This week we have learned, thanks to the Intangible Metrics Conference, the fact that people would not care if 77% of brands disappeared.
For those of us working in the Marketing sector, this information, provided by the Meaningful Brands study of Havas Media, is quite shocking. Are we not working to somehow connect with the consumer? Where are we failing? The most worrying thing about this is that it does not stop growing ... not so long ago this data was 70%
What can brands do in such an obvious context of disaffection? The challenge is important. We are also living a historic moment, which is going to have a profound impact on our lives, on the way in which we function ... and very clearly on the way in which we consume and value brands.
That is why brands have a great opportunity ahead: the opportunity to reconnect with the consumer to be important brands for them and their chosen ones.
There are many ways to establish this connection with the consumer. The way in which a brand relates to its environment and its stakeholders can influence (and greatly) the consumer's perception of it. Carlos Claver spoke to us a few days ago about how some brands have joined social movements that have emerged in recent years. That has caused brands like Nike to increase their sales after aligning with movements such as the Black Lives Matter one.
We also see how, for long, the best valued brands are technology, entertainment and telecommunications brands. Brands with products and services that have a daily impact on our life (personal and work) and that do not stop evolving and adapting to the needs of their consumers / users / subscribers.
Now, having a good product, even an excellent one, is no longer the only variable that consumers have in mind when choosing one brand or another. Every time we see more and more that they will choose products from committed, innovative brands that offer customizable experiences...
As brands, how can we become a brand that matters? How can we go down this road to the heart of the consumer? By always maintaining active the process of listening to what they want, feel, need, think. Listening to their concerns, values, doubts, fears. And articulating and modulating our proposal, our purpose, our products towards these.
It is not a simple task. But it is essential if we want to be part of those brands that move the consumer. Of those brands that matter to them.
Helena Martinez-Alonso
Account Director
