ARCHITECT A BRAND PEOPLE LOVE

Getting people to love your brand is no small task.  It takes meticulous planning, an innovative strategy and artful execution.  Here are some considerations to help transform your brand:

1. Deliver visionary innovation. Visionary innovation is the consistent art of delivering products and services that push the boundaries of mass imagination. Stop trying to be smaller, smallest, lighter, lightest, cheaper, cheapest and any other ‘er’ and ‘est’ word. These are the pursuits of opportunistic challenger brands imitating, capitalizing and nibbling into an innovator’s market share. They are not the hallmarks of visionary brands that constantly deliver world-changing innovations that create new markets, rather than disrupt them. Case Study, Apple.

2. Deliver trusted authority. Loved brands seemingly have no competition. They are industry stewards and undisputed category leaders. They are top of mind, top of wallet and the natural selection, consistently at the highest rung of the purchase or option decision ladder. In the eyes of mass consumers, the brand is light years ahead and an alternative just does not exist. Case study, Google.

3. Deliver unquestionable performance. Performance is the foundation of promise fulfillment. Performance is not questioned, it is simply enjoyed. Case study, Mercedes-Benz.

4. Deliver consistent confidence. Gaining and retaining customer confidence is a cradle-to-the-grave pursuit. While liked brands deliver reliability, loved brands deliver dependable, consistent confidence across their products, services, distribution channels and locations. Case study, Starbucks.

5. Deliver stunning art. Brands must deliver art that stuns with creativity, attention to detail and aesthetic beauty of form and function. Case study, Harley Davidson.

6. Deliver insider pride. Create products and services with features that insiders and owners love, talk and brag about, that outsiders can only enviously desire. Case study, American Express.

7. Deliver tailored possibilities. In a world where products and services are mass-produced, marketed, distributed and owned, customization and individuality rank high in consumer preferences. To be loved, companies should explore and present tailored possibilities. Case study, Nike ID.

8. Deliver authentic value. People love brands that honestly champion their pursuit for value and hate brands that insult their intelligence and subsequent right to decide and reconsider. Deliver authentic value in your terms, conditions, guarantees, warranties, marketing communications and pricing policies. Stop shaping the perception of value and start delivering it. Case study, IKEA.

9. Deliver boastful talent. Only brands that are truly loved from within will ever be loved from the outside. Ignite internal passion by delivering stellar working terms and conditions for your talent and they will be your loudest and proudest brand champions, ever. Case study, DreamWorks Animation SKG.

10. Deliver evident empathy. Social media has force-opened the gate for brands to properly listen to their customers and either neglect or empathetically connect. The smartest brands will empathize and rapidly problem-solve, acting upon online promises and words. Case Study, Comcast via @comcastcares.

11. Deliver spellbinding magic. Moonwalk from being liked to loved by delivering inspiring, spellbinding magical serendipitous moments that leave consumers and audiences believing that the brand experience was ‘out of this world’. Case study, Michael Jackson.

12. Deliver justified excitement. The by-product of mass excitement is chaotic, hysterical and frenzied anticipation. Loved brands always keep rumor mills turning and its lovers guessing about the next product or service launch. Case study, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

What many brand leaders fail to grasp and act upon is that love is also the most important relationship in business. Love transforms a relationship from a simple consumer connection into a hardened emotional dependency and staunch commitment.  Wants become needs and conditional brand ‘like’ transforms into an illogical, inelastic and unconditional lifetime ‘love’ affair.  When love enters into any equation, money exits wallets and profits surface on balance sheets.  In business, you really get what you give.

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USING CROWDSOURCING TO BE MORE SOCIAL

Two recent crowdsourcing initiatives have shown different ways in which businesses can become more social, opening up previously closed sides of the business to consumers. This gives them the power to influence key decisions in product development, customer service and more.

