Alan M. Siegel's Blog, page 6

Dare to simplify

Businesses and news outlets discussing “today’s complex world” have officially reached a fever pitch. Let’s add this topic to the laundry list of things that exhaust us—as consumers, businesspeople, marketers and humans. When will it stop? At what point will the commentary on complexity end, and powerful antidotes become the central focus instead? 

From our perspective, the world can be divided into two camps: simplifiers and everyone else.  As creatives and brand-builders, we thrive when tackling complexity. It brings constant change and new challenges. It’s a geyser of inspiration; fuel for creativity and wild ideas. And while we play in complexity, we trade in simplicity. It is the tried-and-true way to create value. It is at the heart of building trust. And it is needed now more than ever.  

Though we believe simple is smart, we also know simple is not easy. It can be hard to choose simplicity in “today’s complex world” when the pressure is to say more, do more and create more. With endless choices at our fingertips, those brave leaders who dare to simplify now will win in the long run. 

As Managing Directors of our U.S.-based business, there are common challenges we’re hearing clients talking about that we believe simplicity is the antidote for: 

Getting lost in the noise
To break through a crowded and chaotic landscape, brands must strip away the unnecessary and bring their unique elements front and center. A distinctive identity that punches you in the face with a clear idea leaves a lasting impact.    

Becoming irrelevant
It’s hard to keep up when the landscape is constantly changing: new tech, new, competitors, new
customer expectations. To discern what’s enduring from what’s fleeting, lead with empathy to get to the core of what matters. Doing this brings confidence to decision-making, even if things change on a dime.

Decoding AI
Every CEO is asking, what’s our AI story? But don’t fall victim to the hype; see it as another tool in the toolbox to jumpstart ideation, inspire creativity and supercharge the power of your marketing team with more efficient brand management.

Brand owner overload
Enabling consistency with the explosion of brand owners, touchpoints and experiences is just plain tough. Managing tools and methods are seldom as powerful as shared purpose and careful investment in excellent governance. When all else seems daring, return to your purpose and core values. Build coalitions and rally around this to deliver a compelling story. 

As simplifiers, we can’t help but view these challenges as opportunities to dig in and do the work we love to do. And there is a new urgency to do it. 

Dare to simplify now and fearlessly sign a long-term contract with simplicity. You will see lasting dividends as a result. 

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Olympic Marketing 2.0: how brands are winning gold through unity, not just sponsorship

This article originally appeared in Creative Bloq.

The Olympic rings no longer guarantee marketing gold. As the torch passes from Paris 2024 to Los Angeles 2028, savvy brands are rewriting the playbook, transforming the world’s biggest sporting event into a catalyst for unity and social change. Here’s how the most innovative players are breaking away from the pack.

The new podium: engagement over exposure

Forget logo saturation and feel-good montages. Today’s Olympic brand champions are:

Storytellers with substance: Bandit Running’s ‘Unsponsored Project‘ (see above) gives athletes logo-free gear, spotlighting Olympic dreamers’ financial challenges. Result? Millions of views and 12,000 new followers in a week.Inclusion catalysts: Intel’s VR experiences for mobility-impaired fans didn’t just innovate – they opened the Games to a whole new audience. Result? A top score for disability inclusion by the American Association of People with Disabilities.Cultural Alchemists: P&G’s “Love Over Bias” campaign challenged prejudices instead of pushing products. Result? Over 300 million video views and more than five billion earned media impressions globally.Paris 2024: city of light, beacon of brand innovationAirbnb redefined Olympic hospitality (Image credit: Airbnb)

Paris brought its je ne sais quoi to life – romantic, elegant, historic – inspiring brands to transcend sport and embody the city’s essence:

Airbnb redefined Olympic hospitality with “Host the World.” Local ambassadors offered uniquely Parisian experiences, like fencing lessons under the Eiffel Tower. Result? Brand popularity grew by 3% during the games.LVMH elevated craftsmanship to an Olympic sport with their “Artisan Olympics.” Master artisans live-streamed their skills, paralleling watchmaking precision with sprinter timing. Result? 17 times more value than the brand’s annual average.Fenty blurred the line between beauty and sport in the style capital, providing makeup kits to medal-presenting volunteers, while athletes like Simone Biles went viral using their products. Result? Over 20K new social followers in 2 weeks.LA 2028: the next frontier of brand engagementSome of the many LA 28 Olympic Games logos (Image credit: LA28)

Los Angeles, with its kaleidoscopic identity, offers a unique canvas for brand innovation. Here are potential game-changers:

