Delivering “impact” has taken on extraordinary new meaning in the last two years. Across the world, consumers, employees, and other key stakeholders became focused on how brands deliver impact through ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) practices with 2 in 3 consumers willing to pay more for products and services from brands that are committed to making a positive social impact. As a result, the challenge for brands has shifted from talking the talk to walking the walk.

It has become clear simply articulating and communicating purpose is not enough to drive meaningful value. Case in point: according to a global survey of 474 executives conducted by Harvard Business Review, 90% of executives said their organization understands the importance of purpose, but only 46% said it informs strategic and operational decisions.

To create value, we believe purpose must act as the North Star across the organization. At the epicenter of all activity, purpose has the power to drive business transformation including new business models, product and service design, employee engagement and more. Specifically, organizations that tie their ESG strategy to purpose—and thus, business and brand strategy—shift away from risk mitigation towards value-additive action better integrated with the business.

Today, ESG strategies are too often isolated from the business and either focused purely on hitting rating agency benchmarks or generating positive publicity. Using purpose to drive a linkage across the business, brand and ESG strategy prevents risks associated with virtue washing and ultimately drives competitive advance with differentiated value propositions.

How to Activate ESG to Create Value

So how does a company tie its ESG strategy to its purpose? First, it must build a statement of intent, defining specific plans to deliver its purpose to its community and society at large. For example, ING Bank demonstrates its purpose, “empower people to stay a step ahead in life and in business,” with a slightly more specific ESG strategy aimed at “helping customers and society stay a step ahead of the challenges they’re facing.” By honing its ESG strategy on the “challenges they’re facing,” ING is able to define how it fulfills its purpose in the communities it operates with.

“2 in 3 consumers willing to pay more for products and services from brands that are committed to making a positive social impact.”

While an ESG strategy states how the purpose will come to life, related impact areas allow the organization to focus on its activation efforts. An organization’s impact areas are thematic areas the organization will execute against to bring the ESG strategy to life.

To define these impact areas, organizations should consider four lenses while remaining focused and meaningful in their efforts and, without spreading themselves too thin. Impact areas must be:

1. Specific:

Do impact areas clearly align with the organization’s core business offers and enable necessary choices and tradeoffs? P&G manufactures thousands of products that consumers use in their everyday lives. Because the production, distribution, and waste of these products can contribute negatively to the effects of climate change, P&G has focused one impact area on packaging sustainability, committing to 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2030.

2. Ownable:

Do impact areas build from strengths and competencies the organization has today to ensure it can have a unique and material impact in the market? BlackRock’s purpose is to “help more people experience financial well-being,” resulting in an embedded focus on long-term financial sustainability across the business. In pursuing this focus, Blackrock saw an opportunity to focus on impact, setting out to build a new platform to invest in mission-oriented businesses. In 2019, the new platform launched, leveraging existing scale and expertise to strengthen Blackrock’s position while bolstering its intention to make a long-term impact.

3. Applicable:

Are the impact areas appealing and applicable to the organization’s colleagues, customers and communities? The aviation industry accounts for roughly 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Delta Air Lines’ carbon footprint is its largest environmental impact, with 98% of emissions coming from its aircraft. In 2020, Delta focused on carbon neutrality, with the goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral airline globally.

4. Measurable:

Are the impact areas conducive to being objectively measured? ABInBev, the world’s largest brewer, embarked on a goal to ensure 100% of its communities in high-stress areas have measurably improved water availability and quality by 2025. Within its breweries, teams leverage internal systems to monitor water use on a routine basis and develop bespoke tools to review operations on a quarterly basis.

“We aim to lead a corporate shift toward measurability and accountability, ensuring that our local investments and programs translate into lasting impacts on water quality and availability for our communities and our operations around the world,” states ABInBev’s stewardship campaign.

Making an Impact in All Directions

The need to connect ESG to purpose has never been more urgent. In 2020, almost 60% of Americans said they would “choose, avoid, or boycott a brand based on its stand on societal issues,” compared to only 47% in 2017. And more than half (53%) of consumers who are disappointed with a brand’s words or actions on a social issue complain about it.

Companies that build their ESG strategies and related impact areas to deliver on their purpose will create memorable, human-centered experiences that allow customers, employees, and other stakeholders to grasp the power of the organization’s efforts. Capturing impact through signature stories creates memorable, human-centered stories for customers, employees and other stakeholders to grab onto as examples of the impact of your ESG impact areas.

