Brand value increases across categories

Part 1 | Highlights Cross-Category Trends
Cross-Category
Trends
10 current influences on brands
1 Technology 2Life is 3 Location 4 Consumers expect 5
is a life force blended
is not
what they’ve paid
Technology has become like
breathing. We can’t live without
it. And we’re not aware of it until
there’s a problem. In the technology
category, devices, content and
distribution systems have
coalesced into parallel and
competing ecosystems.
Brand implications
New and shiny alone isn’t enough.
No brand is unassailable. The
winning brands attempt to be
omnipresent and indispensible.
Example
Not long ago derided as “dumb
pipes,” telecom providers
are creating their own
branded ecosystems.
We increasingly move seamlessly
between the personal, social
and businesses aspects of our
lives. Or we occupy these spaces
simultaneously. Technology enables
this fluidity.
Brand implications
Brands must keep up as we move
among the personal, social and
business aspects of our lives. Brands
that force us to pause or switch
devices risk losing us. The rigid B2C
and B2B designations don’t fully
apply anymore. To move smoothly,
brands can’t be defined by a narrow
function. Brands need to assume a
higher purpose; then we grant them
permission to be present all the time.
Example
BYOD shows how consumers are
driving this trend. The Bring Your
Own Device attitude is transforming
the workplace as people reject ITissued
gear in favor of the brands
and devices that they use in their
personal lives anywhere, anytime.
important
Location is everywhere. Location
is no longer a barrier because you
can reach the consumer anywhere,
physically or virtually, at a time that
suits the consumer.
Brand implications
Brands in all categories need to meet
customers wherever the customers
are. Each space, physical or virtual,
can serve a different and appropriate
function. A physical space can help
showcase brand experience and
cultivate customer intimacy, while
the virtual world can perform the
functional benefits of wide product
range and simplified purchasing.
Example
In the insurance category, brands
have increased their presence in
social media. And one leading brand
is experimenting with storefront cafélike
locations that appeal to younger,
first-time customers looking for
information without a hard sell.
for—and maybe a
bit more
Consumers shop from a broad portfolio of brands.
A woman may purchase an affordable dress but
match it with a luxury accessory. Consumers calibrate
their expectations realistically. They’re fine when the
customer service of a value brand lacks intimate
personal attention, but impatient if it lacks efficiency.
Consumers don’t expect everything from a brand—
just what they’ve paid for—and maybe a bit more,
like finding some luxury feel in a mass setting.
Brand implications
Technology enables brand marketers to satisfy these
service expectations. By collecting and analyzing
customer data, brands can tailor products, services
and messages to be relevant for individual customers.
Example
In both super luxury and mass luxury, brands create
personalized experiences to make customers feel
especially unique and valued. A customer buying
an accessory might receive a thank you on Twitter;
a couture customer might be invited to an exclusive
fashion show.
Customers expect
the experience
that a brand promises
to be executed
flawlessly across
categories
Having encountered excellent brand experience
in some categories, consumers now apply these
standards across all categories. They expect excellent
brand experience and have little patience when it’s
missing. And they don’t necessarily expect to pay
extra for it.
Brand implications
No category is immune from this expectation. No
aspect of the brand is excluded, including: how the
brand engages in physical and virtual stores; how
the brand communicates to customers; and how
customers communicate about the brand in their
social networks. Brands need to benchmark against
the best-in-class brand experience.
Example
This phenomenon can be called the “Apple Effect,”
since the brand established a standard for design,
functionality and service delivered by both physical
and online stores. Meeting those high expectations
challenges any brand, including Apple, to
consistently improve.
12 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013 13