NFL games and wager more than $20 billion, according to CNBC.

Inspiring Authentic Expression

2021 was the year the “creator economy” exploded in full force. From Etsy and Pinterest to YouTube and TikTok, extra time at home coupled with the “Great Resignation” led to increased engagement with social platforms for both viewers and creators. There are over 50 million who consider themselves ‘creators’, according to Forbes, especially among younger generations with strong aspirations to maximize their platform as a career. Creators love these platforms because they allow them to monetize their personal brands and connect directly with their audiences in ways that were never possible before. 

Ranked 13th on “Heart” and 21st most relevant brand overall, Etsy helped connect makers with products they needed and wanted during the pandemic. Etsy reported in 2021 that they had sold an astounding $346 million dollars just in reusable face masks. These products not only fulfilled a need but also felt special and infused with the maker’s craft and love. 

Making Us Feel Special

While still stuck at home during the pandemic with nowhere to go, the 2022 Index shows that we embrace brands that make us feel alive and special, even when they are impractical to our current needs.  Some of our highest performing magic makers were luxury brands: Tesla, Gucci, Sephora and Mercedes-Benz were beloved by consumers and rounded out our top 20 for “Makes me feel inspired.” In the last year, luxury brands rebounded faster than many expected. In times of uncertainty, enduring status and quality symbols can feel reassuring.

Luxury brands have seen record levels of growth coming out of the pandemic. “Revenge shopping” or the phenomenon of those with means spending on luxury goods to fill a void left by canceled social and cultural events may explain the quick comeback of high-end brands. Luxury items aren’t just objects—they deliver a transportive experience that activates their brand. Luxury may not solve problems, but in a time when we sacrificed so much, it delivers the fulfilling indulgence that only a wildly expensive, exquisitely designed object or experience can.

What Can Heart Brands Teach Us?

To go from a commodity to relentlessly relevant, brands need to connect with our hearts. Top heart brands have found ways to connect with consumers’ emotions by:

  • Targeting micro-communities of fans who are obsessed with the same sports team or TV show. Instead of trying to appeal to everybody, narrow in on the people who are most likely to connect with the product or service offered.
  • Bringing together commerce and community. The best brands create loyal followers who look for every new product drop and turn up to every store experience: turn consumers into brand evangelists.
  • Delivering on personalization and quality, whether that’s highlighting the stories of artisans and innovators who design products or offering a customized experience through an algorithm or brand design, makes every person who walks through the doors feel special and loved. Magic.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Want to learn more about how the most relevant brands are tapping into the head and heart of consumers? The Prophet BRI serves as a roadmap for building relevance with consumers. Contact our team to learn how to apply the insights from the 2022 Index to your organization. 

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Four Critical Shifts for Tech Brands Today

Technological advancement has long been a driving force moving society forward. From underlying network advancements to ongoing software and hardware innovations, many of today’s biggest companies have achieved success by being at the forefront of technology.

But when considering what matters to consumers, what does it really take to become a technology leader in this modern era?

In this year’s Prophet Brand Relevance Index®, we once again saw technology’s rising impact in building brands that are relentlessly relevant in consumers’ lives. Major tech companies like Apple, Spotify, Bose and Android have continued to dominate the top five and fast-rising tech brands also captured people’s heads and hearts in an unprecedented way.

While the fundamental principles that define a leading brand stay true, our findings emphasize that the way in which these principles are delivered needs to evolve in order for brands to stay at the technology forefront.

1. Ruthlessly Pragmatic: From Economics and Efficiency to Consistency and Dependability

For many, pre-pandemic living demanded efficiency, productivity and outcomes – and technologies enable that. Tech leaders compete on superior specs, technical ability and cost-effectiveness, especially in Asia. But, one of the likely lasting trends resulting from the pandemic is a shift towards a slower, simpler life. With consumers looking for quality over speed, superior performance is now increasingly defined by a dependable, reliable and consistent experience.

Dyson believes in the value of engineering perfection in daily chores, as opposed to “get it done quickly.” Its strong emphasis on prototyping and refinement to achieve the art of precision is evident across product categories. Consumers trust Dyson for how consistently dependable their products are – no matter if it’s a vacuum or a hairdryer. They can rely on Dyson to accomplish their tasks, without dreading any mishaps when using.

The shift: As we emerge from the pandemic the definition of pragmatism is no longer surface-level results. Brands must use technology in a way that delivers long-term, dependable performance.

