Social, cultural and technological trends have changed consumer behaviours and expectations beyond recognition. And the revolution is still ongoing. This is challenging companies in every aspect of their business and brand strategies. They need to be able to respond quickly with innovative approaches to customer experiences and marketing communications.

If your brand and marketing communications still centre around pushing out messages to potential customers, you’re going to be left behind. In today’s marketplace, the ability to engage consumers and pull them into your sphere of influence is vital for any brand that wants to maximise growth.

Those who understand how to create this irresistible force of attraction – or Gravitational Pull – between brand and consumer will succeed in the modern digital-first world. However, while some brands have undeniably got it, many others are struggling. In this article we’ll share some valuable insights, uncovering the nature of Gravitational Pull, its impact on brands and how you can evolve your marketing communications in order to create it.

What is Gravitational Pull?

Gravitational Pull is created when a brand acts, communicates and creates experiences in ways that allow people to more deeply connect with its mission, vision and values.

The theory draws on the concepts of attention, relevance and network effects to create a deep consumer affinity with the brand. Brands with gravitational pull deeply empathise with the reasons why a person has turned to them for a solution, and understand how to create a connection on a deeper, emotional level.

This results in a level of customer loyalty and advocacy with the brand that naturally pulls more and more people into their orbit. With powerful brands we often see consumers not only freely share their love for it with others but also defend the brand when it comes under scrutiny or receives criticism.

Gravitational pull doesn’t just attract people to brands, it helps to retain them as customers. Customers will look to the brands that are most relevant in their lives for new solutions as the need arises. Brands that integrate well into people’s lives are harder to switch away from. This can be a result of compelling ease of use, or it can be the effect of different elements working together. Apple is a familiar example. Their products work well together. Once you have the phone, the laptop is worth considering. Once you have those an Apple Watch looks like a good purchase. And when it comes to replacing your phone? Well, it’s so much nicer when everything works together, isn’t it? Why suffer the inconvenience of switching to a different platform?

This level of engagement may have been difficult to quantify in the past. However the data-driven nature of digital communications means we can start to learn how to track this phenomena in real time and even predict its impact on the bottom line.

The Impact of Gravitational Pull

For Les Binet, one of the godfathers of marketing effectiveness, really smart marketers focus on building ‘memory structures’ that bias consumers’ behaviours into the future. This builds the brand long-term, creating a natural preference for it that can then be converted efficiently into revenues through smart activations.

Binet recently unveiled the results of six years’ worth of research that has started to create some data-driven evidence pointing towards the effectiveness of creating gravitational pull. His work shows a connection between a brand’s share of organic search (arguably a proxy for an aspect of gravitational pull), and future market share.

This reveals that share of online search is a key indicator of brand power, both in the short and long term. Perhaps most interestingly this long-term prediction can also act as an early warning system for brands. An example of this is appliances brand LG. LG’s share of search fell and, in turn, both search volume and then market share followed a downward trajectory.

Binet’s research starts to reveal a key financial correlation between having an effective gravitational pull and market share. However it doesn’t explain how to create the phenomenon.

How to Create Gravitational Pull

So, how can you create the conditions required to enable the deeper level of connection with consumers that will help you to evolve as a brand, stay relevant and navigate in a rapidly changing marketplace? There are three key principles underlying this.

1. Understand That Everything is Brand

The conditions for creating gravitational pull are rooted deep within the organisation and brand’s reason for being. The core of the brand – its mission, vision and values – are what give it weight, creating the ability to draw people into its orbit.

For this to happen, there needs to be absolute clarity in the brand’s DNA. If a brand has an unclear purpose, is relying on smoke and mirrors, or hasn’t truly developed these foundational aspects of its structure, consumers will sense the disconnect and won’t invite themselves in.

There is perhaps no better example of gravitational pull being baked into the DNA than Nike. Nike’s brand mission states that ‘if you have a body, you are an athlete’ and this organising principle runs through all its activations.

While the brand is associated with professional performance, it also bridges the gap to connect with culture. For many people, when you wear Nike you are associating with and saying something much deeper about your own values.

When Nike hired Colin Kaepernick for their 30th anniversary ‘Just Do It’ campaign they upped the ante even further. Using Kaepernick, who took the knee during the national anthem before NFL games to protest police brutality, put what the brand believed in front and centre.
The campaign ran with the strapline “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Some hated the bold brand position and burned their trainers. However, many more loved it and became even more connected to the brand because of their shared values. The gamble also paid off commercially. Nike’s stock soared over the following year, seeing a five percent increase over the next twelve months.

2. Connect brand strategy seamlessly to all customer interactions

If brand is the interface of your business strategy, it needs to be fully represented in all your customer interactions. Creating a gravitational pull relies on a seamless connection between brand and every interaction, experience and communication.

All too often there are fractures in this process and it takes time to interpret and translate the brand strategy. Marketers can often get very tactical very quickly and do not align closely enough to the brand strategy. They need to consider their long- term marketing strategy to communicate the brand strategy.

Each and every touch point matters and has the power to either build or erode the brand’s ability to create the pull. Take, for example, when the same social media post is shared across multiple channels without thinking about the appropriate activation and voice for that channel. People switch off or even worse think negatively about the brand and its ability to engage effectively with them.

Now look again at Apple. The queues around the block for each new release and the hyped up audiences focused on their every announcement are no happy accident. They are carefully planned and hard earned.

At the heart of Apple’s success is a relentless focus on creating consistency across the brand experience. As a result, they can sell more smartphones and at a higher margin than others in the sector. It’s purely because of the power of the brand.

The emotional connection pulling you into the brand is baked into every touchpoint. When they advertise, the ads focus on showing the consumer the unique value proposition, as opposed to telling them about it. It is also realised through the in-store experience. The Genius bar makes you feel empowered and its radical reshaping of the in-store experience, emphasising Apple’s disruptive spirit. And the brand journey continues when you get home with the premium unpackaging experience.

