What The Best Brands Will Do In 2014
Andreas von der Heydt
The pace of change, disruption, and fragmentation in many
industries can sometimes overwhelm even the savviest and
experienced of us. There is a very solid level of know-how
and experience required to successfully drive marketing and
brand strategies and to execute in excellence. Even more so
in the future.
Let´s have a look at what I think the
main focus areas and aspirations of
successful brands will be in 2014:
Being Best in Product and Services
Development and Delivery
At the heart of successful marketing and branding is – and
also in 2014 and beyond will be- a great product and/or
service creation and delivery. Successful brands, products, and
services will have a higher level of personalization in order to
become more relevant and meaningful to consumers. Besides
rational features like quality, price, customer services, etc. the
brand decision process will become more emotionally-driven.
Strong brands will identify and communicate appropriate
emotional values to differentiate themselves and to establish
close bonds with consumers and customers. More than ever,
and to actively engage today´s high-expectation consumers,
brand will need to be more focused to develop products and
offers which grow the whole category they´re operating in
and not only their own products.
Being Best in Collaboration
In 2014 organizations and marketing managers need to
quickly position themselves in this new open, and more
collaborative economy. An economy characterized by speedy
change and permanent disruption. On the one hand, brands
from different industries will work more closely together. From
R&D to joint marketing initiatives. On the other hand, the
phenomenon of consumers co-creating content and products,
and sharing ideas will continue to grow. For instance, Airbnb
topped 10 million guest stays since its launch and now has
500k properties listed worldwide.
Being Best in Retail
Brands, being confronted with showrooming, e-commerce
and cost-conscious, always connected consumers, need to
make retail more relevant to consumers and customers by
combining off- and online elements into one single multichannel distribution strategy. They need to deliver direct
brand-to-customer interaction with the help of innovative
technology (e.g. touch screens, sensors, interactive cameras,
Wi-Fi- and 4G-connectivity, LCD screens), by providing
opportunities to experience products (see, feel, touch, smell,
hear, taste) before and during the purchasing process, by
providing easy-to-understand and stimulating product
presentations and merchandising solutions, by offering expert
staff, consultation facilities, samples, etc. Good examples are
Nike, Wal-Mart, and Ikea.
Being Best in Communication
Content is king. That´s nothing new anymore. Still, many
brands seem to confuse quantity and quality, since there exist
so many exciting communication channels and platforms. Just
writing up keyword rich blog posts and some articles don’t
cut it anymore. Brands have to say something meaningful
and insightful to customers while entertaining them at the
same time.
There is a great need and opportunity to develop unique
brand experiences that engage consumers deeply and
comprehensively, that stimulates word of mouth, and that
generates a lot of user-generated content. Further business
impact will come from very targeted niche communities from
co-operations with credible and influential brand advocates.
Utilizing storytelling techniques - while getting away from
the transactional relationship – is a very powerful technique
and will help to create a strong emotional bond with your
customer. Storytelling, although one of the main business
buzzwords in 2013, is nothing new and is very much at the
core of every great brand´s DNA. Videos, pictures, and songs
will become more dominant in the future. Working best they
will be blended into one consistent story (e.g. P&G´s Proud
Sponsor of Moms). Some weeks ago Instagram announced
that it would join the visual playing field, alongside other
messaging apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp to enable
consumers to share personable moments. On top of being
compelling, your content needs to do two things. One, create
an emotional connection with your brand, and two, drive
customers to action.
Speed and Spontaneousness will be crucial, too. Real-time
communication and feedbacking means to interact and to
respond quickly to any relevant occurrence, question, etc.
Brands can use e.g. Twitter feeds during certain TV shows,
sports events, etc to communicate live and instantly with
existing and potential new customers. It will take planning,
flexibility, humor, creativity, and courage.