2. Pervasively Innovative: From Bigger and Better to Designing with Care

Great technological leaps have been made in the past few decades. Tech brands have focused their innovation story on “bigger, thinner, faster, stronger” to claim leadership. But with a renewed focus on what really matters in life, consumers are more interested in how technology can enable and empower – rather than disrupt – their lives. Innovation is less about “best in the world”, and more about human-centered design that delivers incremental but consequential progress.

Samsung has always been a leader in the TV category. It used to focus on innovations such as OLED and its curve feature but its latest flagship, The Serif, presents a shift – it isn’t the most innovative choice when it comes to the specs (size, thinness, etc.) but it is able to chime into the ambiance of users’ life and become an integral part of their lifestyle.

“Many of today’s biggest companies have achieved success by being at the forefront of technology.”

Peloton also rises fast in the post-pandemic era. It focuses less on hardware advancement but on content creation, offering curated and fresh home exercising experiences that give the brand a unique edge as a user-centric innovator.

The shift: As technology is increasingly democratized, technology leadership can no longer be defined by groundbreaking patents as the only tickets to entry. Instead, innovation can be achieved by zeroing in on customer pain points and leveraging technology in meaningful ways to solve them.

3. Customer Obsessed: From Connected Devices to a Connected World

IoT and smart living aim to create a more seamless life but not all ecosystems today have consumers at their center – some were developed to expand portfolios and create switch barriers. As consumers mature and the future of Web 3.0 fundamentally changes how people connect, the role of technology also needs to move from connecting devices for an easier life to enabling human feelings and interactions, with people’s inner selves, their surroundings and the world at large.

As DJI expands its portfolio, its marriage with Hasselblad wasn’t only about building an ecosystem but also about helping creators experience it differently. Fusing Hasselblad technology onto the consumer drones allows creators to capture extraordinary color and granularity, heighten their senses and strengthen their connection with the world.

The shift: Technology is no longer an end in itself; true customer obsession means using technology as a means to enable and empower meaningful human connections.

4. Distinctively Inspired: From What I Like to What I Believe

The “early adopters” are critical for technology companies and therefore many brands focused on building “newness, imagination or adventure” to mirror their attitudes. But true advocates for a technology leader are people that follow the brand through generations of innovations and upgrades. More than ever, consumers are demanding brands that align with their core beliefs and values and connect them with like-minded individuals.

Where brands normally compete against each other on technicality and performance to win the hearts of consumers, Tesla leads with a core belief to accelerate a sustainable future. It has inspired a like-minded group to follow the brand since its inception. Their unwavering advocacy has become a major driver of Tesla’s exponential growth around the world.

Grab, Southeast Asia’s dominant player, originally in transportation and delivery services, has the mission of driving the region forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone. This belief guides the brand whenever it expands its business horizons. For example, its latest financial products include micro-loans and microinsurance to serve historically underbanked populations.

The shift: Technology is progressive and pervasive. Brands need to go beyond mirroring attitudes and personality expression and must instead lead with core beliefs and shared values that move people and society forward.


FINAL THOUGHTS

To be a leader in technology today means delivering consistent experiences, improving lives through purposeful innovations, enabling meaningful connections and driving societal progress.

As we emerge from the pandemic, we are reentering a world where technology has – and will – continue to play a dominant role in shaping our lives and our collective future. A shift to Web 3.0 will demand brands to pay more attention than ever to how they stay relevant as underlying technologies and consumer expectations continue to evolve.

Download the 2022 Brand Relevance Index® today for more insights on how companies can establish technology leadership to build a more relentlessly relevant brand.

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Organizing Brand-Demand Marketing Teams for Success

In the fifth and final installment from our Brand-Demand Love series, informed by our conversations with marketing leaders across industries, we’ve outlined the steps to integrating brand and demand marketing capabilities to win in a complex and dynamic landscape.

If we think of marketing organizations as households, they are often not very harmonious, thanks to the common tension between brand and demand generation teams. Our blog series has described why these two marketing disciplines struggle to work together to achieve mutual success. To attain productive and peaceful integration, brand and demand teams must define the best ways to organize people and teams, collaborate productively and deploy the right capabilities and tech.

Overcoming Fragmentation 

In our discussions with marketing leaders, the brand-demand split in organizational structures was a common challenge. “One of the big barriers for marketing in our industry is how we’re structured,” a technology CMO told us. “There’s the performance marketing team on one side and then there’s everyone else, including brand people, on the other.”  

In many businesses, brand and demand are viewed as unrelated capabilities, run by disparate teams with little to no insight into each other’s activities or results. Other common symptoms of unhealthy brand-demand organizational structures include:  

  • Separate planning cycles and budgeting exercises 
  • Distinct KPIs that often do not align with broader business objectives
  • Lack of knowledge sharing
  • Talent deployed to standalone channels or capabilities, with little cross-functional collaboration or rotational assignments 

When marketing teams are organized this way, it’s impossible for brand and demand teams to communicate openly, share data freely, or collaborate productively – much less fall in love again. 