3. Shorten the distance between you and your customers

The greater the distance a magnet is away from its target, the less its ability to create attraction. So, getting closer to your consumers seems a no brainer. In fact, many brands will say they do this already.

However, relatively few understand how to build fluid organic relationships that pull customers in. Even more challenging is how to activate and empower consumers to be advocates who share the brand mission, vision and values more broadly.

CMOs need to think more empathetically about their consumers. They need to understand their wants, needs, expectations and purchasing motivations in order to create better connections, interactions and experiences with consumers, not for them.

By doing this and increasing the impact consumers can have on the brand, you stimulate powerful advocacy and pull consumers deep into the brand ecosystem.

Take Lego, for example. This remarkable brand has topped the Superbrands ranking of the U.K.’s strongest consumer brands for the last two years. In such a fickle fast moving industry this is an enormous feat.

Their success is, in part, due to an organisational culture of customer-centricity. Their deep understanding of their consumers’ motivations means the brand does not frame itself as a toy company. Instead their business is built around the concept of ‘free play’, opening up the opportunity to create interactions across a broader range of contexts, from gaming to theme parks and film franchises.

The brand has adapted to the social age brilliantly, creating engaging content across all platforms. As one of the most digitally engaged brands in the world, it is the second most watched brand channel on YouTube with a large proportion of the content created by participants.

User-generated content extends their reach. The ‘Beyond the Brick’ fan YouTube channel, for example, was created by two teenagers and features the incredible Lego creations of builders from across the globe. The channel has grown to worldwide phenomena with over 530,000 subscribers and over 200 million views.

Another source of Lego’s enormous gravitational pull comes from its Lego Ideas platform where users can submit, comment and vote on ideas for Lego products. By shortening the distance between the brand and their most valuable consumers, Lego not only created a continuous dialogue but gained a valuable source of amazing consumer insight.

It is Lego’s ability to connect with its customers in diverse and meaningful ways that contributes to creating such ardent brand advocates. Lego’s customers are keen to join up, contribute and become fully enmeshed in the brand.

Evolving Your Strategic Approach

How can brands begin to build gravitational pull? All brands exist somewhere along a spectrum when it comes to how they engage with their customers and their understanding of creating gravitational pull. Their communication models range from the simple outbound communications of traditional push marketing, and ladder up to the multichannel, participative brand communities of platform business models and interaction fields.

It’s easy to admire the skill and dexterity of brands like Lego, but if you’re a CMO tasked with emulating their success it can feel overwhelming. However, there are ways to progress, gaining sophistication along your evolutionary journey, at a sustainable pace. To understand this, let’s look at each of the communication models in turn. Placing your own organisation’s evolution along this spectrum can show you how far you have come, and provide pointers for the next steps to take.

1. Outbound Communications

Outbound communicators are engaged in traditional push marketing strategies. These companies commonly have a one-way communication model and haven’t framed their offering in a social way. They share product or service messages with customers, but offer limited opportunities for consumers to interact.

This is probably a model of communications that most brands believe they need to move away from, since it is often characterized as a simple and out-dated broadcast model. Whilst this approach can no longer be the long-term option for any modern brand, there is still a role for direct outbound communications, and a sensible evolution for a legacy business attempting to modernise how its brand engages with people is to stop broadcasting and start personalising outbound communications using what you already know about your customers to build a better relationship. In this way you build a strong foundation for more relevant approaches.

To build up the brand and evolve the consumer relationship, it may be time to start thinking about a back and forth communication system for customers.

2. Two Way Dialogue

Adding a layer of interaction with customers allows for two way dialogue. Two-way communication allows a company to start better understanding how their product or service solves a problem for their customer.

A company needs to have some way to allow customers to speak back to enter two- way communication. This could involve cultivating a presence on social media to open up conversations with customers and providing mechanisms for customer feedback.

There are two key challenges with implementing two-way dialogue well. The first is operational – you need to have the scale of organisation and operation to be able to field customer requests and solve issues for them. Your social media managers will need to have the skills and resources of customer support agents. The second is to do with delivering brand experience – the quality and tone of your interactions has to reinforce your brand.

3. Encouraging Sharing

When a brand understands how and where customer interactions are happening they can actively support the sharing of information and ideas and become a facilitator within their category.

In this mode of communication, the brand understands its role in the lives of its top consumers in order to add value to this core group. While this community and interaction are not owned by the brand, their participation is valued in a way that allows the brand to get closer to its customers.

At this stage, it is beneficial for a brand to start thinking about social influence and creating the motivation for consumers to become brand advocates. This allows the brand to evolve once again in order to extend their reach in the ecosystem.

Organisations who wish to operate at this level can move things along by actively providing opportunities and spaces for people to share. That can be by encouraging creative use of products and services and inviting people to showcase their own results, and by ensuring that sharing buttons, hashtags, events and channels are in place and well publicized so that people can be confident that they will find the right audience. Actively engaging with professional influencers can play an important role in this kind of communications strategy.

4. Audience Voice

Customers like to share their experiences. In order to benefit from these interactions, brands must understand where they are happening and actively participate.

By supporting and encouraging customers to continue to connect and communicate, brands can start to build social currency at this level. Creating platforms for consumers to share their ideas, both with the brand and with like- minded individuals, creates loyalty and advocacy that starts to draw in more and more people. The Lego case study we mentioned earlier is a great example of how passionate consumer brand advocates can become part of the product development lifecycle.

To get to this stage, your brand needs a strong marketing communication strategy. The focus must be on the ability to share not only within the brand’s nucleus but also externally, thereby creating a community. Having too narrow an information-sharing system at this stage will slow velocity and make it difficult to create that pull.

Your brand must have clear framing, branding and definition to continue to hear and be the audience’s voice. After these factors have been solidified and are owned by the entire organization your brand can start moving into the interaction field.

5. Participant in Brand Community

The world is created through interactions. By connecting people, information and data we can create higher quality and more consistent interactions that build brand value past a simple product or service.