Sustainability Meets Star Power: Imagine Patagonia creating opening ceremony uniforms from Angelenos’ donated clothes. “Renewal Stations” citywide could turn old tees into Olympic gear, weaving sustainability into the Games’ DNA.Content Goes Hyperlocal: Picture Netflix launching “502: LA Unscripted,” an interactive journey through LA’s 502 square miles. Live streams and AI-guided tours could showcase everything from East LA taco trucks to Silicon Beach startups, celebrating LA’s cultural tapestry.AI Breaks Language Barriers: Envision Google’s “Babel,” an AI translation system erasing communication gaps. Athletes strategizing across languages, global fan interactions, multilingual press conferences – it’s not about shrinking the world but enabling it to converse as one.The Bottom Line: unite or become irrelevantThe era of passive Olympic sponsorship is dead. Brands merely plastering logos on stadiums will find themselves benched in the game of cultural relevance.

Tomorrow’s Olympic marketing medalists won’t be judged by ad spend or logo visibility. Their ROI will be measured by communities united, conversations sparked, and lasting change inspired.

As LA 2028 approaches, the question for brands isn’t about participation—it’s about the courage to drive real impact. In this new arena, being seen isn’t enough; being remembered for catalyzing change is the true victory.

The starting gun has fired. Which brands will sprint towards meaningful engagement, and which will be left in the dust of outdated strategies? The world is watching, and history is waiting to be made.

Jenna Isken is Global Group Director, Brand Experience

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Greatest wealth transfer in history will create brand challenges for wealth manager

This article originally appeared in Wealth Management.

It’s hard to ignore the Great Wealth Transfer, which claims Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z are poised to inherit $84 trillion in assets from baby boomers. Some tout it as the “biggest wave of wealth in history” and it has even led to a new nickname for Millennials as the “richest generation.”

But while these newer, younger investors might eventually be rich, many are ill-prepared and without existing financial advisor relationships. Younger investors like millennials are not engaging with wealth managers as much as their boomer benefactors … and some are not engaging at all.

This discrepancy is attributed to a lot of factors like a lack of financial literacy, the expanding and complex world of investing, and rethinking traditional milestones like retirement. But simply put, life is complicated for millennials and wealth management can feel complicated too.

As wealth shifts hands, wealth management firms will need to shift how they go to market to engage desirable new investors and capitalize on the “great wealth wave.” To do so, wealth management firms will need to re-evaluate their brand and innovation strategy to feel a little less complicated and reach new investors.

Times are a changin’A popular meme today contrasts an image of a boomer couple smiling and buying a five-bedroom home with a disgruntled young person today buying a carton of milk, saying, “I may never financially recover from this.”

While this meme is mostly just for laughs, there’s truth in the fact that traditional milestones look different for younger generations. In fact, some may feel entirely outdated. Yes, this means delaying marriage, opting for pets over kids and more fluid employment, but it also signals shifts in long-term goals like prioritizing societal impact and charity.

Despite this, the same images of a “successful future” paper the walls of wealth management firms: a family of five skipping down a tropical beach or a proud husband and wife standing outside of a suburban home.

By widening the view of possible life paths and definitions of success, wealth managers can better engage younger investors. Some upstarts have clearly caught on to the gap between how established players go to market and the shifting priorities of younger investors. These new wealth management or investing upstarts are easy to spot—they’re colloquial and irreverent. While this certainly appeals to some investors, these newer players shouldn’t forget that credibility and trust still reign supreme in financial services, especially with higher net worth clients.

On the other hand, established private wealth management typically uphold the status quo. They can own a valuable whitespace of an established firm that can think beyond traditional milestones to help their offering feel more relevant to younger investors.

There’s magic in simplicity

One of the most common things I hear from wealth management clients is, “We do a lot of great things, but consumers don’t know about it. We’re a best-kept secret.” Typically, after getting to know their organization inside and out, they’re right. They’ve invested in proprietary approaches, advisor training and even great tech platforms. The problem however isn’t awareness, it’s the way they’re telling their story.

Most wealth management firms fall into the trap of competing on features and function, which ultimately just fragments the full value of their offering and confuses, rather than intrigues. Firms that can identify one simple story about their offering will win.

Inaction can breed the best innovation

A client once told me, “We can create the best widget around, but if it doesn’t help the customer do something they need done, then it actually doesn’t matter.” This idea echoes the Jobs to Be Done theory, coined in the book Competing Against Luck. It states that by understanding the progress customers seek to achieve, companies can systematically create winning products and services.

Simply put, if customers don’t see how your service can fill a need in their lives, they won’t use it. This may explain some of the inaction seen by the “richest generation.” The good news is that means wealth management is ripe for innovation.

To “systematically” innovate, as the Jobs theory suggests, firms can ask, “What workarounds are investors creating on their own?” Are they cobbling together 401(k) plans, managing self-directed accounts and trusting advice on YouTube or TikTok? If so, why? How can wealth management firms innovate to fill the need that’s being met by this clucky solution?

