Brand value increases across categories

Part 1 | Highlights Take Aways
Communication Growth
Be the message and the medium
Marshall McLuhan had it right when he said, “The medium
is the message.” But now the aphorism is flipped. The
message is the medium because of several contemporaneous
developments, including: the advent of social media, the
rapid and wide dissemination of information, democratic
access to audiences, and the emergence of big data.
Brands have at least as much ability to organize audiences
and deliver relevant messages as traditional broadcast and
print media.
Be genuine and honest
The advantage of traditional media is objectivity and
authority. In contrast, brands have a particular point of
view and an agenda. The key is not to pretend otherwise,
but to be genuine and honest. Social media opinions can be
harsh. The corrective is not to sanitize them, but to respond
as appropriate and use the opinions to improve product and
communications.
Integrate the brand experience in
all channels
The industry parlance has moved from multi-channel to
omni-channel to where no single word captures what it
means for a brand to be present everywhere. Meanwhile,
brands across categories are working to get it right. The
luxury brand Burberry creates live fashion shows that are
broadcast in its stores and on its website. Walgreens, the US
drug store chain, aligns is website and mobile presence with
8,000 store locations that customers can visit for shopping or
pick-up. The challenge is execution, harmoniously aligning
all of a brand’s physical and digital representations. The
strategic use of technology, mobile location based services
and big data can provide a competitive advantage. Getting
all that right reinforces brand experience.
Inspire employees
The customer comes first. The customer is always right.
This is the conventional wisdom. It contains some truth and
misses some truth. As banks attempt to restore customer
trust lost during the financial crisis, they’re working to
improve internal morale, especially among employees
who face customers everyday and ultimately represent the
brand most directly. It’s an equation championed by the US
retailer Whole Foods. The brand asserts: Happy, enthusiastic
employees satisfy customers; who produce the sales and
profits that the drive stock price, which rewards shareholders.
It sounds like the new conventional wisdom.
Treat customers as individuals,
not demographics
Intelligent use of big data enables brands to treat customers
as individuals rather than demographics. Sales people with
tablets that instantly access a customer’s buying history and
preferences can respond more personally. Communication
can be more individualized. A customer spending an average
amount of money over time might receive a personalized
thank you, while a higher-spending customer might receive
an invitation to a special event. The data-driven ability to
understand and respond to customers individually crosses
most categories. Until now, for example, insurers focused
more on acquiring new customers than on introducing more
products to existing customers. With the ability to quickly
analyze data, insurers can anticipate when a homeowner
insurance customer may be ready for a life policy. Brands
have an opportunity to develop mutually rewarding,
individual long-term customer relationships. Customers, not
demographics, spend money.
Be ready for the next new and shiny thing
Because people felt uncertain last year, new and shiny
didn’t quite tempt them. Even in technology, a category
known for innovation, brands shifted to iteration. That’s
because brands generally didn’t want to take big risks when
consumer confidence was still fragile and a wallet opened
only slightly could snap shut quickly. Incremental change
was enough to keep consumers happy and keep pace with
the competition. The period of incremental change won’t last
forever, however. The next new and shiny thing needs to be
ready before consumers realize they want it.
Keep up with the fast growing markets
The BRICs took a breather. The slowdown revealed key
distinctions in their levels of development. Brazil experienced
mixed conditions: Monetary policy stimulated growth of
the consumer sector but hurt banking, commodities and
exports. With Brazil hosting two global events—the World
Cup and the Olympics—in the next three years, growth
will intensify. In China, the government’s drive to develop a
consumer society will continue to increase purchasing power
well beyond the largest cities. At the end of 2012, India
expanded direct foreign investment, allowing multiple brand
merchants, like Walmart, to operate as retailers. The opening
of India’s economy, slow and deliberate as the country
manages internal competing interests, is inexorable. The
rate of GDP growth in Russia actually outpaced the other
BRICs. With the entrance of Russia into the WTO last year,
and the Olympics in Sochi in 2014, Russia is ready for more
Western brands and the development of Russian brands. The
BRICs breather won’t last forever. And then there’s Africa…
Invest in brand when others hesitate
It’s always difficult to invest when the economy is troubled,
sales are slow, budgets are being cut and caution, even fear,
becomes contagious. But after the gloom, when the sun
returns, the only question is whether a pot of gold waits at
the end of the rainbow. That depends on investment. When
the recession hit, the sales of US home improvement retailer
Home Depot already were pressured because of internal
problems, including service levels, which tarnished the brand.
Home Depot invested to fix the problems and restore its
strong brand. In the BrandZ 2013 Most Valuable Global
Brands report, Home Depot was a top riser for the second
consecutive year. Its brand value rose 43 percent, following a
31 percent increase a year ago. Strong brands need tending,
but they respond—often quickly.
18 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013 19