In this final stage, your brand is creating an interaction field pulling in the nucleus, ecosystem and even other brands to assist in interactions and information sharing. Having other brands in the interaction field will help improve the ecosystem size and create velocity.

Your brand needs to be at the core of, and a direct participant in (if not the owner of), the interaction field. A direct line of communication between the brand and the interaction field must exist where active and consistent participation encourages sharing, both internally and externally.

Conclusion

In a challenging marketplace where everything is in flux, the need to connect with your consumers remains constant. However, as we’ve seen, how we connect and the relationships we create needs to evolve.

The concept of gravitational pull gives us a way to design an overarching marketing strategy that creates deeper, more profitable connections with our customers.

As American astronomer Andrea M Ghez puts it: “Gravity wins over all other known forces.”

In order to succeed, organisations must make sure gravitational pull originates deep within the brand and is connected to all interactions. They also need to shorten the distance between the brand and its customers.

This is what Vivaldi does and we’d love to have a conversation with you about it. Contact us.

The post A Force of Attraction: How You Can Create More Gravitational Pull for Your Brand appeared first on Vivaldi.

Join us for weekly conversations that range from, how brands can thrive in a COVID era, to the disruptors emerging in a virtual economy, to how companies are trailblazing a road towards commitment to sustainability. In our new LinkedIn Live series, our strategy consultants, creatives, and virtual problem solvers from around the world dive deep on topics core to business. Follow along on LinkedIn and get to know our team! 

Let us know what’s on your mind here and we might cover it on our next edition of “Ask Vivaldi.” 

Below find our past events: 

Past Events:

Thursday, October 15th – 11:00am EDT

• Topic: Force of Attraction & Gravitational Pull
• Questions: How can your marketing communications help you get your consumers to connect and associate with your brand on a deeper emotional level, resulting in valuable loyalty and advocacy?
• Participants: Andrew Roberts & Stephen Firth

Tuesday, October 6th – 11:00am EDT

• Topic: Trends in Communications Strategy
• Questions: What can brands actually learn from the last 6 months to take forward into future communications strategy?
• Participants: Jane Hovey, Kelly Dempsey, & Tallulah Dyer

Thursday, October 1st – 11:00am EDT

• Topic: Securing Innovation Opportunities 
• Questions: Why do so many businesses fail with their approach to innovation? How can businesses better leverage changes in culture & technology to improve innovation?
• Participants: Lee Powney
• Host: Dave Birss 

Thursday, August 20th – 9:30am EDT 

• Topic: Interactions, Sustainability and Social Responsibility 
• Questions: How can we tackle the sustainability issue right? How do we create real impact in terms of sustainability?  
• Participants: Mario Bartels & Jana Justa  
• Host: Dave Birss 

Tuesday, August 18th – 9:30am EDT 

• Topic: Customer Centricity
• Questions: What does customer-first approach mean in the platform economy? Why the quality is even more important than the quantity of interactions? 
• Participants: Ben Kuenzle & Jennie Hoppe 
• Host: Dave Birss 

Thursday, August 13th – 9:30am EDT  

• Topic: Sources of Inspiration  
• Questions: What disruptors are catching your attention? How has Fortnite changed the landscape of esports? Who are the leaders in adopting their business that relied on live interactions to virtual interactions? 
• Participants: Tom Ajello
• Host: Dave Birss 

Tuesday, August 11th – 9:30am EDT 

• Topic: Rethinking Education 
• Questions: How is Covid-19 changing the world of education? Are we seeing a rise of those people that are very good at self directed learning? 
• Participants: Anne Olderog & Tracy Huser 
• Host: Dave Birss 

Thursday, July 31st – 9:30am EDT

• Topic: Introducing “Ask Vivaldi”
• Questions: How can a company make the shift to platform model? How has the world of business changed in the last year? What has been the impact of Covid-19?
• Participants: Tom Ajello & Christian Wank
• Host: Dave Birss 

Stay Tuned for Upcoming Events! 

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This too shall pass…it might not feel like it now but there is going to be a future. Coronavirus will change so many things and whilst we have this time it is so important to start thinking about that future – to help us plan and for our mental health. It has all happened so quickly and as the pandemic stretches on we won’t know the whole impact until it’s over. Life has been radically transformed and when the world starts up again, like it will, we need to be prepared as things will not be the same. At Vivaldi developing a dynamic understanding of people is at the heart of everything we do – our brand, innovation and communications strategies. Humans are amazing and adapt.

Across our global offices we are sharing thoughts on what the permanent changes may be as we prepare ourselves and there are some threads that we are starting to track to be future ready.

1. Digital acceleration. Needs must and people are learning new ways to use the digital tools available to them – be this isolated older people doing their grocery shopping online or learning how to connect with family on Skype, children taking part in You Tube Live PE lessons with over 950,000 others, using online tools daily for homeschool, subscription services booming and rolling out innovations like Netflix Party, virtual galleries bringing the Louvre as close as the British Museum, online gaming, Houseparty the list goes on and grows by the day.  People are not going to forget these ways of doing things when the pandemic is over. They might actually prefer them especially where they offer short cuts to give back time that they might want to spend connecting with the real world they are currently missing. We are at a moment of accelerated creativity and innovation with people and businesses finding new ways and thinking differently. Your business needs to be tracking these emerging changes – not necessarily acting now but planning for the digital customer of tomorrow. Looking at new digital interactions and mapping them to see the impact for brand strategy,  innovation and creative communications.