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The rapid rise of the so-called “new consumer brands” in China has led many marketers to invest in understanding the secrets to consumer brand success. Based on decades of experience building relentlessly relevant brands, we will take a look at the emergence of this phenomenon and its foreseeable challenges.

On October 20, the 2021 Singles’ Day Shopping Festival was officially launched. The sales from Austin (Jiaqi) Li and Viyaaa’s live broadcasts reached $1.8 billion and $1.3 billion USD, respectively. The emerging domestic cosmetics brand, Bloomage Biotech’s QuadHA, which only gained traction in the last two years, had a single-day sales volume of $52.3 million USD. Amidst this unparalleled growth frenzy, what are the driving forces accelerating the success of new consumer brands?

The rapid rise of new consumer brands is defined by three major drivers – people, goods and channels.

First, the post-95s generation possesses huge buying power and is the main force driving consumption upgrades. As digital natives, this generation is constructed of eager online shoppers who are prone to impulse buying and willing to pay for aesthetics and good design.

“Digitization has redefined the entire shopping experience, enabling multiple business models to exist simultaneously.”

Next, fueled by enormous capital funding, new and evolving brands have continued to energize the consumer market. During 2021’s 618 shopping festival, 459 new brands topped the Tmall industry bestsellers list, whereas 2020’s Double 11 festival only had 357 new brands as top sellers.

Lastly, digitization has redefined the entire shopping experience, enabling multiple business models to exist simultaneously. For example, HeyTea enables seamless online to offline transactions through its WeChat mini-program, helping customers avoid long queuing times. The C2M (consumer to manufacturer) model sends customer feedback directly to manufacturers, empowering them by providing closer linkage to consumers’ needs and wants. Genki Forest leverages both convenience stores and e-commerce channels to test and incubate new products.

With the gradual saturation of the new consumer market, top brands are becoming more mature. In turn, investors’ strategies have also begun to change. They are no longer casting wide nets and testing multiple routes; instead, they are focusing on developing resilient brands by carefully selecting investment opportunities with disruptive potential.

So, how can emerging brands showcase their potential, and how can mature brands solidify their advantages? In this article, we’ll explore what it takes for consumer brands to win in the market today.

Four Key Aspects of the New Consumer Brands Phenomenon

Today’s new consumer brands have acquired the foundation and engine for the steady rise and explosive growth. This has accelerated the consumption upgrade and innovation trends in the market. While emerging brands are creating new subcategories, mature brands are also actively evolving and transforming. Among the leading brands, many are continuously optimizing their supply chains and leveraging sophisticated social commerce strategies to establish deeper connections with consumers.

With the continuous evolution of the new consumer market, we need to pay attention to four key aspects:

1. Disruptive Brands Redefine the Status Quo

Amid ongoing pressure from mature, traditional brands and ever-rising consumer expectations, many disruptive new brands have broken through and continued to expand by creating new subcategories or capturing existing ones.

Launched in 2018, Zihai Pot disrupted the concept of traditional hot pot by creating a new subcategory – instant hot pot. Different than the conventional hot pot that is eaten in a group setting at restaurants, Zihai Pot can be enjoyed by oneself anywhere and anytime. As “hometainment” became a prominent trend during the Covid-19 pandemic, Zihai Pot saw accelerated growth, surpassing $94 million USD in sales in the first half of 2020. Within four years, “Zihai Pot” is no longer just a brand name; it has become a category name in itself, with consumers associating the brand with all types of self-heating food. This has created a perception in consumers’ minds that the brand is the category, and the category is the brand.

Another interesting example is Cha Yan Yue Se, a highly sought-after Internet-famous milk tea shop. Notably, it did not follow the rapid expansion strategy of competitor brands. Instead, it deeply rooted itself in Changsha, offering limited locations in other cities and creating a sense of scarcity and mystery. This strategy allowed the brand to become an entire cultural phenomenon. Chan Yan Yue Se is now a major landmark in Changsha, attracting tourists from all over China as they embark on “The Pilgrimage” to visit.

2. Mature Brands Reimagine Themselves

Faced with increasing pressure from cutting-edge brands, mature brands are actively undergoing their own renewal and transformation. They have accumulated unique cultural connotations over time and then leveraged technology to maintain their advantages.

