A new brand world – what is your 20/20 vision?

As we look back on the passing decade, the digitalisation of data and its transformative benefits to business will be a defining theme in any epitaph. While we fully expect that technological innovation to continue at pace in the 2020s, B2B brand leaders will be asking how they continue to ensure brand relevance in an increasingly fragmented and complex operating environment; one where social injustice, natural resource shortage and / or the impact of waste are prominent challenges to all companies no matter size or industry.

It is now widely accepted that intangible assets are increasingly important to business success and business valuation, representing 80% of the value of the S&P 500. To be clear, by intangible assets we are referring to assets such as brand, intellectual property and people. This juxtaposition of tangible to intangible assets as a primary driver of the enterprise value of a company is not new, but has occurred over the last decade in parallel to a growing scepticism among consumers of the world’s largest companies and a sharp decline in the trust factor afforded to these companies.

Conscious capitalism – developing social consciousness

To put that another way, as company value relies increasingly on its brand and people, customer loyalty and brand trust are waning. Simon Sinek’s revelatory TEDx talk back in 2009 remains relevant. In it he describes his idea, The Golden Circle and the power of WHY, where he argues that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. This, he explains, is supported by human physiology where our limbic brain, our inner brain, is responsible for trust and loyalty, and importantly, for driving behavioural change.

Marketers have taken the message on board and packaged the spirit of the Golden Circle into the mantra “purpose beyond profit” which will serve industry well in the 2020s; doing what you did well last decade won’t guarantee a winning formula in the years ahead. Brands will need to do more and demonstrate that they care as much about the environment and people, as much as they care about profits to increase trust and loyalty. 

Branded communities & b2b social influencers

The goal then is “to do business with people who believe what you believe” (Sinek). If we have learned anything from social media in the last decade, it is its capacity to unite individuals, amplify the voice of the few, speak truth to power and bring about favourable change in adversity. While social media has its flaws, it is, along with its many communities, broadly a force for good.

In the 2020s, brands should focus on their believers. While we should expect greater regulation and control of the social media environment, digital platforms will further enhance and accelerate customer connections and collaboration. Branded communities and b2b social influencers will not only help companies to increase brand visibility, understand customer challenges and improve the quality of its service or product, but in doing so under its primary brand domain will also increase its market capitalisation as a major intangible asset. But brands will need to make it very clear where social influencers are at play.

Data insights, content strategy and integrated marketing

The tension between IT, data scientists and marketers has been evident in recent years as the operating environment is disrupted by technology and the route to masterful customer relationship management is enlightened by ever deeper data insights. Needs-based segmentation has always been the foundation of effective marketing strategies but there is a rapidly growing opportunity to segment on the basis of customer / user behaviour given this augmented data rich environment.

The indisputable truth is that effective marketing practice in the 2020s will be near impossible without a marketing technology stack. While closer integration of the IT / data and marketing functions is undoubted, data will remain as just data without skilful marketing leadership to turn it into a customer related strategy. In b2b, it will always be true that customers relate to people, not products, and if they can relate to the brand in a more authentic way, they are more likely to trust it. Content marketing is now proven to help validate, authenticate and nourish brands and investment in demand and lead generation activities will increase as companies grow wiser to its ROI.

Whatever the view on the passing decade and the trends that will come to pass in the decade ahead, the fundamental principle of marketing is and will remain market orientation, and the key role of the marketing leader is and will remain customer-relating. That is the strategic leadership job that will still need to be done. 

@MatthewKing is a strategic marketing consultant, corporate trainer and managing director of Media Safari, a strategic communications agency. As a Chartered Marketer & Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Matt shapes and delivers communications programmes for business and healthcare technology clients.