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Northbound Brand: What is a modern brand?
- 1. Building a ModernBrand 1
- 2. What does itmean to be a modern brand? It’s not marketing. What we’ve discovered is that it’s about being purpose-driven, and using that purpose to drive innovation. Modern brands are based on listening, being transparent, and delivering a great experience at every turn. This hasn’t been a sudden shift, brands that thrive today have identified a core purpose and execute it in an authentic and continuous way. They take a long view and seek customer loyalty from the start. Their work begins on the inside by aligning a culture fueled by that purpose. Here’s how you build brand in the modern world. 2
- 3. Six steps tobecoming a modern brand: 1. Ooze purpose 2. Design for users, not just buyers 3. Relentlessly innovate 4. Listen hard, then take action 5. Be transparent, promote transparency 6. Speak directly, emotionally, and authentically 3
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- 5. If you’re amodern brand, you profit from a higher purpose. You know how what you do makes the world better, easier, and more fun. Everything you do and say stems from this purpose.
- 6. Inspire the world Ina car market that has failed to innovate meaningfully, Tesla not only redefined performance vehicles, but made people seriously consider the power of an electric car. By creating an almost fully vertically integrated car company redefining the electric car Tesla has been able to change the way humans are transported. Its promise to change the world has led to Tesla becoming one of the only lasting car companies created in the modern era. In 2017, Tesla was named the most valuable car company in America.
- 7. Do what isright Whether standing for environmental activism or promoting fair, safe, and livable work, Patagonia has always stood for what is right. The company has gone so far as to ask you not to buy its clothes if you don’t need them (to create less waste). Everything Patagonia does and says stems from doing right for people and the planet. By living its purpose, Patagonia has become a beloved brand that has given $89 million dollars in cash and in-kind donations to environmental nonprofits. 7
- 8. 2. Design forusers, not just buyers
- 9. Your culture, talent,service, product, R&D, sales, and marketing are all crafted to create experiences and “moments of truth” that lead to loyalty. Modern brands are experience-based, not perception-based.
- 10. Design the experience Instagramonce was a “brand police” organization, with strict rules for presenting the brand to buyers. In 2016, the brand made a choice to change its focus to the customer experience and emotional drivers of that experience. Instagram went from being a photo sharing app to being in the business of “strengthening relationships through shared experiences.” By growing the meaning of the brand to include multiple moments and experiences, including photos, videos, live, and stories, Instagram expanded its relevance and user base, and warded off Snapchat’s inroads on market share. 10
- 11. Emphasize connection Airbnb founderBrian Chesky built the company because travel was missing personal experiences. Before the company scaled, Airbnb handcrafted the perfect user experience based on early customer wants, pain points, and desires. While competitors delivered a 5-star experience, Airbnb – based on its user research – aimed to deliver an 11-star experience. By focusing so closely on the user, the company is credited with reimaging travel from the perspective of a local, not a tourist. This desire for authentic travel has made Airbnb a $30 billion company. 11
- 12. The secret isin the product Mattresses. In an uninspired market that was hard to shop in, Casper looked to create loyalty by redefining its customer experience. Starting with the product, Casper engineered more than 108 prototypes to perfect the mattress. With the product perfected, Casper then turned to creating clear pricing, a 100- day trial, free shipping and returns, and even tools for removing your old mattress. The result was not only a product that caters to the vast majority of sleeping positions, body types, and slumber eccentricities, but a covenant spot on the 2015 Time magazine 25 Best Inventions list. 12
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- 14. Your culture doesn’thave space for brand police. Your brand is a runway for innovation in every aspect of your business: marketing, product, customer relationships, and talent recruitment and development.
- 15. Innovation starts within Realizinga drop in relevancy, Netflix had to build a runway for innovation. The trick was an enforced internal employee culture of flexibility and personal responsibility. By ensuring and fostering the correct talent, Netflix has been able to continuously innovate its purpose and products. This ultimately landed Netflix into the original content space and its number of subscribers surged to 117 million in 2017.
- 16. Stand for somethingmore After seeing success in cloud-based CRM software, Salesforce recognized the need to bring more value to its customers and pave the way for future innovation. To that end, Salesforce created the Customer Success Platform, an elevated promise that pushes Salesforce beyond CRM. By standing for a Customer Success Platform, rather than a single product, Salesforce has been able to innovate cloud solutions for marketing, service, commerce, AI, and more. This elevated the brand, its innovation roadmap, and helped Salesforce became the number one CRM in the world. 16
- 17. Ride or diefor purpose Starting in 2014, CVS Health has been innovating its services around consumer health. From renaming itself (formerly CVS Caremark) to quitting selling cigarettes ($2bn revenue) to using IBM Watson’s AI system to predict which customers need health interventions, CVS Health is a brand solely focused on health. Using its newfound purpose as a platform for innovation, CVS landed on the Fast Company 2018 World’s Most Innovative Companies list. Additionally, while competitors such as Walgreens are closing stores, CVS Health ended 2017 with a 4.1% revenue increase. 17
- 18. 4. Listen hard,then take action
- 19. Your culture centerson listening to the customer, and it’s consistently embodied and reinforced by executive leadership.
