Henry Ford famously said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” Purpose puts brands on a meaningful track, keeping companies accountable to their staff, customers, and the environment. In 2006, Simon Sinek introduced the Golden Circle, which had marketers worldwide talking about a brand’s “why.” It also became the archetypal model for brand building everywhere.
On a recent trip, we visited the Verdon Gorge in southern France. We travelled up the famous canyon road, stopping to take pictures at designated spots. It didn’t take long before witnessing a couple of ridiculous tourist acts. First, at the top of the scenic canyon, we saw someone jump a fence barrier protecting people from falling off the cliff for a photo op. It was hard to watch as he stepped closer to the edge.
The pandemic is opening a window to a more earnest and insightful approach to marketing research. All we need to do is go beyond the mask. COVID-19 has advanced our internet-everything culture, along with the role of online research. Daily pandemic-polls, consumer behaviour research, brand perception studies, and COVID-19 data-driven insights fill our feeds.
There’s been a lot of focus on changing the creative brief. We got rid of it and opened a whole new door to creativity. As we know it, the creative brief hasn’t evolved since the heyday of the Mad Men era of the ’60s. Social media was 35 years away, Mark Zukerberg wasn’t even born, and phones had rotary dials.
A single metric for success has the power to streamline and inspire your organization. Every company has a unique approach to measuring success. It’s quite common for different departments at the same company measured by entirely different criteria. A fractured measurement approach can quickly lead to competing goals within an organization, and worse, competing departments, exacerbated when companies are decentralized.
Brand reputation impacts everything from pricing to attracting and retaining talent to competitive advantage and intent to purchase. It’s time to protect it.
Has the Pandemic washed our hands of creativity? During a time when brands have an opportunity to stand apart, it appears our lack of creativity as an industry has brought them closer together.
Mother nature and advertising share a lot in common. The notion of adapting or dying has evolved species remarkably, yet brands are dying at alarming rates, with few evolving before it’s too late. The fact is, most brands do not stand out. 89% go unnoticed and of the 11% that are remembered, only 4% are remembered positively.