Proving that even the largest conglomerates can tap into the spirit of collaboration and transparency, Unilever has launched a new forum to gather suggestions for how it might grow its business while simultaneously reducing its environmental impact. Run in collaboration with global technology and IP marketplace, yet2.com, the Open Innovation Submission Portal provides visitors with a list of specific 'Challenges' and 'Wants'. 

These include finding new ways of preserving food naturally and bringing safe drinking water to the world's poorest people. Unilever vets submissions and the most promising partnerships pursued - be it with small technology startups or major international organizations.

Meanwhile, Chilean fashion clothing brand Ripley has taken fashion photography out of the hands of the David Baileys and Mario Testinos of the world and into the hands of the public (via MRM, Santiago). With Rompela Flash Mob, the company invited amateur and professional photographers to take pictures of the Ripley models for their new catalogue. 

Participants didn't need to have a professional camera; some of them even took their pictures with mobile phones. In order to participate, they just had to get their Photographer Pass online. On set, the brand gave them everything they needed to take the pictures: locations, eleven models, make-up artists, hairdressers, assistants and fashion producers. Ripley also gave participants tips on taking better photos on the brand's YouTube channel.

Rompela Flash(mob) - English version from MRM Santiago on Vimeo.

Participating photographers were asked to upload their photos at the campaign's website, where people could vote for their favorite ones. The three most popular photographers won a Canon SX40 camera. At the brand's Facebook page, photographers also competed for daily prizes of gifts cards valued at 50,000 Chilean pesos, exchangeable for Ripley outfits. On both the digital and the print fashion catalogues, each picture comes with the name of the person who took it and can be shared online through Facebook and Twitter.

It's great to see brands that have traditionally been comparatively closed - from the proprietary corporate infrastructures of huge conglomerates to the exclusive world of the fashion house - working in these kinds of open, collaborative ways. It makes sense to give consumers a chance to become genuinely involved in the brand's products and services, allowing them access to places previously off limits and the power to influence companies in ways they couldn't before.

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The Goodbuzz Difference

Thought leadership - We repeatedly demonstrate our competence by articulating precisely why certain media attract and engage.  To this end, our Facebook platform, for example, garners well over one million impressions annually and is extended on average to over 25,000 users weekly.  This blog alone has received over 50,000 views.  Our collective fans and followers are well over 2 million impressions annually - so we walk the walk. 

Experience - Our staff have unparalleled experience in delivering digital solutions that transcend media. Today’s Goodbuzz is a digital collective - pioneers of the modern advertising paradigm - part advertising, part PR, and part emerging technology.  We are motivated by a common interest, paradigm and belief.  

Our collective goal is to prototype the future - linking the digital and physical worlds by developing 'branded utility' and moving away from interruptive 'push' models towards more meaningful ways of connecting.

Clients - We also have identified some of the notable clients and brands we’ve worked with.   From Swiss Chalet, to Time Magazine’s “2009 Top 100 Most Influential people” author Martin Lindstrom, to the Conservative Party of Canada, to the PGA’s 2010 ‘Rookie of the Year’ Rickie Fowler.  From Puma Golf, to Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ), to the Screen Actor’s Guild Foundation, to Awkward Family Photos and points between.

We never champion mediocrity and pride ourselves in our ability to creatively ‘pull a rabbit out of the hat’ – finding the unique insights and drivers that amplify and extend your message. Ultimately, we're less about crafting moments and more about crafting movements.  

As we’ve repeatedly proven, Goodbuzz inject new life into any brand by creating participatory transmedia (i.e. media agnostic) brand experiences that entice consumers to play, create, and share.  Note: Goodbuzz Inc. is also a part of the Level5 family.

Value Add – We start brand revolutions all stemming from strategic brand personas, scorecards and frameworks that establish and drive best practices.  We can work with you or your agency, but bottom line – we guarantee we can get more from your activities and budget.

Contact us today to see what we can do for your brand.