We can also interrogate the fact that 95% of Generation Z and 83% of millennial investors said they would consider wealth products and services offered by Google, Apple or Facebook. In a category where “fortress balance sheets” typically lead the conversation, we can ask what needs Google, Apple and Facebook fill that wealth managers do not.

Firms that evaluate the causes of inaction in younger generations will uncover ripe territory for innovation in wealth management.

All in all

The times are changing, and firms that can speak the same language as newer investors will have a leg up. Leading with a relevant yet simple story can help elevate the value of what wealth managers can do beyond features and functions. Wealth management presents fertile ground for innovation, as witnessed by inaction in the category. Firms who seek to innovate should consider the unmet needs of younger generations today.

 

Elizabeth Rodriguez is Associate Strategy Director

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Brand experiences create memories

This article originally appeared in Modern Restaurant Management magazine.

“We will be the number one restaurant in the world.”

That’s what restauranteur Will Guidara wrote on a cocktail napkin whilst sitting in a hotel bar after the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in 2010. That year, Guidara’s Eleven Madison Park in New York had placed last on the list. There was nothing to smile about and Guidara and chef Daniel Humm needed to do a lot of work to climb the ranks of the world’s most sought-after fine dining experiences.

And work they did. After the prophetic mission statement drafted on that napkin, Guidara introduced his now-infamous philosophy, “Unreasonable Hospitality.” He thought, “You need to be unreasonable to see a world that doesn’t yet exist.” That meant creating a service culture that shifted from getting every detail right to offering bespoke, over-the-top hospitality to guests.

His philosophy paid off. In the ten years that followed, Eleven Madison Park went from an average brasserie to a 3-star Michelin restaurant that topped the same awards list that had brushed them off in the past.

Service is black and white; hospitality is color.

The intriguing part is that Guidara intuitively elevated the profile of his restaurant by codifying the guiding principles that inform how his restaurant should approach the interactions with its guests across various touchpoints. He knew that through a differentiated experience, his restaurant would occupy a special place in the hearts and minds of his guests. In other words, he knew he needed to turn it into a brand.

For a guest, experiencing Eleven Madison Park’s brand encompassed everything from the impactful arrival at their grand Art Déco dining room to lighting and music levels being adjusted on the fly to foster intimacy and conversation. Plates and glassware were placed on the table a certain way because most guests would flip them over to find out who made them; when that happened, servers were on hand to tell the story of who, how and where they came from.

Under the “Unreasonable Hospitality” philosophy, examples like these are endless. To create jaw-dropping moments for guests, Guidara championed the power of doing things with intention: “Every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane, matters.” This is directly linked to how brand experiences are built.

Brand experiences create memories.

A brand experience philosophy is the overarching strategy behind creating meaningful experiences that differentiate the brand from competitors. It works alongside the business strategy, helping the company achieve its goals by deploying a plan that fosters emotional connections with customers and builds loyalty.

And that, in turn, is delivered through maintaining consistency when interacting with them.

Take the UK-favourite Dishoom, for example. Each location meticulously replicates the aesthetic and ambiance of the historical Irani cafés. Customers find themselves immersed in 20th-century Bombay with vintage furniture, sepia-toned family photos, antique mirrors and other period-specific artifacts that transport them back in time. The narrative is consistently embedded in every aspect of the restaurant, creating a coherent dining experience that feels like a journey.

In the case of Eleven Madison Park, Guidara went to great lengths to ensure his philosophy would be consistent for guests. Firstly, he started by mapping out their journey to understand the critical moments when going to a fine dining restaurant––the moments of truth. As one would expect, food presentation and description took Disney-esque theatrical form. But overlooked moments, like the initial contact on the phone when someone is making a reservation or when guests get their coats back from the cloakroom, were elevated, knowing they’d be the first and last opportunity to create a delightful impression.

Secondly, the “Unreasonable Hospitality” philosophy was supported by what Guidara calls his “non- negotiables”: the fundamental principles he established with his team to ensure alignment and guide the development of the ideas that followed. His set of non-negotiables equates to a brand’s experience pillars: the foundational elements that help contextualise and provide guardrails to the experience philosophy.

A promise, delivered.

When creating memorable brand experiences, landing the right pillars is vital. Not only should they stem from a deep understanding of customers’ expectations, but they should also represent something your brand is credible in. In short, they should be meaningful and feel authentic. So, get under the skin of your audience and look under the hood of your company!

If you don’t care, your customers never will.