A manufacturing vice president of marketing told us that fragmentation is largely down to leadership:

“If your teams are fractured and chaotic, that’s because your leadership is fractured and chaotic.”

This speaks to the importance of leadership in ensuring different functions work together toward shared, big-picture goals. 

Rethinking the Marketing Organization Chart  

There’s no single ideal structure for a marketing organization, but certainly, brand and demand should not be managed as separate entities. Some top performers organize their teams around customer type, while others use product line, channel or functional discipline. Again, there’s no definitive best practice. A B2B manufacturer that restructured its marketing operation around how customers buy, rather than product lines, became more responsive to business needs.  

Marketing at 7-Eleven is organized by discipline, according to CMO Marissa Jarratt, but with a recognition that no one works in isolation. For instance, the company established a customer analytics and insights team to inform business decisions. “Then came the responsibility to socialize those learnings across the organization in a thoughtful way,” she said. “You can have really smart people, but it has to be a team sport.”  

Fostering Collaboration 

No matter the organizational model companies choose, collaboration is key. Collaboration can take many forms:  

  • Joint strategic planning sessions 
  • Monthly knowledge-sharing sessions 
  • Flexible campaign planning exercises and roles, including metrics definition and budget allocation  
  • Integrated campaign performance readouts 

All of these activities can – and should – include external agencies, consultancies and other third-party providers, as well as in-house agency capabilities where relevant. “We need holistic collaboration from our partners to help us work through our evolution,” said Shelley Haus, CMO of Ulta Beauty. Indeed, several marketing leaders who we interviewed considered external partners to be part of the marketing organization and capable of helping bridge the brand-demand divide. 

Collaboration can also help solve tactical issues. For instance, brand and demand teams both want efficient and effective content marketing capabilities, which require coordination and asset sharing. “We need atomized content approvals and integrated digital asset management flows so content and images can be reused quickly and easily by many teams,” said a senior marketer at a large financial services firm. “Otherwise, teams can’t streamline timing or use a ‘test-and-learn’ approach based on integrated results from everywhere.” 

Boosting Brand-Demand Integration Through Capabilities, Talent and Tech 

Several marketing leaders we interviewed talked about the pressing need for new talent. Everyone is looking for data scientists, business analysts and digital strategists; thus, brand and demand teams should look to share in-demand specialist resources.  

More than one marketing leader described the need for more communication and training across disciplines to promote better understanding. Job shadowing and rotational assignments can help in these areas. Another challenge involves varying experience and backgrounds: “Brand marketers run the show and they all went to the same business school, while performance marketers all come from DTC brands,” said Ashley LaPorte, ex-CMO at Seventh Generation. Organizational design and cultures that emphasize collaboration and shared goals can help overcome these barriers.  

Compensation models and incentives are other effective levers for driving integration between brand and demand. Defining joint performance goals tied to overall business performance may facilitate the shift away from time and expense cost models to more incentive-based pay models, which would encourage brand and demand marketing teams to collaborate more frequently.  

Technology has a role to play as well. A strong MarTech stack can successfully integrate data across disparate sources and promote connectivity among different functional areas. Adopting content personalization at scale requires integration across brand and demand teams – and their corresponding tech stacks. Performance marketing functionality can also be embedded directly into tech platforms to give brand teams more access to relevant insights and tools.   

The new research report, “Brand and Demand: A Love Story” is here! Learn how today’s Brand and Demand Generation leaders are bringing their functions together to drive greater impact.
Download today!


FINAL THOUGHTS

We believe the most successful and productive relationships – in business and in life – involve shared goals and commitments. Achieving these goals requires collaboration, communication and an effective division of labor. For brand and demand teams to deliver optimal performance in line with their shared goals, they must organize their “home” in ways that reflect and support these principles. Because brand and demand must live together, we’d recommend they aim to do so with utmost harmony and respect for each other’s unique genius and power. That’s how they can reignite the love in their relationship.  

Do you need help breaking down the silos separating your brand and demand marketing teams? Our Marketing & Sales practice can integrate your teams to achieve mutual success. Get in touch

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How Sales and Marketing Drive Relevance

While sales and marketing have always required a bit of art alongside science, Prophet’s latest 2022 Brand Relevance Index® (BRI) shows that the balance is shifting. The COVID-19 crisis has changed how people consider brands, increasing the human tendency to consume emotionally. In today’s climate, we want to feel brand love before we deploy our dollars. We want to buy from companies that make us feel good, seamlessly marrying depth of relationship with convenience and meaningful experiences. And, ultimately, that’s changed how demand is actualized.