One of the most successful examples is the skincare brand, Pechoin. In recent years, Pechoin, recognized as one of China’s time-honored brands, has refreshed its brand image many times. For instance, new product lines, such as “Sansen,” incorporate youthful design elements to target younger consumers while also leveraging a new concept of “herbal technology.” This concept deepens brand heritage by reflecting Chinese culture while also infusing technology to meet the increasingly high standards of product ingenuity and quality that sophisticated consumers demand.

In terms of cultural heritage, Li-Ning is undoubtedly one of the leading brands in the country. To shatter its old-school image, the sportswear brand showcases its newest designs in the top fashion weeks three times a year, embracing conspicuous Chinese characters, ink painting patterns and other Chinese elements in its designs. Additionally, Li-Ning has gone above and beyond the product to establish meaning for the brand itself by creating an emotional connection with a new generation of consumers, who have a strong sense of national pride.

3. “Private Traffic” Connects Users

Another widely recognized trend in new consumption is dubbed “private traffic.” “Private traffic” describes the customer engagement channels used by brands on non-public social platforms, such as WeChat groups or QQ messaging. In this way of personalized communication, brands gain full control over the content, frequency, and most importantly, customer data. On the other hand, for so-called “public traffic,” aggregated customer data is conveniently provided by digital platforms such as Taobao, Weibo or TikTok, but often with significant limitations. While these platforms provide bigger traffic pools, to sustain growth, brands must continually invest to increase their rankings and visibility on the platform and win customers.

An early success story of leveraging “private traffic” is from THE BEAST – a florist that has grown into a successful lifestyle brand. However, its origin story of becoming the legendary flower shop it is today started with customers ordering flowers via the social media platform, Weibo. THE BEAST listened to customer stories, invited them to create together, and then transformed these stories into products in the form of flower bouquets. Since then, this purpose-led branding approach has effectively attracted many loyal customers.

China’s leading electronic vehicle brand NIO is committed to building a user-first brand. Its highly applauded membership program has been a case study for many and contributed to its commercial success and loyal customer base. In 2018, NIO expanded its membership program by launching “NIO Points,” the content of which was a result of NIO members’ discussions and brainstorming. On top of the existing reward system where users exchange points for gifts, this new user credit system allows users to increase their credit level by interacting with and contributing to the community, thereby gaining access to opportunities such as getting to speak at major brand events. Through consistent product iteration and innovation, users continue to grow into the brand community.

4. The Supply Chain is Optimized

China’s supply chain technology and talent have reached a highly mature stage. Many emerging brands have been able to build on this solid foundation to continue developing modern operating concepts and innovative business models through deep optimization of the existing supply chain.

Wangbaobao, an innovative new cereal brand, differentiates its product through low-temperature baking and the unique inclusion of large, dried fruit pieces. To successfully bring the innovative brand to life, Wangbaobao worked to restructure the production line according to new consumer needs, setting new standards for modernization of the manufacturing process. Additionally, in order to maintain the product quality, Wangbaobao invested in building its own factory to bring to fruition this re-engineered production process.

Additionally, new retail players such as Freshippo, Alibaba’s supermarket concept, have converged their online and offline channels to achieve centralized operations and data tracking. By analyzing supply chain and e-commerce data in real-time, they are able to better predict demand, automatically allocate and restock goods, and minimize management costs.

Opportunities and Challenges Facing New Consumers Brands

Although many new consumer brands have taken the lead with outstanding innovation, branding, operations and supply chain management, they still must overcome fierce competition and a rapidly changing market to remain ahead of the pack. For example, in the Top Brands 2021 survey published in Yi Magazine, Genki Forest was classified as an “at-risk brand”. In the bottled tea category, its ranking dropped 31 places from its top five standing last year. We expect that new consumer brands will encounter the following challenges in the next few years:

• The marketing dividend on seeding influencers has disappeared: The short-term high traffic brought by social media seeding is unsustainable. Consumers are tired of being pushed “tailor-made” content, and their trust in KOLs is also declining.
• Viral products fail to retain customers: Most of the new consumer brands quickly breakthrough with viral products. However, afterward, due to a lack of both effective product portfolio management and brand purpose, they face the loss of old customers and the inability to develop new ones.
• Supply and demand lose balance: The new consumption trends make agility a desirable attribute, but the flexible and diverse supply chain makes managing it more complicated, and it can be difficult to balance efficiency and cost.