When it comes to creating brand experiences that cut through, simplicity pays. According to our latest World’s Simplest Brands report, 64 percent of people are willing to pay more for simpler experiences. Brands that simplify our lives are winning both share of wallet and share of heart, as 78 percent of people are more likely to remain loyal to a brand that reduces inconveniences.

Intuitively, that’s what Will Guidara did at Eleven Madison Park on their quest to number one.

Has your brand created deeper bonds and lasting memories in your sector? Is your brand experience cohesive, consistent and compelling? Because just like in Guidara’s case, there’s always someone thinking about ideas to steal your lunch.

 

Patrick Kampff is Senior Strategy Director

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In their words: Healthcare looking to the future

Over the last few years, the healthcare industry has arguably seen some of the most considerable changes, outside and in. Through our conversations, the profiled set of business leaders shared insights on what has changed in the healthcare industry, what will be transient vs. sustained going forward, and how critical marketing and brand purpose is in driving decision-making and achieving market success.

Captured in this report, you will find the five main themes
that emerged:

Renewed relevance for healthcare brands across the ecosystem

Technology facilitating opportunities for increased efficiency and innovation

The acute importance of empathy and human connection

An end-to-end, individualized and personalized future of healthcare

Disruption to previously accepted ways of working

Fill out the form to download the report.

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Adswerve: Move fearlessly forward

Here, we speak with our practitioners about our brand identity work for Adswerve, the award-winning data, media and tech consultancy and leading Google and Adobe partner. Learn more about the new Adswerve here.

Tell us about Adswerve. Why a rebrand?

Marisa Greene, Associate Brand Strategist: Adswerve is a respected organization in the tech space. While known for being a leading reseller of Google and Adobe, they have evolved beyond this. Now, they create holistic data, media and technology solutions for the top agencies and brands around the world. Yet their own brand wasn’t telling this story, nor was it truly reflective of their boldness. We came in to codify how they stand out in the market as a consultant with both personal attention and excellence at scale. Their new brand position, to unlock the power and potential in every marketer, emerged from a highly collaborative effort between our teams and theirs. It positions their clients as the heroes and Adswerve as the experts, helping marketers view change as opportunity. 

What led to such a successful outcome, internally and externally?

Lauren McDermott, VP, Senior Client Partner: This was such a wonderful partnership experience, with mutual chemistry and commitment. We worked together with our Core Team to bring the C-suite into the process early and often. At every stage in the process, we co-ideated and challenged each other to push the ideas forward, which ultimately helped the work sing. Without that commitment, a brand can sit on a piece of paper. But it’s the people that truly bring it to life and turn it into a North Star for every single thing they do.”

Lisa Kane, Group Director, Strategy: We had the honor of joining the Adswerve team for the internal launch of their new brand, including a panel with the C-suite and facilitated sessions with every team. The energy in the room was infectious and it was exciting to see the Adswerve team wearing their new brand colors–fearless pink and sunny yellow–with pride. Everyone in the leadership team had a story to tell about what the new brand promise meant to them and what it would mean for the company in terms of business transformation.

Tell us about the Adswerve story. Why did it lead to such a positive reaction from internal teams?

Analicia Sotelo, Associate Director, Brand Communication: From the outset, we knew that this was a company with a culture of brave ideas and rigorous innovation, but it was also fun. The Adswerve mascot, the wise philosopher Thales, felt a bit dated than the character of the people behind the brand. With their new tagline, “Move Fearlessly Forward,” Adswerve can now showcase their unique character and shared commitment to handling any industry change with an unmistakable fearlessness.

Speaking of innovation, what did we do during this project to push the possibilities?

Simrit Brar, Creative Director: Color is a tremendous signal for change. With our experience working with tech companies in the space, we encouraged a more consumer-centric approach to the visual identity. Instead of pale greys and blues, the comfort zone of tech, we introduced optimism and daring through bright pink and yellow. This 180-degree turn from Adswerve’s original brand colors helped reposition the brand as a leader in the space—one you can’t ignore.”

Analicia Sotelo: Our teams work on every component of the brand identity together—strategists, writers and designers. We also used AI as a baseline for what the “sea of sameness” looks like in the tech industry, sharing the most common used words in storytelling so we could make sure we were pushing the language to stand out from the tone of voice to every element of the messaging strategy.”

What was the overall impact of this project?

Lauren McDermott: Adswerve is a powerful player in tech, and they will only continue to grow their business. While this brand just launched, we’re already seeing incredible outcomes. The organization has rallied around its vision for the future and is already implementing new ways of working. With a new brand platform, architecture and visual and verbal system, they’re telling a clearer story about what they offer. Ultimately, Adswerve is now the place for customers who want a partner who isn’t just going to do the work at hand—they’re an integrated part of the team. And that’s something you don’t get everywhere.