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SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES [GB_V75.0]

Kraft Foods' Oreo brand is celebrating its 100th birthday on Facebook and Twitter by encouraging fans to submit personal videos, pictures, stories, and short animated films capturing their own childlike moments - PR Daily

Kotex 'Womens Inspiration Day' uses Pinterest to find 50 women (in Israel) and what inspires them. From there, Kotex created individual inspiration packages using what each woman had on her Pinterest Boards, turning them into gift boxes which were ultimately pinned and blogged about - YouTube

Disney's Marvel Studios announced they will offer advance screenings around the world for "The Avengers" in cities where the movie has gained the most fans on Facebook - Boston.com

The Generous Store’s ‘Chocolates for Deeds’ Promotion - Instead of a cash register the pop-up store uses iPads where people can log in to Facebook and post their promises to the profiles of both the giver and receiver of the generous deed - YouTube

Despite the hype, Facebook's Timeline may not be the most exciting, or important change coming on March 30. Expanded advertising opportunities may unlock the greatest potential for brands to grow on Facebook - More

According to PhaseOne Communications, Starbucks, Audi, McDonald's, Red Bull, and American Express rank in the top most socially engaging brands due to their "idealized self" brand message - MediaPost

The Value of Social Loyalty (for the airline industry) - Infographic

The NHL and EA Sports are teaming up to give fans the chance to choose the next athlete for the cover of the new "NHL 13" game. Fans can then promote their top picks on Facebook and Twitter with hashtag #NHL13Cover - ESPN

The Future of Profit is Purpose - The challenge that most brands are facing today using social media is that their brands don’t stand for anything. Certainly they make something or provide a service – but they don’t stand for anything. Bottom line is that your own brand ‘movement’ needs social media, but more than that it needs a higher purpose. At its core this is our modern reality - Article

American Express is finding success in social media by getting their fans' attention and gaining their trust with three simple guidelines - Social Media Today

This AIDS campaign leverages a popular scam technique on Facebook to spread the “virus” of AIDS awareness. Brazilian radio station Mix FM posted two very sexy videos featuring a gorgeous man and a very hot girl. A lot of fans were attracted to the the videos and watched them, not being aware that the videos, without their permission, were automatically publicly posted on their Facebook timeline - YouTube

To mark their 140th anniversary, Heineken has released a limited edition bottle that was designed by winners of their global Facebook competition - Marketing Magazine

The Four Seasons hotel in Toronto has launched a memory book on Facebook for past and current guests to upload their photos and personal stories - Luxury Daily

Does your social brand need a mascot? Brand mascots are making a comeback thanks to social media as marketers redeploy old characters in new ways, create fresh ones from scratch and use digital media to spin out rich storylines not possible in the past - AdAge

IKEA: Multi-View Interactive Kitchen Stories


The Shorty Awards honored Walgreens, Volkswagen, CNN, Research In Motion, and more for the best work in social media channels, viral campaigns, websites, games, and applications - Shorty Awards

Macy's is building an interactive social community for their customers to give feedback and interact with each other online - ClickZ

MatterPort is a startling new technology that allows users to simply point a gun and create 3D maps of their surrounding environment. Imagine the possibilities for its use in special effects and even video game environments. Coming soon to a campaign near you - Vimeo

Some creative is worth posting twice. ;) We love campaigns that integrate real-world social (api) data to enhance the user experience (i.e. Intel's 'Museum of Me' and Toyota's "Your Other You"). ‘Take This Lollipop' is a PSA for internet privacy however that takes the concept to a whole new level – Take This Lollipop

Dubbed "The first campaign using Torrents" - here's a clever Blood Donation drive in Russia. The 'Torrent Your Blood' Campaign launched as a short film, complete with microsite, trailers and social media to promote and amplify. The catch? Content was only available via a torrent (just like a blood donation) – Video

Here's an interesting online promotion for HomeSense targeting women 25-54 with strong results. It was supported with both print and radio - so well integrated and the appropriate engagement tools were used (based upon the target technographic profile). What’s clear is that women specifically love to demonstrate to other women how fashionable they are and be validated for it (witness Pinterest) – Video Below.