Leaders of this year’s index–our seventh–reveal these new patterns. The best brands are increasingly finding success in our new normal by the way they connect with us as humans. Some go right to the heart, building emotional resonance. Others appeal to the head, drawing us in with practical benefits. A small group of all-stars, led by Apple, Peloton, Spotify, Bose and Android, manage to do both.

Even when faced with significant speed bumps, these companies know customer relationships are everything in the world of demand generation. Relationships sit at the intersection of growth, experience and data. Brands that understand that dominate this year’s index. They are prioritizing innovation investments in the service of customer needs. The most relevant marketers push beyond the status quo, driving brand marketing investment to conversion.

We see them acing demand generation in two ways. Relevant brands are …

Deepening Relationships

The next iteration of acquisition and retention is maintaining devoted relationships with customers. Peloton, which ranks #2 overall and comes in first in our “Heart” metrics, perfectly illustrates that brand passion. Devotees could care less about its sputtering stock valuation. They just prize it for the rich experience, and the ongoing value exchange between consumer and company, across channels and touchpoints.

Relevant brands like Peloton have built products that seamlessly integrate into the lives of their customers and then rely on advocacy to promote pipeline. When something is indispensable to us, it’s easy to inspire others to participate. Tactics like Peloton’s “refer-a-friend” are mutually beneficial and authentic.

Spotify (#3), PlayStation (#7) and USAA (#10) are also thriving on the rich sense of discovery and community-building.

Fostering customer relationships requires a transition from investment to brand perception metrics. And it calls for prioritizing improved retention and loyalty models that focus on relationship longevity.

Demand generation and performance marketing allow brand marketers to relentlessly test and learn. When relevance is a moving target, performance branding will enable us to reach customers in new ways and experiment with tactics. Performance marketing is the finger on the pulse of all relationships.

Monetizing Experiences

It’s not news that the brands at the top of the index are known for providing engaging and unforgettable experiences for customers. In turbulent times, relevant brands help people feel safe and make life easier. They encourage us to experience parts of ourselves that we’ve missed in this constrained pandemic period. Generating demand and monetizing these trusted experiences requires careful finesse.

Increasingly, we see opportunities for investment in revenue streams through user interface and experience. Innovative brands are reframing go-to-market strategies. For example, some are redefining sponsored commerce beyond traditional search and banner ads, building an ecosystem for media that can extend into brand-owned properties, channels and ad units. These brands have an opportunity to explore what we call “BYO (build your own) Walled Garden,” obtaining both valuable first-party data and ad revenue.

“Innovative brands are reframing go-to-market strategies..”

Apple is the most obvious example, moving from device-driven relationships to becoming an arbiter of news, music, video and apps. It’s no surprise that it’s ranked #1 since we started our relevance research in 2015.

Companies like Fitbit (#8), TED (#9) and Teledoc (#21) are also flourishing through expanding ecosystems.

Others are gaining relevance through the rise of open payment architecture. Afterpay (#11) leads our index in financial services, showing that consumers value digital-first, customizable solutions that are reliable and transparent. Of the 293 brands we measured, it ranks #1 in the “Lives up to its promises” attribute. These “Buy Now/Pay Later” models afford trusted and convenient opportunities for customers to transact in channel. And they create new revenue streams for savvy organizations.

These customer-acquisition efforts have a direct influence on brand perception–both positively and negatively­­. And they are increasingly defining cross-channel customer strategy. As the marketing value chain collapses, we have instantaneous feedback between brand-marketing investment and revenue attribution. Growth-minded CMOs find the delicate balance in customer experiences that support both brand and demand.


FINAL THOUGHTS

The Future of Branding is Performance-Oriented and Vice Versa

We see first-hand the value clients achieve when they overcome capability silos–even within marketing. Coordination across customer-facing disciplines is fundamental for building relevance through customer understanding, targeting and addressability. It’s also critical in achieving greater precision in measuring upper-funnel brand impact, both due to data and experiential continuity.

To achieve uncommon growth, brands have to measure the sales stimulation that arises from brand awareness and perception shifts. With marketing fatigue and increasing budget pressure, the onus is on brand advertising to evolve from “spray and pray” to value-added and relevant placements.

Likewise, performance marketers need to lean into the incredible value of a beloved brand. Demand generation must support–not undermine–brand trust, love and relevance.

Get in touch today if you’d like to learn how to develop effective go-to-market strategies to unleash your company’s “Brand-Demand Love.”

Brand Equity – Brand Value_1_A

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