Today marks a significant milestone as we unveil our new brand identity, reflecting our relentless drive to solve our clients’ toughest challenges and deliver beyond their expectations.
—Roger Berdusco, CEO, Adswerve

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The great small-format store experiment – brand boon or bust for retailers?

This article originally appeared in Retail Touchpoints.

In today’s dynamic retail landscape, characterized by shifting consumer behaviors and evolving preferences, the traditional approach to real estate and store formats is undergoing a significant transformation.

As foot traffic declines, exacerbated by the pandemic and the proliferation of delivery options, retailers are compelled to reassess their strategies. Some, like Target, are expanding their footprint with larger stores, while others, such as Sprouts Farmers Market, are doubling down on the small format. Amidst this flux, Best Buy is exploring new formats, Walmart is planning extensive renovations, Amazon is venturing into lower-priced chains and Whole Foods is introducing small-format stores tailored for quick-trip urban consumers.

As retailers diversify their real estate portfolios to adapt to changing consumer demands, managing in-store brand experiences across various formats becomes increasingly challenging. How can retailers ensure that the carefully curated in-store shopping experiences they’ve designed remain consistent across these new formats and evolving footprints? What advantages does maintaining this consistency yield, and what risks are associated with misalignment?

Let’s delve into why simplicity matters more than ever to the consumer experience and how small-format stores can excel in delivering it, but also need to watch out if they don’t meet expectations.

Streamlined shopping experience

In a world inundated with choices and distractions, consumers crave simplicity in their shopping experience.

Small-format stores can strip away the excess, offering a carefully curated selection of products that meet the essential needs of consumers without overwhelming them with options and enabling them to get in and out quickly. By focusing on the most relevant merchandise, these stores can make the shopping process more straightforward and enjoyable for customers. Consider the well-known Jam Study in 2000: if you give consumers 24 flavors of jam to choose from, they are 10X less likely to actually buy a jar. The small-format store, due to space constraints alone, avoids this issue.

Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, the planned smaller sibling of its flagship stores, will hopefully capitalize on and enhance the perceived simplicity of shopping at Whole Foods. Assuming a thoughtfully curated assortment of natural and organic groceries, household essentials and prepared foods, these compact stores should offer a convenient one-stop shopping destination for health-conscious consumers. By eliminating unnecessary complexity and clutter, Whole Foods Market Daily Shop could deliver a more convenient shopping experience that should resonate with the busy urban shopper.

Whole Foods was crowned the simplest brand in the U.S. in our latest World’s Simplest Brands study, with consumers finding that they could much more easily make healthy food choices shopping there. If successful, the smaller-format stores should only enhance this benefit, especially assuming that Amazon’s ability with logistics and data analysis will ensure the offerings are just right.

Clarity in communication

In an era of information overload, simplicity in communication is paramount. One critical potential pitfall for small-format stores is that consumers won’t know what to expect: what does this store have (or not have) compared to the main one?

Small-format stores must convey their value proposition clearly and succinctly, making it easy for consumers to understand what sets them apart and why they want to go there. Whether through signage, packaging or store layout, these stores need to prioritize simplicity in their communication strategy, ensuring that customers can quickly grasp the benefits of shopping with them as well as their distinctions from the full-size stores.

Target is an interesting counter-example, as it seems to be moving away from small-format stores, having closed a few in 2023, to concentrate on opening larger stores with better express checkout. Rather than providing a smaller, targeted selection, the apparent focus is to have shoppers see Target as the essential one-stop shop for all their needs, and focus on expediting how they can get customers in and out rather than reduce the selection or size of the store.

Instead of branding and strongly communicating the difference of smaller-format stores, as they had in the past with TargetExpress and City Target (both retired), it is branding and putting the communication focus on the Express Self-Checkout.

Innovative and intuitive store design

Simplicity, however, extends beyond product offerings to encompass store design and layout.

Small-format stores need to prioritize simplicity in their physical environment, employing intuitive layouts and clear signage to guide customers through the shopping journey effortlessly. The traditional larger-format stores are typically laid out to maximize the likelihood of shoppers buying more than they set out to, which is why the most purchased products are in the back of the store. By turning this paradigm on its head, the small-format stores can enhance the overall shopping experience and foster a greater sense of ease for consumers.

Amazon Go, the cashierless convenience store concept pioneered by the ecommerce giant, takes it one step further by removing the need to wait in line and pay. With its sleek and minimalist aesthetic, coupled with advanced technology that enables frictionless shopping, Amazon Go can redefine convenience for consumers. By removing the need for checkout counters and streamlining the entire shopping process, Amazon Go sets a new standard for simplicity in brick-and-mortar retailing.