Volkswagens Social Gamification Promotion "Hitchhike with a like" awards points and prizes for engagement and even a 2012 Beetle Trip across Europe. More - http://on.fb.me/GUSITi

This is remarkable - the 'World's First Virtual Shopping Store' opens in Korea. All the Shelves are LCD Screens and users simply choose their desired items by touching the screen. Once you've paid all items are delivered to your home – Image

Human RFID approved by US - People will obviously cite privacy issues (and rightfully so), however, can you imagine the enhanced retail experience that could be provided when dealing with a ‘known’ user? Not entirely sure whether the world’s ready for this yet – but certainly worth posting. What do you think? More on http://bit.ly/eTgFo

When it comes to life, what's the point of "business" anyways? Is there one? - http://bit.ly/HcW8mI - and what does a life worth living look like in our modern reality? A great article by Umair Haque (Director of Havas Media Labs and author of Betterness: Economics for Humans and The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business.)

Target: Young males. Product: Toyota Matrix. Forgive the age of this video, however, we've been searching for any versions of it still online (for well over a year) - as the original website (by Mekanism) was taken down when Toyota was sued for it. The site used Facebook Connect and asks a few questions to extend an immersive transmedia experience. Here’s the Case Study

"The Value of $1" project - Here's a new way of participating in a social business. Participating in “The Value of $1” project (by Projector Tokyo for Uniqlo) is as simple as purchasing an electronic study book for just one dollar. More - http://bit.ly/HlkINy

Lowe Brindfors (and B-Reel) just released the second installment of 'Magnum Pleasure Hunt', which sees its lady bonbon hunter frolicking through the streets of Soho, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro. What do you think?  Players help her collect the goodies throughout the journey, which includes everything from a Frogger-like street game and rides on scooters, surfboards and helium balloons – Website

What Does Social Media Need to Really Work? - Article

Whether a new meme or the Kony 2012 video - every week there is something new that catches everyone’s attention. Ultimately viral content needs to evoke an emotional response from a targeted audience that motivates them to share it with their social networks. Ever wonder what it takes for content to go 'viral'? – Check http://bit.ly/GZU2Vh

Pepsi Next is offering their Facebook fans an internet taste test via a personalized video from the Funny or Die improv crew -  Facebook

Dell has updated their IdeaStorm community platform to include more staff involvement, social media integration, rewards for superstar contributors, and Storm Sessions -- real-time dialogue between representatives and members about specific issues -  Forbes

P&G's Pepto-Bismol, Target, and Walgreens are using social media data to guide their marketing efforts -  Digiday

GE shares how they are embracing social media through a "stock and flow" approach on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest -  BtoB

Walmart is teaming up with General Mills, ConAgra Foods, Kraft Foods, and The Kellogg Company to donate more than 42 million meals to food banks around the country. Shoppers can participate by entering product codes online, sharing a hashtag on Twitter, or scanning a QR code on participating foods to generate the meals -  Walmart Community

McCormick has launched their new Pinterest page with a themed "My Look Book" feature and contest that encourages fans to create their own board of favorite recipes to share -  The New York Times

MTV's Voices hub -- an international platform that highlights positive and inspirational social content -- has added the new "I Care" button for viewers to show and share their support instead of using the traditional "like" button -  Econsultancy

London-based department store Harrods is giving fans the chance to inspire a famous window display by designing their own store window idea on a Pinterest board -  Luxury Daily

By launching their video on Sharethrough - a social video distribution platform - Puma reached more than 8,300 total social engagements and over one million views -  MediaPost

NBC Philadelphia is premiering a new show called "Life Around Home" that will choose its subject matter based on posts to its Facebook and other social media pages -  All Facebook

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What Does Social Media Need to Really Work?

Overthrow Yourself

Here's a tiny question. When you boil it down, what's the human purpose of enterprise? Of industry and ingenuity, effort and toil? When it comes to life, what's the point of work — and when it comes to work, what's the point of life? What's the point of "business", anyways?  Is there one?