- 20. Start with thecustomer At Amazon’s founding, the “.com” era was riddled with a consumer hesitation. Websites didn’t have the consumer trust that they have today. To combat the trust hurdle, Amazon needed to listen and be as customer centric as possible. By digitally listening to customers through pioneering personalization to customers having a direct line of access to Jeff Bezos ([email protected]), Amazon was able to meet and exceed customers needs. In fact, starting with the customer is Amazon’s first leadership principal. This focus on the customer has lead Amazon to being the second most valuable company in the world.* *CNBC March 20, 2018
- 21. Listen, then talk Hootsuite,a company that lives in a crowded social media world with many competitive options, understands the value of listening to its customers. Hootsuite’s VP of the Customer ensures that customers are heard through a program called Voice of the Customer. It primarily aims to understand the customer journey and surpass the expected customer experience. By carefully listening to the customer and understanding them, Hootsuite has been able to triple its NPS scores. 21
- 22. 5. Be transparent,promote transparency
- 23. You’re transparent abouthow the product is produced, packaged, shipped, and displayed. And, when you mess up, you own it in communications.
- 24. Shatter opacity In anindustry that prices products way beyond their value and promotes unsafe working conditions, Everlane works to bring radical transparency to the category of consumer clothing. It partners with the best, most ethical factories around the world, and sources only quality materials, making all this visible to consumers. And, it delivers completely transparent pricing. This has lead Everlane to being what Fast Company calls “The Next-Gen Clothing Brand.”
- 25. Have guiding principals AIis the technology buzzword of the moment and it carries a lot of fear. That is why IBM Watson has been loud about its belief for transparency in AI. For AI to be successful, people need to trust it, not fear it. To achieve its goals for the sector, IBM Watson executives have continually touted the need for transparency, across multiple forums and press releases. Solidified in written transparency policies, IBM Watson has been a lead AI transparency on purpose, data, protection, and insights. In turn, IBM Watson is a leading AI brand. 25
- 26. Own it Though KFCdoesn’t have a history of company-wide transparency, the company has recently been transparent about a mess-up. The chicken company ran out of chicken in the UK. To address the critical mistake, the brand timely advertised its fault, which not only landed it back in good graces with customers, but amassed international praise for a transparent and perfectly executed PR effort. 26
- 27. 6. Speak directly,emotionally, and authentically
- 28. You directly, authentically,and emotionally connect with customers at every touch point. More than that, you encourage the voices of your customers to be louder than your own.
- 29. Take words seriously Ina business world full of complicated and meaningless jargon, Slack cut the mess. By combining a brilliant business model with leadership who preach the value of words and tone, Slack has been able to thrive. The team applies a “This, but not that” strategy to help the company understand its tonality and works with the entire organization on deciding the words it needs to use for its customers. This business model, combined with an authentic and thoughtful tone, made Slack the fastest growing startup ever, earning $1 billion in two years. 29
- 30. Have a heart Southwest’sguiding value is treating people with heart. In a commodity market, it has continuously shone by allowing staff to share their individuality through fun PA announcements, having no fee flight changes or bag checks, and having the CEO preach the importance of having a heart. The Southwest brand of humanity and heart has made it a leader in the travel market with a NPS Score* of 62 in an industry with an average of 47. *According to NPSBenchmarks.com 30
- 31. How will youbuild a modern brand? We’ve developed a way to establish your purpose, then measure how well you’re delivering on it throughout your organization. So, you’re able to prioritize your efforts beyond revenue goals and close gaps in your operational ability to deliver on your brand. Be modern: stop relying on marketing to shape your brand and use brand purpose to create inspiration for you employees and customers alike. We’d be happy to continue the conversation. Please email us at Northbound Or give us a ring at 206.257.5084 31
- 32. About Northbound Northbound leadsour clients to discover, demonstrate and move closer to their true North: purposeful, courageous, creative. We craft insights, strategies and design for our clients that deliver clarity and the kind of emotional resonance that makes a brand stick. We help clients transcend products and the velocity of cultural habits by creating meaning, memorability, and momentum through unforgettable storytelling. Our client contributions range from Fortune 100 to early start-up and everything in between. 32 About Samantha Temple Neukom Samantha is Partner and Chief Brand Officer of Northbound Brand. Sam’s pedigree and agency experience provides clients a unique depth of vision, experience, perspective, and process insights. From East Coast big agency to West Coast boutique, Sam has honed her craft to a laser focus. For more than 20 years she has contributed to businesses such as Starwood Hotels, Bank of the West, Amazon, P&G, Microsoft, Redfin, Pfizer, Tylenol, WildTangent, Lenscrafters, Apptio, NetApp, Thomson Reuters, and Kaiser Permanente.
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