However, on a recent visit to its first New York City location, product selection and quality seemed lacking and more akin to what you would find in a gas station rest stop. The easiest, most user-friendly store design will not succeed unless the offering also appeals.

Personalized and relevant offerings

Simplicity does not mean one-size-fits-all; rather, it entails offering personalized and relevant products to meet the diverse but exact needs of consumers.

Small-format stores can excel in this regard, leveraging data and consumer insights to tailor their product offerings and services to the specific preferences of their target audience and location. By delivering precisely what customers need, when and where they need it, these stores will differentiate and build trust and loyalty among consumers.

Ikea Planning Studios, the small-format store concept focused on home planning and design services, is an interesting example. Ikea’s bold strategy is to become more accessible to urban shoppers while leveraging the trend of more online shopping.

By providing a curated selection of Ikea products aligned to the specific needs of urban shoppers (such as a focus on smaller-format kitchens) and personalized design consultations, these stores empower customers to create living spaces that reflect their unique style and preferences. Through simplicity in offering and personalized service delivery, Ikea Planning Studios makes Ikea more relevant to the smaller-space urban apartment dweller.

In essence, small-format retail stores demonstrate that simplicity is not merely a design principle but a philosophy that should guide every aspect of the customer experience. By embracing simplicity in product offerings, communication, design and personalization, these stores can become key destinations for consumers seeking a more accessible and relevantly curated shopping experience.

However, to succeed in deploying-small format stores, retailers must ensure all aspects align to create the optimal streamlined shopping experience: one miss, whether misjudging necessary product selection or not differentiating clearly enough in communication, could be fatal to the strategy.

 

Brian Rafferty is Global Director, Business Analytics & Insights.

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Managing the C-suite for a brand-building strategy

Anyone who’s gone through the process of getting fit or losing weight will know results are never quite as immediate as desired or as instant as dreamt – distant, even non-existent, for too long. But then eventually, the rewards are clear.

It’s not too dissimilar to brand programmes. For today’s Chief Marketing Officer, it can be a big-time challenge to convince a room full of impatient C-suiters that the pay-off to a ‘re-brand’ will not be in the next quarter, but over the course of quarters, and then over years. And with the all-seeing gimlet eye of Chief Finance Officer and their cronies scrutinizing spend and looking for metrics and measures to try and fathom the return on investment, and when patience is in short supply, it helps to have a short game as strong as your long game. Throw them some bones until the big dish is served up.

If the C-suite can accept short term is about six months or so, that gives a workable scenario in which to establish the brand’s foundations, fundamentals, and forward momentum, including some of those lovely ‘proof points’ that turn the suites’ c’s from cynics to converts and gives our ambitious CMO the juice they need to really make a difference.

Identifying the phases

Practically, and very broadly, a brand program can be split into two. The first phase involves figuring out the solution and then activating it. The second involves all that good work being appreciated by the audiences that matter. Said differently, simplify then amplify.

Think of the first phase as getting sorted; clarifying everything the brand needs to be known for and then delivering it. Finding what’s different, relevant, and distinctive, otherwise known as brand strength.

And like our determined fitness-freak/dieter, good things are happening inside, but you can’t quite see what those good things are just yet. In brand world, those good things include engagement of employees, they’ll start to have a clearer understanding of what makes the company they work for special and will become ever-more committed to that. Firming up a great culture.

Gaining a greater understanding of why customers or clients are drawn to you will help everyone focus on those things and not worry about the things they’re not concerned about buying from you, thereby saving time and money. And armed with those learnings the business can be more intentional about the experience of product or service by identifying the signature moments that are those hallmark occasions that create a lasting impression.

And of course, by this time, you’ll likely have a refreshed or a new identity with accompanying systems that enable the brand to tell the story of the business with elegance and simplicity.

The big advantage of the first phase is that it’s under your control – you determine the story, the identity, the experience and the organisation’s commitments to connections, capabilities, and systems. Creating a strong brand is an inside-out thing.

Enacting part two

The next phase goes the other way.

It’s harder because it’s dependent on the appreciation of all that good stuff by other people, the external audiences, customers, clients, users, desired talent, and so on. It takes time, possibly years. It requires consistency, and a business that knows what matters, what doesn’t matter and what counts. It’s dependent on having a clear brand idea that can be actionable, identifiable and memorable. As we know, brand is a memory, refreshed every time that product or service is encountered.

And as the brand experience grows and as the brand is experienced over time, the brand will grow in stature, recognised for having something about it, a point of view and way of delivering which will elicit a feeling of esteem by those that buy from it, work with it or partner with it. Creating committed clients/customers, even fans, the audience will feel good about their relationship with the brand. And the C-suite will feel very good about their early investment and won’t think twice about continuing to re-invest in their brand, seeing the obvious returns.