You might answer, having spent years in combat on the war-torn front lines of commerce, countless hours ensnared in soul-sucking conference calls, endless days enticed by corner offices and promotions, something like: "Making megabucks, by the most efficient route possible. Hey, dude — got an iPhone7?".  And you'd be perfectly right: the purpose of enterprise is chasing megabucks. If, that is, the outer limits of your ambition screech to a grinding halt at spending your days fine-tuning the just-tedious into the shinily banal.  But no one's going to look back on their deathbed and wistfully remember "Man, I was the person responsible for the lime-flavored energy drink!" 

While it's arguable whether humans have immortal souls, deep down, we all know: to thrive at the art of living, at some point each of us has to take a deep breath, step outside the rusting prison or gilded cage, plant our feet in the soil and reach towards the sky. Life feels actively, furiously lived when we love, trust, wonder, care, believe, dream, think, feel, do, count, matter.

Sure, you can argue that the right, true, and best purpose of enterprise is selling more stuff, at a greater profit, to benefit the already privileged more, through pure financial gain — and the human consequences are merely an incidental, almost irrelevant afterthought; nice-to-have, but as disposable as a plastic razor. But it's a weak argument — and it's getting weaker by the second. Roger Martin has elegantly and brilliantly argued why maximizing shareholder value's a destructive goal; Jack Welch has called the single-minded pursuit of shareholder value the "dumbest idea in the world;" Teresa Amabile has cogently chronicled why higher purpose leads to better performance; Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Tom Peters have both found time and again that the organizations that thrive amidst turbulence are those that aim higher; Gary Hamel has devoted now two must-read books to examining why management's hit a human wall, and what to do about it; Richard Florida has untangled the pulsing link between creativity and prosperity; and Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson have pointed to institutions that extract value from people, notably middle classes, as the prime mover of the collapse of societies. And that's just the very short list of my intellectual heroes and their findings.

Here's what we already know. If it's the greatest gifts you want to receive — whether from the people that work for you, invest in you, or buy from you — then you're going to have to come up with a more meaningful answer to the great existential question of enterprise than "another million units of toothpaste — but this time, with heart-shaped light-up tutti frutti polka dots!!" Hence, any variant of the answer to the question "Why are you here?" that goes thus: "selling more stuff to people they don't really need to buy with money they don't have for reasons that don't count to live lives that don't matter" is about as relevant to humans as a pair of ultra-luxe designer sneakers is to a goldfish.

I'd put it like this: at its best, the purpose of enterprise is to evoke the highest human potential. The instrumental, calculative, deterministic view of enterprise, of human effort, of the role work plays in life, is in its twilight. Not just because it's been debunked, but because it just doesn't square with the most basic, shared essentials of a human experience. Allow to me say it kindly for a moment: Unless, you truly and deeply believe that the majority of us should spend the majority of our days during the majority of the best years of our lives being emotionally and intellectually waterboarded in order to satisfy the whims of narcissistic Machiavellian sociopaths, because since they're meaner and nastier than the rest of us, we owe them the moral debt of our McFutures — enterprise, and by that I mean your very hard work and ideas, your talents and gifts, your capacities and skills, the raw stuff of your fragile human potential, has got to be employed with a higher purpose: one that speaks to what it means to be human.

So here's my advice: overthrow yourself. I'd like you to develop a view of enterprise that's not merely instrumental, calculative, and deterministic ("Work, money, stuff, power, status, rinse, repeat") — but humanistic, constructive, and nuanced. And to get there, it just might be time to square up to your own paucity of ambition, take a deep breath, and admit that while the point of what you're probably doing might be good enough for obsessive-compulsive sociopaths seemingly stuck below the emotional development of a second-grader hell-bent on beating his bffs at an endless game of Monopoly forever, it's nowhere near good enough for humanity — as in both "the people inhabiting the earth" and "the set of built-in emotional and logical wetware that elevates us above the feudal, militaristic, and bestial."