With the continuous rise of new consumer brands, emerging players must actively optimize their brands and marketing strategies to balance short-term conversion rates and long-term customer loyalty to achieve sustainable growth. Brand building has become the next key area of focus.

For new consumer brands that have been successful, their next step is to establish themselves as the exemplar brand of the entire product category, while also creating emotional value that can resonate deeply with consumers.

At Prophet, we firmly believe in building brand strength through relevance with a customer-centric approach. To learn more about how your brand can improve its relevance and continue to grow in the rapidly changing new consumer market, contact us today.

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Within moments of Facebook’s announcement that it’s renaming itself Meta, the world swiftly reacted. The Twittersphere sniped the loudest, pointing out that the new name won’t change any of the company’s problems: It’s still one of the most controversial companies and in the crosshairs of regulators all over the world.

So, is rebranding a mistake? Far from it. As branding experts, we think it’s a smart, strategic decision. Meta is a bold new brand, one with ambitions far broader than its current social-media properties. And it makes it the first company to stake a claim in the much-coveted metaverse, something so large and nebulous that even many tech people still can’t define it.

The name certainly has its strengths. It’s short, simple, and clearly grounded in the frame of reference the business intends to exist within — and redefine. With only a day of storytelling behind it, we’re curious if there’s more to the Meta-metaphor beyond the metaverse. Is it a wink to the alternate reality that’s created through all social media? Is it a self-deprecating nod to Facebook’s size and scale? Is it a reference to the expression of irony or self-parody of “that’s so meta?

“Meta is a bold new brand, one with ambitions far broader than its current social-media properties.”

It’s a branding direction that makes a great deal of sense for tech companies, especially in clarifying their story for investors. (And it’s not surprising that Facebook shares rose following the announcement.) Just as Alphabet made it possible for the company to grow beyond Google, this new name will pave the way for Meta to broaden its brand portfolio.

We expect that Facebook will still be Facebook to its users. So will Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. Each of those brands can–and should–have narrower definitions and fulfill every expectation users and customers have for them.

But other parts of the company will be rebranded. Oculus, its VR division, will become Meta.  And Facebook Portal, its smart display products, will become Meta Portal.

As Meta, the parent company becomes more expansive and is well-positioned to move into the future. And the new name comes just days after the company announced it would invest $10 billion in developing the metaverse, moving in directions far beyond its social-media roots.

“In the metaverse, you’ll be able to do almost anything you can imagine— get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the announcement. That includes “completely new experiences that don’t really fit how we think about computers or phones today.”

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Although personalization has become a key way for brands to build meaningful connections with consumers across categories ranging from shampoo (Prose, Function of) to vitamins (Ritual, Care/of) to entertainment (Netflix, HBO Max), personalization has been ingrained in the DNA of streaming services like Spotify and YouTube since their inception. In the 2021 Prophet Brand Relevance Index ® (BRI), we identified a key difference between leaders and laggards in the music industry: how effective brands are at personalization.

Data from the BRI showed that customers feel more emotionally connected to the streaming brands that offer deep, personalized experiences. While customers enjoy Pandora’s personalized playlists, Spotify is the clear winner with 99% of users saying the brand connects with them emotionally. Spotify, which consumers ranked as the twelfth most relevant brand in this year’s study, creates its emotional connection with consumers through its rich personalization algorithm. It also ranks significantly higher than Pandora in terms of engagement in new and creative ways (with 90% of customers surveyed agreeing to this statement, versus Pandora’s 63%). Spotify continues to double down on this competitive advantage as it invests heavily in more personalized playlists, podcasts and more.

“Customers feel more emotionally connected to the streaming brands that offer deep, personalized experiences.”

Additionally, Spotify enjoys strong consumer perceptions by making its personalization capabilities clear through tongue-in-cheek ad campaigns, as well as a continued focus on strategic product innovations. In its latest “surprise and delight” personalization move, Spotify launched its “Only You” feature, which leverages listener data to show amusing trends in users’ listening habits. In contrast, Pandora hasn’t rolled out any major personalization updates since 2019. It’s no surprise then, that 88% of consumers believe Spotify “is always finding new ways to meet my needs” whereas only 24% of consumers felt the same way about Pandora.