2. Reprioritisation. People say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. A hug from a friend, a child genuinely missing school, small talk with a local shop keeper, seeing your mum on Mothers Day, missing office banter OR working out which brands or products you really “can’t live without”.  This moment is going to redefine us, frame a generation (lets hope nothing worse comes long) in big and small ways. Just look at the grocery sector which is now seen as fundamental more than just a money making machine. It shakes up every trend, it hopefully helps “wellbeing” and purpose led marketing escape platitudes as people recognise what is important and what is authentic. Companies from Amazon to McDonalds are struggling to walk the walk, whilst LVMH came from nowhere to lead the pack with agile but tangible action. At a product level brand managers need to think through how they will fit into the world that follows. Scenario planning needs to look for some of the ways people may react  – either rebounding with frivolity like the Roaring 20’s despite austerity or with a renewed interest in meaning and simple life rejecting all that we found we didn’t need. It will differ by segment and sector so working through how the context for your marketing has changed, predicting scenarios and how your brand plans for that culture will ensure purposeful agility to reclaim a bright future rather than having to panic again to keep up. 

3. Borderless balance. Before CoronaVirus the world was frantic- work, socialising, caring for aging parents, choosing between thousands of coffees, finding your purpose and developing a side hustle…but it has all slowed down for those of us who are not Key Workers. Life has got simpler yet scarier. And the simple has been embraced to block out the fear. People are enthusiastic about having the time to play Lego with their kids instead of commuting, running to refresh their mind, making bread or eat lunch as a family. It’s a bit lonely and boring at times, but for many it’s reminding them of some of life’s pleasures, proving the flexibility remote working offers and that connection is still possible. For many of us still lucky enough to be working, work is now what we do more than a place. The world is working from home if they can. Some companies have had to panic buy staff laptops whilst others like ourselves have always needed the tools to work remotely across regions, at home or across time zones. But every business will get there – they have to to stay in business. This is a fundamental shift. It is a crisis making us all work differently, a time where creativity may trump productivity, collaboration is virtual – a colleague in New York is as much a face on screen as those in London. This has a huge impact on b2b marketing, opens up opportunities for borderless competition, changes the cultural and working demands of staff. CoronaVirus may have just killed the 9-5, monday- friday office culture and accelerated international competition. Businesses can use this time now to create a plan for when this is over, to learn from how people have changed to grasp the good of a better work life balance and borderless connections. If your business is not going to use it to their advantage another will to inform brand strategy,company culture or enter a new market.

Everyone’s plans for the year have just been thrown up in the air. No one could have planned for Coronavirus but you can start planning for the future. We might not know the date but we know its going to happen. Lenin said “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen.” The world has changed fast and so we are not caught short when this all stops it is important to start listening, watching and strategising for the new world. We are thinking about it are you?

The post Hold tight the world has just accelerated… appeared first on Vivaldi.

This doesn’t mean that the traditional will die at the hands of the new. It means that the monumental changes in technology, demographics, customer expectations, regulation and operating models where competitive reach is no longer determined by branches or office will demand agility, transparency and innovation to remain relevant, and arguably, survive.

In the last 5 years, the ‘neobanks’ such as Monzo, Revolut and Starling have changed the game with new interfaces, mobile tools and data,  indeed according to AT Kearney’s research, European ‘neobanks’ customer base has grown by more than 15 million since 2011. On the other hand, retail banks’ customer base has declined by 2 million. It is projected that by 2023, Europe’s ‘neobanks’ will win up to 85 million customers, reaching over 20% of the population over the age of 14. With the pace of change as it is, nobody can predict the future but the challenges are clear – the question is, how are FS institutions going to meet them and thrive in a highly exciting and opportunistic era?

At Vivaldi, we understand the intrinsic bond between business and brand and how to succeed in this age of disruption. Brands and businesses need a new roadmap, one that harnesses technology and data to connect more deeply with customers, and rethink how to work within the larger ecosystem to create impact in times of change. As such, here are 3 areas we believe FS should consider to take advantage of present opportunities:

1) BE MORE (CAREFULLY) HUMAN CENTRED

Being customer centric isn’t just about providing great products or great customer service, it’s about creating a culture that lives and breathes your customers and intrinsically understands their needs and wants. Forrester recently found that brands that have superior customer experience bring in 5.7 times more revenue than their competitors. Companies that invest in customer experience win new (and more importantly retain and grow) existing customers especially when ease of switching suppliers is increasingly automated and simple.

These companies need to place data and insights at the heart of their business to really get to know their customers, what they want and what they value. According to the World Retail Banking Report, the key elements customers look for in finance are centred around relevance and simplicity they are looking for lower costs, ease of use and faster service and better communications. Simple, right?

This means that finance companies need to consider the creation of tools to help manage money more effectively based around lifestyle choices including the integration into people’s lives including  elements such as voice, more effective apps and chatbots. However, customer data must be used responsibly. Data security and data privacy are paramount in customer expectations. But this also presents a ‘Catch 22’ –  Whilst 41% want data collected for greater convenience and to prevent fraud, there is also concern around the collection and retention of personal data, IBMX says that ‘FS and insurance are the most targeted areas of business for cyber attacks over the last 3 years’.

Great examples of financial services companies embracing this approach include Citizens, who map the customer journey and predict what customers will need next, Ally Bank ,who partner with other digitally minded companies to provide convenient end-to-end customer solutions and Charles Schwab who leverage data to understand customers, track trends and changes and Discover who combine AI with strong human interaction to predict when customers will need financial help.

How can Vivaldi help?:

Talk to us about how…. we can help you put the customer is at the heart of your thinking and your methodologies – understanding what they want and more importantly don’t want is imperative. Being ‘customer obsessed’, focusing on customers and declaring a devotion to customer centricity plays a key part in the ‘Customer centricity PLUS mindset’ we identify in our platformization study

In addition, working on organisation and culture also engenders this approach. Vivaldi works to transform businesses from the inside out by conducting cubicle anthropologies, designing and rolling out employee engagement programs, facilitating action-learning workshops and building marketing capabilities and teams.

2) PEAK FINTECH OR OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND ?

According to Shachar Bialick, the founder and CEO of Curve, there are now more than 10,000 Fintech startups around the world, indeed many are calling that we have reached ‘peak Fintech’ and that the industry needs to enter a period of maturation and integration in order to survive. That said, this is also driving huge developments in the industry. According to EY, 37% of Global FS institutions claim to have a Fintech product available, 22% claim they have a pilot, and 40% are at R&D stage. This spans a huge variety of services ranging from money transfers, payments and insurance, to savings, investments, budgeting, finance planning and borrowing.