Consider, for a moment, the uselessness of the corporate "vision statement." If it's a difference you want to make, try crafting an ambition instead. A vision statement is egocentric: it's about an enterprise's vision for itself ("our vision is to provide the world's best customer service at the lowest cos—" SNOOZZZZE). An ambition, in contrast, isn't a picture of the enterprise you see in the future, but a portrait of the human consequences that your enterprise (not just your "company", but your ideas, effort, time, ingenuity) creates. How do you want the world to differ — how do you want life to be meaningfully wholer, richer, better?  A vision is meaningless in human terms, but an ambition is only meaningful in human terms. A vision might be about "the cleanest restaurants", or "the most fashionable sneakers". But an ambition is about "the healthiest lives", or "the fittest runners". (I give some real-world examples of ambitions in Betterness.)

Argue with me if you like, throw your gilt-edged copy of the collected works of Milton Friedman, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Ronald McDonald at me if you must, but I'd say: when it comes to the role of work in life, and the role of life in work, there's something akin to a grand ladder of purpose, stretching from the deepest subterranean depths inhabited by the lowest common denominator's immediate gratification up to the snowy peaks of making a lasting, positive, perhaps radical difference in the world. It's at the top of that ladder where the act of enterprise reaches its apex; finds its possibility; becomes its highest self; because it's there that human potential fulminates and culminates in what matters. That's where it becomes possible to earn not just money, but the stuff money can't readily, easily, imperiously buy, because it's not a beige, interchangeable commodity: trust, self-respect, adoration, fidelity, passion, dedication, maybe even a tiny bit of love, fulfillment, and, at the outer limits, a searing sense of meaning.

I'd suggest: it's time to begin firmly scaling that ladder — or get ready to be overtaken by those who can, will, and already are. If your answer to the question "what's the purpose of business" is as sweetly, tenderly naïve as "selling out and cashing in by pushing more disposable plastic junk, odds are, your days are already numbered with a clock counting down to the nanoseconds to zero hour — you just don't know it yet.

Reprinted from:

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The Future of Profit is Brand Purpose

What’s the secret to successful brand engagement you may ask?   It’s less about the moment and more about the movement.  Meaning, social media is simply a tool set that amplifies and extends your brand where your constituents (and prospects) are online.  

The challenge that most brands are facing today using social media is that their brands don’t stand for anything.   Certainly they make something or provide a service – but they don’t stand for anything.   Bottom line is that your own brand ‘movement’ needs social media, but more than that it needs a higher purpose.  At its core this is our modern reality. 

You’re dealing with a new, wired, evolving, empowered consumer.  Your brand’s success today depends on whether it is perceived as having a social purpose.   It’s increasingly the reason consumer’s select one brand over another.  Customers are no longer satisfied with just lodging complaints or casting opinions. Instead, they are voting with their social capital and turning away from companies that fail to listen and respond. The consumer is able to drive the conversation with or without the brand’s input – therefore only brands that are authentic and transparent will succeed.

In this rapidly changing landscape, marketers are challenged to humanize their brands and seize opportunities to engage customers across a multiplicity of touch-points and channels.  Want to build a future-proof brand that stands for something? Here's a few hints:

1. Be Engaging

Brands that create rich, engaging stories will build relationships. Authentic brand stories are retold by fans and become viral. If you address your customer’s needs, it will foster brand building.  Meaningful and advantageous engagement will shape your brand’s message. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn will give your brand an authoritative voice and build communities. Consistent engagement will increase your visibility, influence and make your brand profitable.

2. Be Relevant

A strong brand must be relevant. Brands that are viewed as “relevant” can go a long way toward making their competitors irrelevant. Instead of focusing on achieving brand preference, it is possible to reduce or make other brands irrelevant. A brand that offers something so different and special will create its own unique category and customers will perceive those as the only option, with no alternatives.