How Can Brands Deliver More Personalized Experiences?

1. To become relentlessly relevant, you need know your audience. Create audience archetypes that go deep into what your customer loves and is inspired by, not just their age and geography. Find out what your customers are doing on your platform as well as off-platform. Why is your customer using streaming services? Why do they skip certain songs? You can’t get to the beauty of personalization until you know who your customers are, and just as importantly, who you haven’t acquired as a customer yet.
2. Create content specifically for those micro-audiences. As there’s more competition for consumer attention, from video games to podcasts, content needs to be laser-focused on the needs of the customer. In working with leading streaming companies, Prophet has helped identify micro-audiences and the type of content that will appeal most to them to create lasting brand loyalty.
3. Create richer algorithms that suggest more content in line with what customers want. Even a leader in streaming like Spotify is losing customers’ attention because of newer players like TikTok, and its widely recognized algorithm. As more people discover music off-platform, Spotify will need to continue to innovate to garner consumer interest in an environment of increased competition.

With 89% of those surveyed saying they ‘can’t live without it’, Spotify continues to stand out in an increasingly competitive space by doubling down on its personalization assets, serving as a strong example for any entertainment brand looking to find new customers in 2021 and beyond.

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The biggest challenge for today’s businesses is to consistently produce personalized content at a large scale, deliver it at breakneck speed, and credibly have an impact on revenue. The businesses that are successful in this endeavor have invested in an innovative set of capabilities that make up an “Agile Content System”.

Imagine you had a front-row seat to the world’s foremost scientific teams as they worked to develop a life-saving vaccine. The filmmaking team behind CNN’s “Race for the Vaccine“ recently did just that, and Prophet’s healthcare team sat down with a few of them in conversation.

“To be a strategic storyteller, acknowledge that every interaction is an opportunity to build the relationships that could lead to the next great story.”

Produced by the Global Health Reporting Center and narrated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, “Race for the Vaccine” tells the story of the Oxford University, the NIH, Pfizer, University of Queensland and China’s CDC teams that undertook the heroic task of developing a COVID-19 vaccine as the virus swept the globe. Co-Director Caleb Hallerman and Editors Brain Truglio and Shayon Maitra joined the healthcare consulting team to share their experience making the documentary and how their efforts were designed to build confidence in the scientific processes that underpinned the vaccine development.

Whether in journalism or business, well-crafted narratives can engage audiences in an authentic and persuasive way – what Prophet’s founder emeritus David Aaker likes to call “signature stories.” Here are our takeaways from the conversation – which provide lessons for anyone who tells stories in a business context.

Lessons from Filmmakers: How to Tell Stories in the Business World

1. Know Your Beat: The Power of Relationships

Relationships unlock access to great content. In the case of “Race for the Vaccine,” relationships allowed the documentary to tell a truly global story. Because of former projects and collaborations, Caleb and the Global Health Reporting Center were able to get access to research institutes including China CDC. As Caleb pointed out, “the most important relationships you have are the ones you have before the story breaks…to make those connections before you’re in the midst of a crisis.”

To be a strategic storyteller, acknowledge that every interaction is an opportunity to build the relationships that could lead to the next great story. In doing so, you’ll build credibility and trust not only through direct interactions but also by virtue of second-degree connections to other people, expertise and opportunities. Also, the broader that network is, the greater the opportunity to bring a diversity of perspective and experience to strategic recommendations and communications.

2. Find the Right Source: Characters Who Make the Story

People want to connect with other people. And to create a powerful story you need characters that keep audiences interested and invested in the story you’re telling.  As Brian Truglio pointed out, “Character is really what drives the story…the most important thing is that you have interesting people who bring energy to the topic, and who can explain it. If you don’t have that…it’s not going to stick with people.” In “Race for the Vaccine,” this meant finding the scientists who could guide audiences on this complicated scientific journey such as Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett (NIH) and Dr. Keith Chappell (University of Queensland-Australia).

As business transformation leaders, it’s equally important to identify the central characters in any team you lead. What are individuals on your team passionate about? Where do their strengths lie? And where do the two come together to influence the business to adopt a strategic decision? Identifying what makes for a strong character at your organization can help rally it to change by clearly communicating its benefits to the market and modeling the behaviors that will lead to its success.