So where to focus? Interestingly, often the fastest growing and changing economies in the World show the way for the future. Africa is an excellent case in point where mobile phones are increasingly relied upon to send and receive money. In fact, 10% of GDP in transactions now occurs through mobile, which has given rise to a huge growth in companies such as MPesa.

Mobile is also at the heart of our becoming an increasingly cashless society using mobile wallets, cashless cards and digital payment options. Some countries are leading the way in this – Vietnam has 10% cash target for all transactions by 2020 (Philippines set 20%) however, in the Western World, this move is marked by demographic patterns, with the Pew Research Center finding that those with a household income of $75,000 or more, are more than twice as likely as those earning less than $30,000 a year to say they do not make any purchases using cash in a typical week (41% vs. 18%).

A large part of the Fintech revolution is driven by Blockchain technology and whilst the promise is yet to be fully realised, it is increasingly used daily across the world, even by Facebook, whose Libra product shows that the mainstream is almost here. Existing trust issues caused by bitcoin and hacking incidents are offset by the opportunity to create a cheaper infrastructure, more speed and increased protections – like  IP protection and combating fraud and cyber crime. Transparency and ease of tracking will enhance areas including FS settlement across the board, part ownership of items such as cars / houses (which is on the increase), as well as more effective encryption of data and blockchain, which is being used to help solve sustainability and low-carbon emissions tracking.

Interestingly, Fintech (and in particular blockchain technology) has itself created a rival to many mainstream FS products that use the very same foundation to create a platform for people and businesses to engage with each other and transact. The sharing economy, demonstrated through companies such as Lending Club, Zopa, Prosper and SmartyPig, is already reshaping the industry through peer to peer lending, social payments, crowdfunding and P2P insurance, and this will only become more prevalent as it requires less cost to facilitate and therefore provides greater equality of opportunity. The challenge for FS institutions is that this disruptive nature and its disintermediation means they stop being the intermediary and therefore need to reconsider their space in the ecosystem.

How can Vivaldi help?:

Talk to us about how…..the biggest barrier to implementation of many Fintech opportunities is interoperability and unification of systems across financial institutions. If this unification can be achieved the network effect can become exponential. At Vivaldi, we can help you through our focus on platform economics that harnesses technology and data to connect more deeply with customers and to rethink how to work within the larger ecosystem. Our proprietary platform thinking methodology can help show you how to reframe challenges and opportunities from the customer’s perspective by leveraging the dynamics of a customer-first & digital-first world.

 3) CONSIDER THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND AND HAVING A PURPOSE

In late 2019, The Business Roundtable – a group of CEOs from major U.S. corporations (including many FS institutions) issued a statement with a new definition of the ‘purpose of a corporation’ dropping the age-old notion that corporations function first and foremost to serve their shareholders and maximise profits, but instead that it should be about investing in employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers and supporting outside communities. In an industry that has traditionally focused on shareholder value, this has big implications for financial institutions and most importantly their wider brand.

One of the signatories, BlackRock’s chief, Larry Fink, wrote in his 2019 annual letter to shareholders that “Purpose is not the sole pursuit of profits but the animating force for achieving them.” This is a big step and provides a new paradigm and platform from financial services companies can build and thrive, however it can be a real challenge to build a strong brand in the commoditised, regulated and often homogenised world of financial services. As products and solutions are often very similar across asset managers, corporate banks and pensions providers, marketers are looking to brand purpose as their differentiator. But what exactly does that mean, and can it be considered a silver bullet?

Deutsche Bank’s initiative  #whybanksmatter  looks at the charges happening around us and what they mean for bank’s role in the economy, the planet and the platform revolution. This includes how banks can become valuable partners for businesses, households and investors focusing on what is changing, what needs to change and how banks can help make great things happen – including investing in people and projects that make a positive difference in the world.

The most important aspect is that FS institutions need to avoid ‘woke washing’ by using the language and imagery of worthy causes to increase sales, without backing up this rhetoric with action. Companies need to ‘walk the talk’ and ensure that there is a strong employee engagement. It is fundamental that employees understand the brand purpose and their role in delivering this purpose, from executives down to customer service staff, and connecting to an idea of mission is hugely strong in motivating employees, inspiring new and existing customers and in setting the bar for all partners.

To ensure that the purpose is clear and becomes an ongoing commitment companies also need to communicate this consistently and repeatedly and integrate into all products and initiatives including physical and digital interactions to increase mental availability as well as ultimately build into company metrics of success.

How can Vivaldi help?

Talk to us about how……For over 20 years Vivaldi have been an impact advisor to the C Suite by helping them define the bond between business and brand today. Vivaldi’s strategy-to-action approach helps build strong brands with purpose that operate at the speed of business today. However, strategy does not drive growth if it isn’t implemented  in the right way – from customer journey mapping to content marketing to campaign development, to transformation through digital product design and platform development, the world’s most interesting companies work with Vivaldi to create and grow brands with purpose.

So in the revolution or evolution debate which would you choose? If you would like to chat more about this or hear more about how we can help you then please get in touch directly ARoberts@vivaldigroup.com / https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjroberts/

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The problem is that people are more cynical than ever. Edelman describes this phenomenon as a ‘trust tsunami’,  reporting that a quarter of people don’t trust the news and information they see on social. However, whilst politicians and the media are facing the worst of it, and trust in businesses has plateaued, leading Edelman to suggest that businesses can step up and lead responsibly. But how can brands do that in social media if trust is at an all time low due to issues such as the Cambridge Analytics scandal?

There is a lot of hand-wringing about how Facebook has betrayed consumers’ trust and recommendations from many corners that people and businesses should desert the platform. However, #Deletefacebook was mostly used by middle-aged men with an interest in tech (Crimson Hexagon) a group that actually under index as platform users (UK and USA, GWI). In reality, people are still using Facebook and therefore businesses need to be having conversations with their agencies about the best way to offset the trust tsunami.