3. Be Accountable

In the future, brands will be held accountable for the good things they do (or do not). For example, Nike is highly engaged in efforts to demonstrate corporate accountability. Employing over 800,000 people worldwide, Nike was once criticized for employment practices of some of its suppliers in developing countries. Now, Nike posts results of external audits and interviews with factory workers at www.nikebiz.com.  Brands build equity by pursuing a customer-centric brand strategy. Companies that reflect their target market’s beliefs, mirror them and link their brands to people’s feelings will succeed.

4. Be Collaborative

Technology now shapes the entire customer experience and has transformed marketing. There is a need for more collaboration between marketing and IT. Your customer is a moving target. It is critical for CMO’s and CIO’s to take leadership roles to align and form a partnership with a definitive plan for marketing transformation. There are riches to be won for brands through this partnership.

5. Be Creative and innovative

Brands must aspire to be creative and innovative to win customer loyalty. Even successful brands can become complacent over time and have tunnel vision. CMOs need to take a disciplined and decisive approach and tap into the company’s core strengths.

6. Be Purpose driven

The future of profit is purpose.  Consumers want a better world. Brands that recognize the importance of doing good deeds will be rewarded with increased sales and market share. So, marketers must ask themselves: What is my brand’s purpose? If the answer is, “I don’t know,” there are agencies that can help. (Wink, wink.)

7. Be Responsible

Businesses are increasingly becoming part of the solution rather than the cause of the problem.  What’s clear is that Social responsibility is a differentiator for products and brands that create economic value through corporate social responsibility.

8. Be Simple

Businesses that simplify products and provide clear, transparent, user-friendly communications enable customers to make informed decisions. These are the businesses that will succeed.

9. BE A GOOD ListenER

Aka "Give a shit". ;) We know as Marketers that the better we understand our target consumer the easier it is to engage them. Brands must listen to customers today and build strategies that respond to their needs in real-time. Listening enables the ability to infuse data-driven insights into every customer interaction, thus personalizing communications.

10. BE ONE WITH THE Crowd

Innovative marketers are turning to crowdsourcing.  A crowdsourced campaign might include hundreds of creatives generating hundreds of ideas.  It’s about asking your constituents to offer feedback and input into driving your brand direction (and success). 

One cannot underestimate the importance of having a brand purpose or ideal, a shared goal of improving people’s lives. A brand ideal is a business’s essential reason for being, the higher-order benefit it brings to the world. A brand ideal of improving people’s lives is the only sustainable way to recruit, unite, and inspire all the people a business touches, from employees to customers. It is the only thing that enduringly connects the core beliefs of the people inside a business with the fundamental human values of the people the business serves. Without that connection, without a brand ideal, no business can truly excel.

The business case for brand purpose or ideals is not about altruism or corporate social responsibility. It’s about expressing a business’s fundamental reason for being and powering its growth.  It’s about linking and leveraging the behaviors of all the people important to a business’s future, because nothing unites and motivates people’s actions as strongly as ideals. They make it possible to connect what happens inside a business with what happens outside it, especially in the “black box” of people’s minds and how they make decisions. Ideals are the ultimate driver of category-leading growth.

A viable brand purpose or ideal cuts through the clutter and clarifies what you and your people stand for and believe. It transforms the enterprise into a customer-understanding machine, personalizing who your best customers are and what values you share with them. It helps crystallize your business’s existing and potential points of parity and points of difference with the competition. It illuminates your organizational culture’s strengths and weaknesses, so that you can see what needs to change and what doesn’t, what’s negotiable and what’s not, what can be outsourced and what is core.

Highly adaptive and flexible, a brand ideal is not tied to a particular business model and has no expiration date. It generates effective new business models, strategies, and tactics before the current ones have lost their freshness and begun to produce diminishing returns. Most important, a brand purpose or ideal enables leaders to drive results by being absolutely clear and compelling about what they value. 

Follow along in this blog or on our Facebook page for daily examples of social brand storytelling that effectively demonstrates that - to succeed today and in the future - brands need to demonstrate that maximum growth and high ideals are not incompatible, they’re inseparable.  The good news?   The easiest way to predict the future is to invent it.   

Welcome to the brave new world.  Let us know if you need any help.

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