3. Go Beyond the Headline: Context Matters

It probably won’t come as a surprise that one of the challenges the filmmakers faced was capturing moments with the scientists in their labs. In early edits, one the biggest problems they identified was the lack of footage showing scientists in lab coats. It ran contrary to Brian and Shayon’s mantra for editing documentaries, “Show, don’t tell,” and required additional shoots and thoughtful editing to ensure that there was the right context to establish the credibility of these scientists. If the filmmakers had only had images of Dr. Corbett or Dr. Barney S. Graham at home, it may have limited viewers’ confidence in the safety and scientific rigor behind the vaccine research.

This experience highlights just how much context matters in strategic storytelling. In any business transformation, understanding the starting point – and how that starting point impacts any solution proposed to a business challenge – is critical to how a story is shaped to business leaders and executives. The synergy between story, strategy and action is the basis for credibility and trust, and the foundation for business success.

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It’s no secret that many companies struggle with transformation. A recent survey from the Harvard Business Review reports that only 20% of executives believe their efforts are working. While there are complex reasons behind these expensive flameouts, an often-overlooked factor is brand. Leaving brand out of the transformation equation can be a crucial mistake when implementing a business transformation.

Thanks to Prophet’s ongoing research into brand relevance, we’ve seen what happens when businesses get it right. Companies as diverse as Costco, Peloton, LEGO and Apple use the strength of their brand not just to sell more products but as catalysts for change. Brand continually fuels revolutionary growth in every function of the organization.

Brand–is often a company’s most valuable asset – it can drive transformative growth. And when companies fail to weave brand into the entire transformation strategy, they make costly mistakes.

For brand to play a genuinely transformative role, it requires a fusion of an integrated brand and business strategy. Brand becomes accountable for growth and investment both inside and outside of the brand function. Brand strategy doesn’t just follow business decisions, it guides them at the highest levels of the organization. In these companies – the ones most beloved by their customers – brand always has a seat at the table.

Four Requirements for Brand-Powered Transformations

A brand-driven transformation is the intentional use of brand strategy to ignite tremendous change. To reach that level, companies need to make four critical shifts.

Brands must become purpose-led, rather than product-or offer-driven

Organizations must consider the impact they want to have on the world – not just shareholders, but customers, colleagues and the broader community. Companies based on a strategic brand purpose create shared value and resonate with key stakeholders. They know why they exist and the difference they are trying to make in the world. Most importantly, they know how to deliver on those promises.

Thrivent, a financial services company, recently redefined its purpose to become much more than a business that sells insurance policies or investments. Based on the conviction that humanity thrives when people make the most of what they’re given, its brand now stands for helping customers achieve financial clarity. Thrivent believes that money is a tool, not a goal that enables people to fill their lives with meaning and gratitude. And that’s led to massive changes in how the brand shows up for customers, especially in digital offerings.

Thrivent’s shift has opened the aperture of how it can engage customers, propelling growth that isn’t available to the hundreds of competitors that simply sell annuities or mutual funds.

Brand teams must become experiential leaders, not just a communication-oriented function

Messaging to customers alone isn’t enough. To build relevance, companies need to engage audiences through cohesive experiences, including the seamlessness of how a brand integrates products, services, communications and its culture. The most relevant brands create experience innovations that deliver on their positioning, ensuring impact with both employees and consumers. They can flex and change while still standing up for their purpose, promise and principles.

T-Mobile continues to be a favorite example. Customers hated everything about the cell phone industry, and T-Mobile knew it. The weakest player in a growing category, it needed a radical strategy. Working with Prophet, it transformed from an also-ran to the Un-Carrier, helping consumers break free of contracts and credit checks, adding the freedom of unlimited talk, text and data

“Brand strategy doesn’t just follow business decisions, it guides them at the highest levels of the organization.”

T-Mobile became the wireless carrier that didn’t act like one. With then-CEO John Legere as its highly visible trash-talking cheerleader, consumers flocked to its brash branding and the simplicity, fairness and value it provided. Well-orchestrated “rolling thunder” of activation efforts added 1.1 million new customers in the first quarter of the relaunch.

The brand must ignite the passion of employees to embrace and drive change

Businesses built just for customers, with little consideration for employees, struggle. Strong enterprises fuel growth from the inside through culture, capabilities and engagement. They work from the brand’s DNA, constantly articulating the “why” of the transformation to rally colleagues.