So how do we create trustworthy brands in social?

1. Do it for real – whether levitating whisky or driving a car with positive thought –  we make sure content wows with authenticity. This is as true for fame-building stunts as it is for communicating CSR. We would never just talk about ‘recycling’ or ‘female empowerment’ – we help our clients prove their commitment.

2. Join a tribe. Share your audience’s passions – be it music, cycling or shoe tattooing, find out what your audiences care about and get fanatical about it. Only produce content or talk about it if you know the details – this will gain you respect. It’s important to remember that in social you aren’t competing with other brands. You’re competing with culture.

3. Show a human face – Build long term relationships with people your audience trust and let them be themselves. Be it with social media influencers like Freddie Harrell, celebs or everyday people. Give them the freedom to speak in their own voice.

Social media marketing is not going anywhere, but we are at a turning point. The issue of trust and ways of building it need to be faced head on rather than ignored. We will be stepping up as Edelman suggests, and not deleting Facebook. Instead we will be working with businesses to solve the problem.

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We’ve been tarred with a big black brush for putting nightclubs out of business, the decline of the Great British pub, and shunning big brands in favour of something more artisanal, more ‘authentic’.

It’s not that we don’t like booze (you’ll still see inebriated millennials out and about) – some of us are just after something a bit different. We’re not always up for getting wasted and waking up Sunday lunchtime feeling like our minds and bodies have been infiltrated by a swarm of angry bees. We don’t wear a hangover as a badge of honour as much as something to be pitied.

It’s common speculation that we don’t want to act how our parents did. But surely it’s more complicated than that? We live for instagrammable, like-worthy experiences – so we actually want to remember what happened the night before. We’re also a lot more health conscious than previous generations. We’ve seen first hand what binge drinking does to people long-term, and the internet is constantly bombarding us with fitspo, vegan diet tips, and nefarious healthy living inspiration. But most of all, we don’t want our social reputations and future prospects to go down the toilet if we start acting like idiots.

When you do find us imbibing a beverage, it’s highly likely to be an artisanal, hand-crafted cocktail – or we’re drinking at home because going out is too much effort. Or possibly, we’re at some sort of indescribable, once-in-a-lifetime event, too busy taking selfies to think about what drink we’re getting next.

So here’s the question: In a world where we’re drinking less, and hankering over high-quality, small-batch labels, what should brands be doing to connect with us?

Here are 7 things:

1.THINK SMALL

A major problem facing big spirit brands is their size. Seeing product recalls, ingredients scandals, and the ‘we’ll stop at nothing’ greed of corporations to turn a hefty profit, we’re more wary of big brands. This means we’re also more clued up about products – picky about ingredients, interested in process, and we want to believe that our drink has been distilled by a wise artisan who cares passionately about their craft. And thanks to social media, we’re also far more likely and able to tell our friends about it.

And as we turn towards these smaller, high-quality independent names – we’re actually drinking less, but spending more on what we drink*.

But there is still an opportunity for bigger brands to regain that trust – to build an enticing story of provenance and process that can give our new generation of ‘woke-drinkers’ something to talk about. They need to connect more with their local communities, and help grow their roots through local initiatives and events, show off their processes. Done well, this can make your brand feel part of culture – it could become a local tradition, something to take pride in and also give your brand a more authentic feel.

Some brands have already picked up on this – like Glenfiddich, who collaborated with a craft brewer and an ice winemaker to create a unique whisky with an unusual finish, giving it a limited, small batch feel, and unusual production methods you could impress your friends with. Budweiser has taken a simple approach to provenance, by changing their labels in the US to show you exactly where the beer was brewed, giving it more of a small batch feel.

*Mintel 2018

2. BE MORE HUMAN

Brands need to take a long, hard look at the qualities they bring – good and bad. Let’s face it, alcohol isn’t exactly good for you, and brands need to start showing that they understand and care about this beyond a ‘drink responsibly’ line tagged on a bit of content.

In fact, the old aspirations and status of ‘getting wasted’ are slowly dissipating. It’s now about getting a buzz from the experience and rituals of drinking, rather than the drink itself. Alcohol ads have always been well regulated and restricted, but where we used to ignore moderation, maybe it’s time to embrace it? The Lagavulin ad, simply called ‘Yule log’ was a 45-minute silent dram with Nick Offerman, where he comfortably stares at you for the duration. This might sound creepy, but the way it’s been produced makes it incredibly cool. There’s immense comfort in his slow appreciation of a good whisky, to the hygge effect of the cosy room and roaring fire, and solace in the quiet, contemplative, ‘no effort required’ nature of this clever bit of content. Heineken has also created a jazzy, powerful ad ‘Moderate Drinkers Wanted’ which shows the unattractive side of inebriation, celebrating moderation. It can be done, and done well.

3. GET US OUT OF THE HOUSE

Recent stats show that 28% OF Millennials can’t be arsed to leave the house to drink, and would rather stay at home.

Brands need to think about how to motivate people and get them excited enough to go out. Facebook events could help – these are mainly groups of already engaged audiences and enable brands to tailor content around an event. From Post Polls (If you do a poll, make sure it affects the outcome of the event), Memes, Competitions, teasers, online experiences, it’s worth getting people excited and geared up for a magical evening, and starting the event early.

The best example that comes to mind is Secret Cinema (if you haven’t been, go –  you’ll remember it for the rest of your life) – the world-famous events company finds inspiration in cult films, builds immersive movie sets full of actors and invites you to be part of the story. Every single event is preceded by social immersion into the world of the film – you might join a secret organisation on Facebook, proclaim your character’s attendance on social, chat with other people attending the event, and pick up on little clues as to what might happen when you get there. It never fails to make sharing content around the event fun and exciting. Something which booze brands could definitely do more of around their events.