Think of it like this. Phase one, six months, find relevance. Phase two, ongoing, gain appreciation. Simple.

 

Philip Davies is President, EMEA

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Brand building in the age of chaos

This interview originally appeared in Creativebrief.

“We’re all about trying to find simple, impactful solutions for clients. Ideas that are really easy to get and that help clients move forward.”

Rishi Dhir, Head of Strategy, EMEA at Siegel+Gale, is putting his simple yet strong ambition for the agency’s output into words.

Simple but effective work that truly has an impact on the success of a business is that hard-to-find sweet spot, which is so crucial in proving the bottom-line value of the creative industries. Unfortunately, achieving simplicity is not always so simple.

Back to front problem solving

The career path of a good strategist is never linear. For Dhir, the path to strategy began at Capgemini. His background in management consulting has resulted in a unique approach to problem-solving that “combines logic with magic”. It is a strategic approach which places the business at the centre, focusing on understanding the opportunities and challenges in front of it, and the cultural and competitive context in which it operates. All while never underestimating the power of unexpected creativity.

At the core of this proposition is the idea of rational thinking. Dhir shares that management consultancies are great at “the logical underpinning to any work”, championing the power of research and data to inform strategy. Before skipping to a solution, understanding the needs of a business and the challenges it faces creates a robust foundation for creativity.

“At the very beginning of a project, [management consultants] use their experience, their wisdom, their gut instincts to imagine what the answers might be to a problem before they embark on the process,” says Dhir.

Dhir explains that the classic management consultant approach almost reverse engineers a solution. He explains: “They look backwards and say: If we imagine the answer could be A, B, or C, what would we need to believe for each to be true?”. They subsequently develop an analytical plan to test each of those ideas and then come up with recommendations based on the evidence. “This hypothesis-led, ‘right-to-left’ form of problem-solving not only drives efficiencies, it also frees teams up to think more expansively about opportunities for the client’s business from the outset, and allows them to be guided by their experience and instincts, whilst also being firmly underpinned by facts”, he adds. It is an approach that he encourages his team to use when solving almost any open-ended creative problem, as it drives healthy discussion and imagination, whilst being anchored on logic.

It is a rational and deep understanding of business that adds to Dhir’s client-focused approach. Being aware that managing clients and ideas can also be political, he shares that servicing clients is also about “managing people around the process”.

“We all realise that the best answer isn’t necessarily the greatest idea. It’s the greatest idea that will actually be accepted,” he adds. Dhir aims to take steps to ensure this is the idea delivered off the bat.

The power of thinking differently

As a more traditionally ‘left-brained thinker’, Dhir knows the value of surrounding yourself with people who think differently to you and the importance of diverse teams.

“There’s never one way of cracking a problem. I personally love working with people who think very differently to me, especially at the outset of a project,” says Dhir. “I think you can open up the thinking in so many different directions when you’re just chatting through a problem or an idea with someone who comes at it from a completely different angle.”

Speaking with others and seeing broader perspectives helps to fuel better work. “All of the consultancies and agencies that operate in our space tend to have very different thinkers in their businesses. Deliberately so, because it fuels creativity and gets you to better outcomes,” adds Dhir.

Embracing new ideas, perspectives and technologies, Dhir is also cautiously optimistic about the transformative and creative power of AI. “I think it’s a game changer. I think it’s terrifying and terrific at the same time,” he says.

He points to the potential capabilities of AI in augmenting services and streamlining workflows. Yet, in the race towards progress he is cautious about evolving, and potentially unrealistic, expectations from clients. “I think they will expect consultancies like us to deliver answers in shorter time frames because we’re augmented. They’ll probably expect the price point to drop too, because it won’t take as much time to get there. So that will put even more pressure on the industry to deliver.”

Communicating the value of the creative industries

With client expectations changing, the creative industries face a communication challenge, to showcase their true value and business-transforming capabilities.

“I think it’s in the way that we position ourselves as an industry,” says Dhir. “I feel like the more executionary end of the value chain is often undervalued by the C-suite because they see it as ‘marketing tactics’.”

“If we position and frame what we do as creating bottom-line impact for businesses, then we can command the kind of rates that we probably all want to,” he adds.

Pointing to building brands as an essential part of building a business, Dhir urges organisations to think about what creativity can really do for them long term.

“Brand is often the biggest, most important lever that a business has to drive its top and bottom-line performance,” says Dhir. He continues: “A brand needs to constantly be filled up with creativity, new ways of thinking and new expressions in order to be relevant in the marketplace.” He believes the challenge for the industry is how to better frame the impact of creativity on a brand’s financial performance.