When Plantronics, the audio pioneer, acquired Polycom, with its secure video, voice and content solutions, for $2 billion, it needed a new identity to demonstrate its combined might–not just to investors but apprehensive employees. The new brand needed to reflect each legacy company’s heritage, aspirations and passion, while signaling a unified, modern technology product suite. The Poly brand needed a look and feel that conveyed ease-of-use and accessibility with input from top leadership, including teams from mergers and acquisitions, communications and finance.

While the merger came from outside forces, the reinvention – a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration – came from within. It gave every employee a mantra to help build this new technology brand, already generating record sales.

Brands must develop cross-functional, full-funnel activation strategy, not just serve as an internal creative team

Instead of simply approving, protecting and managing the brand, it’s time to lay a brand foundation for the entire customer journey. The most relevant companies create signature brand moments in the most fertile opportunity areas.

Nike’s ongoing success in supporting the Black Lives Matter movement continues to be a powerful example. While Nike had long led the way among purpose-driven brands, it did the unthinkable in 2018, launching a full-scale marketing campaign starring Colin Kaepernick, perhaps the most polarizing figure in all of sports.

To some, the “Dream Crazy” campaign sounded just plain crazy, sparking boycotts and bonfires of Nike gear. But quickly, it built new brand strength. Moving beyond the campaign, it empowered its many Black athletes – as well as its passionate, young consumer base – to speak out for racial justice. The company’s stock hit new highs, and engagement broke records as it gained market share. It built unparalleled relevance.

It’s this kind of transformation that can only come from brand teams working closely with top leadership. “You can’t be afraid of offending people,” Phil Knight, Nike’s chairman emeritus, told Fast Company. “You can’t try and go down the middle of the road. You have to take a stand on something, which is ultimately I think why the Kaepernick ad worked.”

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If the kids had TikTok to get them through the pandemic, the adults (or at least the business elite) had Clubhouse. The much-lauded digital audio chat platform was the hit of the summer last year, and many regarded it as the first of a new wave of social media innovation. Companies scrambled to figure out their “Clubhouse strategy,” while competitors like Facebook and Twitter fast-tracked their clone offerings. For a while, all anyone could talk about was how Clubhouse was the future of audio.

This summer, not so much.

Clubhouses’ monthly downloads are in a steep decline, going from 9.6 million in February to only 900,000 in April. At first glance, this looks pretty ominous for Clubhouse. It would imply that it’s quickly reaching the point where everyone who would want to download it will soon have already downloaded it. However, that might not be such a bad thing. By focusing on monetizing a core, loyal audience, Clubhouse can build a very sustainable business, while continuing to test and innovate with new features. Furthermore, the fact that Twitter and Facebook jumped in so quickly to compete validates the opportunity in this space. The value being provided by audio-chat platforms is clear, and so it’s my view that reports of Clubhouse’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

“By focusing on monetizing a core, loyal audience, Clubhouse can build a very sustainable business.”

That isn’t to say there aren’t problems. Twitter and Facebook may have validated Clubhouse’s value proposition, but that also makes them giant predators waiting to either acquire or kill the competition. And unlike Clubhouse, they won’t be in a giant rush to monetize the audiences.

So if you’re a business that feels like Clubhouse is a technology you need to be leveraging, what do you do? Well first of all, why?

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from 20-odd years of social media, it’s that every company doesn’t need to be on every channel. In fact, successful companies have smartly chosen the channels and platforms that most closely align with their brand identity, business needs and most importantly, audience presence. It’s a model perfected by individual creators or influencers, who’ve chosen to become famous on a single channel, whether it’s YouTube, TikTok, Medium or Instagram. 

Following that strategy really narrows down the list of businesses that could leverage a platform like Clubhouse. If we think about it purely in terms of content strategy, it is companies that benefit from regular conversations and feedback with a dedicated community of users and enthusiasts for their goods and services. Think of companies like REI, who’ve created an entire content stream based on contributions from outdoor enthusiasts.

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In a year full of disruptions, the latest Prophet Brand Relevance Index® (BRI) reflects the many ways U.S. consumers changed their relationship with brands. Amy’s Kitchen is a stand-out example of the power of brand relevance: Last year it became so beloved on a national scale, that many consumers consider it to be more indispensable than larger names including Nintendo, Trader Joe’s and Tesla.

