Last month Interbrand released their well known annual ‘Best Global Brand’ research report. It is a fascinating read for brand enthusiasts but what does it mean for companies who are not top global brands but still value branding as part of their business strategy? We believe organisations any size can learn from this global report as it clearly states the truths of what is setting apart the good brands from the bad.

The big theme that runs through this years report as well as many other current marketing and brand reports is the success of being 'customer centric.' This popular principal builds brands and revenue for any size businesses today. Therefore we are going to focus on this part of the global report learnings and provide the 3 most important things successful brands are doing to be ‘customer centric’ in todays climate.

Understand and solve customer problems.
The report highlights the importance of brands investing in understanding and solving their customers problems, in useful ways that serve the customer needs and ‘not just sell.’ Netflix were noted in the report to have 45% growth YOY and no wonder with their product solutions of non-stop streaming of popular movies and television shows that feature; no ads, individual user logins, use on any device, anytime, anywhere. What problem have Netflix not solved for us customers? And therefore what not to love about this brand? This is an important question to understand with your customers with your product or service - what is it not doing, what are the barriers to use? If there are customer problems then you need to invest resources to solve them and not necessarily then charge extra because you were able to but instead use this to differentiate yourself and retain existing customers.
Co-create solutions with your customers
Interbrand also found that the leading brands are 'co-creating solutions with their customers, bringing the voice of the customer into every aspect of their business and investing in future-forward customer exploration.’ They say it is all about being ‘relevant’ and ‘responsive’ to cultural trends that impact customer desires. Also noted in the report, 'Luxury brands in particular have been recently very successful in their ability to anticipate and respond to these shifting culture trends, seen in the way they have immersed themselves in street culture.’ As you can now purchase not only Loui Vuitton loafers but sneakers now too. Luxury sneakers you may ask? Yes they do exist and are proving very popular.
Go deeper
Another key finding in the report was that being 'truly customer-centric today means going deeper than just offering a product or service that the consumer wants, and truly recognizing how consumers think, feel and behave, and then delivering the most optimized experience possible across each and every consumer touchpoint.' This is something that is actionable whatever size company you are. To understand and unpack your customer journey is a simple brainstorming activity with your team that identifies how the customer gains awareness of your brand, discovers your brand, purchases and post purchases it and the emotions they experiences at each of the key points in time. This can be rich information in understanding the opportunities to service them better. To then discover your customer's deeper thoughts you do this through research by either simply interviewing them or surveying. It does take time and dedication to commit to the task and then action the findings, however as these big brands have discovered they are the key to success with today's customer which according to the report receives '5 times more information every day than 30 years ago.' The customer doesn’t have time to waste on brands that don’t add value and solve their problems.

To conclude the report left off with the following important questions to ask for your brand to be successful today.

Is your brand:

1. Creating a differentiated customer experience across each and every touchpoint?

2. Leveraging itself for greater business growth and ROI?

3. Anticipating industry trends?

4. Challenging itself to have a competitive edge by entering new categories and markets, forging new partnerships, and facilitating new mergers and acquisitions?

5. Creating emotional bonds and instilling a sense of purpose among its target audiences?

Hopefully this has been helpful to see perhaps the learnings and applications for creating a stronger brand are relevant to your company’s brand not just the big global ones. And better yet if this has made you curious to download and read the whole report feel free to at bestglobalbrands.com

With Energy. And Smiles

Karin

Blog written by | Karin Forster, Brand and Marketing Consultant, AMAMI CPM.

Credit: Photo by Interbrand Global Brand Report