Equally, it’s worth incentivising consumers to share their content during the event. You need to make sure everyone’s using your hashtags, and you either offer to share the best on your feed to help them pick up more followers, or have an unusual, conversation-starting prize.

4. LET YOUR CONSUMERS STEAL FROM YOU

Many brands create their own merch,  but how many of them are so good at it that it creates an army of petty thieves or “lateral salesforce”? Getting quality branded merchandise into people’s homes gives them a constant reminder of the brand, and can also act as a conversation starter with guests and potential new consumers. And in light of the fact that many people prefer to stay at home to drink, it’s more important than before.

Take the Hendrick’s Tea set for example – serving your friends a cocktail from this rare and unusual teapot never fails to incite a comment or a quick social post. It also taps nicely into the new home-drinking trend with some inspiration for mixology.

Or perhaps, you could let them steal your expertise? The Smirnoff Instagram your fridge campaign came with a simple challenge – share your fridge content, and they’ll send you a bespoke cocktail recipe with what’s available. With an exponential rise in artisan cocktails, could brands help us make more of our ingredients at home? A monthly cocktail prescription, perhaps?

5. WE THINK, THEREFORE WE ‘GRAM

We worked with some influencers for Aperol Spritz a few weeks ago, at the Big Spritz Social. One of the main features was an orange canal big enough to row a boat across. We were amazed by just how many pictures the ‘creators’ took around the canal before they even had a sip of Aperol – just to get that one perfect shot. It’s not dissimilar for your spirits consumer either. We’ve all been through the ritual of taking a picture of our concoction at its most perfect – garnishes and all – and the more you can help make that FOMO inducing, the better.

In fact, the younger generations are buying into the experience economy more and more. They’re spending less money buying things and more money on doing things. Experiences are seen as status symbols, and it’s no wonder. A trip abroad, or experience can easily provide them with more content than material goods, some memorable highlights to add to their social feed.

But, as well as making sure your signature serve is enough to bring on a bout of jealousy, you need to think about the environment they’re drinking it in. You might not have an orange canal, but there are other ways to make smaller, memorable experiences in bars. We worked with Hendrick’s gin recently to make harmonious music with cucumbersbehind the bar – letting people create their own musical tracks by touching sound-inducing cucumbers while enjoying a cocktail. And sending them their track afterwards to share on social. Chivas created an ‘Ice Press‘ – a wonderful bit of kit that transformed a block of ice into a perfect sphere for the perfect dram. So you just need to make sure that every time they enjoy your brand, they don’t just drink it – they experience it.

And don’t just think about this as an opportunity for a static gram. More and more people are taking boomerangs, using Instagram stories, Snapchat filters etc. So your environment needs to help them play with all those features.

6. THINK LATERALLY ABOUT INFLUENCERS

Every booze brand knows it’s best practice to engage influencers within or parallel to the category, but real cut-through comes from looking further afield and tapping into lateral passion points and interests.

To do this successfully, you need to know what your consumer’s passion points are outside of the category – and a lot of the time, it’s not as obvious as you’d think. Take, for example, the recent campaign from the Ardgowan Distillery – where a trio of Arctic explorers were challenged to hike to the South Pole for Hogmanay and partake in the world’s most southerly dram – only using renewable energy. They might not have had the biggest following, but the campaign tapped into the audience’s maverick side and it became a much wider, PR-able story.

When you do start working with these more relatable influencers, you’re going to have to be brave because they’ll want to do things their way. No one knows their audience better than they do – what they’ll respond to, what makes them click that like button. So give them some creative leeway to show their passion for your brand.

7. TURN BARTENDERS INTO YOUR PERSONAL INFLUENCERS

Only one person is standing between your discerning drinkers and your product in a bar – the bartender. They’re not the subservient agony aunt of yesteryear, just waiting to hear all your problems. They are (for the most part) ambitious experts who can keep you ‘in-the-know’ about the latest trendy cocktail or spirit. You need to get them on side so they can help get us millennials excited about your brand.

But you’ll have a lot of competition. The mindset for many bartenders is to work behind the bar for a while, build up a social following, and become a brand ambassador or start their own business. They’re hungry to become the influencers of the booze world.

We’ve always treated bartenders like influencers – getting them involved in the creation of signature cocktails, events, making sure they always have a show or a story for customers.

It’s worth helping them make the most of their own social channels too (Whether it’s for the drinking establishment or the bartenders themselves). When we started training up the Glenfiddich Ambassadors, we showed them how to effectively use social channels, provided them with assets and copy, identified people they should be following and engaging with, and even kept them up to date with different functionalities. It might sound like a lot, but the more you connect with them, the more likely they are to recommend your brand.

While engaging full-time professional bartenders is great, don’t forget about all those people who don’t treat bartending as a career. There’s a bigger opportunity for something more than the usual cocktail competition that aligns with everyone’s values –  maybe an entrepreneurial challenge – something which focuses on their side hustle and gives them a bit of creative fodder.

Now, who fancies a handcrafted, small-batch dram of whisky?

The post How To Invite A Millennial For A Drink appeared first on Vivaldi.

But a perfect storm of turbulent times combined with a heady rush of data meant marketeers chased short term sales – because without immediate results they feared there was NO future.

It also had the lucky side effect of helping them be accountable to the marketing cynics at board level. Often they over-invested against their better judgement – resenting big players like Google holding them to ransom to bid on their own names or lose it to their competitors.

So in 2020 let’s stop criticising CMO’s for falling into the performance marketing trap and pitting brand and creativity against digital.

The Binet and Field 60:40 brand to sales investment ratio is great – it is widely publicised but now is the time for action. In 2020 CMO’s need to be planning how to move forward with this information and make it work for their business.

Over the years many attempts have been made to get it right  – until around 2009 brand and direct response teams often sat separately and worked in silos with different agencies. Then it was all about integration and silos were removed, but a more complex media and agency mix meant a lot of mixing and matching. Now data allows us to see how customers really react and it is as much emotional as functional – a mix of brand and product messages which varies by segment, category and occasion. Brand work uplifts performance marketing results and performance ads need creativity, because at the end of the day everything a company does affects how people see the brand.  