“When people craved healthy choices, honesty and companies that stood for something more, Amy’s soared, acing many components of our Index, allowing it to not only make our list for the first time but also land the #21 spot,” says Scott Davis, Prophet’s chief growth officer.

Prophet’s research measures how well brands perform on four key drivers of brand relevance. First, the brand must be customer-obsessed, demonstrating empathy and offering compelling solutions. Next, it must be ruthlessly pragmatic, showing up for consumers when and where it’s needed. Third, it is required to demonstrate that it is pervasively innovative, finding creative solutions to adapt to this disrupted environment. And finally, it needs to be distinctively inspired, with a brand purpose that connects to consumers in ways that are both current and meaningful.

Amy’s Kitchen didn’t develop this relevance by accident. Here’s how it keeps growing its hungry customer base.

Making People Happy

A good meal makes most people smile, and amid pandemic fears, it makes sense that Amy’s wholesome meals would score well. But its high marks on our “Makes me happy” attribute reflects far beyond its fantastic General Tso’s Bowl.

Amy’s is a feel-good brand, and it emphasizes its wholesome roots in many ways. The Petaluma, California-based company understands that customers intensely value where their food comes from, both in terms of organic sourcing of ingredients and the companies that put it all together. “We are still family-owned and have always been committed to quality organic and vegetarian ingredients,” says Andy Berliner, Amy’s Founder and CEO. “Because we are independent, we can put the needs of our consumers first, and focus on making a positive impact, without cutting corners along the way.”

But there’s a core yumminess factor too. In a year where comfort food meant so much more, Amy’s entrees – soups, burritos and that ever-popular Chili Mac –soothed people. Treating yourself to a quick and healthy single-serve meal became an important form of self-care.

Quality Customers Count on

One of Amy’s best scores came in “Lives up to its promises,” where it ranks within the Top 10.

Amy’s team isn’t surprised by that. It carefully cultivates consumer trust in its chief promise – to use high-quality organic ingredients that are responsibly sourced, and carefully prepared and cooked for best taste. Its consumers, who are environmentally aware, health-conscious, savvy label-readers reward the brand with loyalty and repeat purchases. And last year, Amy’s won over many new fans, as well, many of whom got a taste, enjoyed it so much, they continued to return for more.

“Amy’s is a company not just focused on the bottom line but using its business as force for good.”

The “promises” attribute falls under our umbrella of ruthless pragmatism. However, Amy’s also outperforms on two other attributes here: “Makes my life easier” and “Delivers a consistent experience.” While these have been true of the brand since its 1987 launch, it took on new importance over the last year. Stressed-out parents desperately needed all the convenience they could find. And during a time when nothing seemed reliable, a frozen pizza that consistently satisfied the whole family meant even more.

Cooking up New Ideas

Pervasive innovation is another brand relevance driver, and Amy’s excels here too.

Amy’s relies on constant experimentation and its new offers impact the way customers see the brand. Gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free options all reflect changing dietary preferences. And while it’s long been vegetarian, Amy’s food offerings took on new resonance as consumers sought out more plant-based options.

The pandemic taught the company a lot about its innovative muscle. As with many brands, supply chain issues became a problem, making it difficult to get products into freezer cases. And since Amy’s assembles many meals by hand rather than automation, social-distancing practices required an overhaul of production processes to find safe ways to stretch pizza dough and roll burritos in its kitchens.

Stand for Something Bigger

Finally, where Amy’s shines brightest is in its purpose, an attribute we measure as a brand’s ability to distinctively inspire. When ranked by “Has a set of beliefs and values that align with my own,” it earned the #6 spot, outscoring companies like Patagonia and LEGO.

Amy’s purpose, “to make it easy and enjoyable for everyone to eat well,” rings true to its customers and functions as the company’s North Star. “It is the lens we use for all our business decisions,” says Berliner.

Amy’s demonstrates that commitment by improving the accessibility and equitability of organic agriculture, and by making meals that cater to a variety of dietary needs and restrictions, like gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. The company is also committed to decreasing food waste and improving operations to ultimately “heal the planet” through its business.

Consumers will soon recognize those values expressed even more explicitly. Amy’s just achieved coveted B Corp status, awarded only to companies following the highest social and environmental performance standards. The B Corp seal signifies to consumers that Amy’s is a company not just focused on the bottom line but using its business as a force for good.

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