Creating real-world impact

The value of creativity cannot only be seen in a business’s bottom line, but also in its cultural and societal impact. While profit and purpose are often positioned at odds, Dhir acknowledges that in a world of socioeconomic unrest, the two can co-exist.

“I think there is a way of reconciling those two things,” he says, adding: “Businesses that truly have a strong and clear purpose that guides how they operate, and moves the world forward in a positive direction, can generate more profit.”

“We live in this state of perma-crisis. I think as a society there is a need for brands to create calm and order from the chaos to make people feel confident, reassured and optimistic. I do think brands play a significant role in influencing culture and society in that respect,” says Dhir. “Whether it’s Patagonia making the planet more sustainable or Nike encouraging everybody to see themselves as an athlete.”

By looking beyond the brief to add value through creativity, brand building, cultural impact or building the bottom line, Dhir underlines that there is no single approach to strategy. Sometimes recognising that there is not one single solution helps drive forward the most impactful and successful work.

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What can Chanel and the NBA teach us about the secret to brand longevity?

This article originally appeared in The Drum.

Ever wondered why some British high-street brands, like M&S and Boots, stand the test of time while others, like Ted Baker and Debenhams, fail? The Body Shop has recently struggled with sales and decreased relevance in a saturated market. Yet, brands like Chanel and the NBA stay top of customers’ minds.

In addition to being iconic, these two brand titans sustain and grow their brand equity while staying true to their core identity. Here’s how.

Tradition and reinvention

We can often attribute a brand’s failure to a lack of innovation and relevance. But brand success is not always about reinventing the wheel or changing things for the sake of changing them. It’s about successfully identifying where to make changes and where to maintain consistency to build credibility.

Through various collections, Chanel has evolved under different designers, growing into the digital marketing space. The brand has successfully created a modern and evolving universe that is relevant to customers while also building on its heritage. From iconic fragrances to coveted fashion statements, Chanel exudes timelessness, ease, and confidence. While staying true to core values, Chanel has embraced social media and fostered a strong emotional connection with consumers through vivid storytelling and cohesive marketing campaigns. The brand has achieved soaring success for over a century by attracting both traditional and younger audiences, anchoring its status as a beacon of enduring style and sophistication.

Similarly, the NBA has built a strong reputation on a global scale in its 75+ years of existence. It is referred to as one of the biggest sports leagues in the world. Even people who are not well-versed in the brand know about it and some of its players. Like Chanel, the NBA has achieved this without changing its intent, identity, or mission. The NBA has evolved by creating a brilliant sponsorship strategy, globalizing the sport, and maintaining continuity across geographies. It has also invested in its players to help them become stars outside of the sport.

Clear purpose

Purpose is a word thrown around a lot in the world of branding. It can feel fatigued. However, it’s used for good reason. Many organizations can forget why they started or even why they do what they do. Without the answer to these questions, it is easy to get lost.

In 1997, Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy. That changed when Steve Jobs returned to the company he had founded. Jobs shifted Apple’s focus to its products, building on its original offering of innovation and design. He ultimately created the first iMac, which was radically different from its competitor computers. This was to be the start of an ecosystem built around smartly designed products.

We all remember the iconic Think Different campaign, which aimed to change how people viewed Apple. It highlighted the company’s innovative approach to technology and design. This has remained the guiding principle of the business since Jobs’ reinvigoration. Apple became the first $3tn company by building products its customers didn’t know they needed.

Establishing brand longevity means knowing what you do well, sticking to it, and knowing why you are here. It’s about maintaining that why – why did you start? And why do you exist?

Know thy customer

This may seem obvious, but you need to understand how your category evolves and how your customers change. Because they will change.

We live in a world of more brands and products than ever. Almost every industry is saturated, and customer churn is high. We can’t predict everything, but one thing is true: data doesn’t lie.

Netflix cemented itself in the streaming space partly through its use of data. It used data processing to understand viewers and identified a gap in demand for an ‘80s sci-fi drama. It created Stranger Things, a series built on the back of past performance data, which became only the second series on the platform to reach 1bn hours viewed in its first 28 days available.

Similarly, Lego, on the verge of bankruptcy, identified a new customer segment through research: Adult Fans of Lego, or AFOLs. This group was ultimately given a platform to submit ideas, leading to nostalgic lines like Ghostbusters and Home Alone. Lego has since become the world’s most valuable toy brand.

For the brands that don‘t get it right, it‘s not all bad news. The Body Shop is due new owners at the end of this month, which could help bring fresh perspectives and strategies. Those in charge at The Body Shop could work to build on the points above and craft a simple, cohesive brand experience that strengthens customer loyalty. Because when competition is fierce and loyalty scarce, capitalizing on your brand‘s heritage is crucial.

 

Flora de la Mortiere is a Strategist

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