Silos have long been dead. In the last few years a new era of brand and performance working together, powered by data which integrates and measures both, has begun. This new era means CMO’s need a new type of partner – one who is as passionate about brands and creativity as they are about data and performance. A team that is not siloed but has brand strategists sat with creatives working alongside performance media managers. Thinkers and doers from different backgrounds collaborating, working on both a brands future as well as the here and now with only one person at its heart the customer. To keep you centred there are 3 principles which will help you seize the opportunity analytics, customer experience design and creativity offer…

Data is table stakes – it is not what you have but what you do with what you have that matters. With so much data available there is a need for smart people to decode it, to really understand triggers in a path to purchase and emotional reactions and use it to inspire media and creativity TOGETHER.

Everything is brand – take care with EVERYTHING that you create because every single interaction contributes to brand perception. And everything means everything-  the language in search – from a link click ad in social to a promotional sales poster, and if you have times when you can only afford to do sales-focused work, remember to emotionally engage.

Measure what matters – do not judge everything by the same yardstick or get lost in multiple metrics without meaning. Work out the pieces in the mix and develop them with a plan of what success looks like now and in the future. Define ideal handoffs and the long term measures that need to be tracked, and build an understanding of this information widely – with creatives and the CEO.

A new era is upon us, but uncertainty and tight times may not be over quite yet. There’s definitely a case to be made for a more holistic marketing function with respected representation at board level and proving commercial success is key to achieving this. However, CMO’s should take things a step further – educating everyone in the organisation on the relationship between marketing principles and the dynamics of trade. If we accept customer-first thinking we can all move on from the brand v’s performance debate.

If you would like to know more about how we can help you then please download our Guide or get in touch directly with Jane via email Jhovey@vivaldigroup.com or LinkedIn. 

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In recent years, consumers have grown increasingly cognizant of corporate social responsibility – in fact, in a Marketing Dive study, 63% of consumers prefer to purchase from purpose-driven companies that take stands on social, cultural, environmental, and political issues that they care about. In another study by Unilever, 63% of American consumers were looking to businesses to take the lead on social and environmental change.

In the past, brands and businesses have taken a sideline to many topical, controversial issues, for fear of ostracizing some consumers. However, in the groundswell of political and social consciousness among consumers, the pressure to meet these new expectations of brands is exigent and can have real implications for businesses and their bottom lines – to stay silent on these kinds of issues today can have the same ostracizing power that taking a stand did decades ago.

Among the top concerns for consumers is the desire for companies to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious, in how they manufacture their products, in their philanthropic endeavors, and in their marketing efforts. According to an international study by Unilever, a third of consumers are now choosing to buy from brands they believe are doing environmental good, transitioning from brands that do not reflect these ideals.

The scale of this opportunity for brands has been borne out by those who have early on striven to meet the demands of a more eco-friendly world, including Dove and Ben & Jerry’s. Both have made sustainability a cornerstone of their businesses and mission statements, something analysts attribute as an element of their continued growth and high levels of brand approval among customers.

However, as the trend of becoming increasingly socially and environmentally conscious rises among brands, many have been faulted for what consumers consider “woke-washing,” or the idea that brands are exploiting social justice to increase profit. For example, 2017’s notorious Kendall Jenner-Pepsi advertisement – which co-opted protests generally, and specifically, the relationship of Black Lives Matter with law enforcement – came under fire for this very issue of taking advantage of political and social movements for the sake of profitability, an issue that hurt their brand reputation.

Thus, while opportunity certainly exists in every industry for companies to capitalize on growing trends of environmental consciousness that are reflected in consumer behavior, actions speak louder than words: those companies that superficially promote these ideals without walking their talk will suffer in brand loyalty, casualties of the phenomenon of “woke-washing.” On the other hand, those that substantively lead the way like Patagonia, Allbirds, and many others by achieving truly sustainable business practices where their mission statements are more than simply words will see an increase in brand loyalty and purchase preference.

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The conclusions reached as to why consumers follow brands provided a considerable amount of insight. It was learned that 77% of consumers use social networks and seven out of ten connect with brands. However, only 43% of consumers are motivated to share ideas for new products or services on social media and only 33% want to engage and connect with other consumers. The most critical finding was that the top reasons consumers have for connecting with brands on social networks are primarily personal. To dive deeper, eight of 12 reasons are self-interested motivations, for example, getting a discount.

Understanding why consumers stop connecting with brands can provide critical insight that could improve consumer retention rates. 56% of consumers split up from brands or companies on social networks, while 39% never split up from a brand. The top reasons for why people split up with brands were that they neglected to see any real value in continuing to connect with brands, they felt the content became either repetitive or boring and they only connected with brands for discounts and deals which were discontinued.

The last area that the study addressed is what brands can do better. Engaging consumers through social networking is absolutely critical to succeeding as a brand in this era. Thus, any ways in which brands can improve their social interactions with consumers, they must. The study explored this area by assessing the performance of brands across six different forms of social currency. The definition of social currency being; the degree to which consumers share a brand or information about a brand with others. The results and other research unveiled six social behaviors: advocacy, conversation, affiliation, utility, information and identity. They also revealed the enormous opportunity for improvement, with only 38% of consumers believing that brands provide them with the tools that they need to defend or promote a brand on social media, and only 35% believing that brands provide enough motive and incentive for consumers converse with others about a brand.

The conclusions of the study provided in-depth information about the connections between consumers and brands as understood through the lens of social media. The value a brand has is directly related to the strength of the relationships it has with consumers and consumer communities, which explains the critical nature of social networking. The study has shown that contemporary brands are still falling short of consumers’ expectations. They are still not doing enough to leverage their social currency into brand equity. Consequently, the brands that are able to establish and maintain strong connections with consumers will certainly outlast those that are unable to.

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