BIG or small, we should all care about “Brand Relevance”.
Forbes ran an article January 11, 2016, Apple Tops Consumers’ List of Most Relevant Brands: Survey, discussing the release of Prophet’s study, surveying 10,000 US consumers regarding 400 brands across 27 industries. They concluded that the top 10 brands in consumers’ lives deliver unmatched value and are innovative and trustworthy.
Prophet says “Relentlessly Relevant Brands” are:
- Customer Obsessed
- Ruthlessly Pragmatic
- Distinctively Inspired
- Pervasively Innovative
The good news? I think companies big and small are not only recognizing this but are doing something about it. And I have to be honest I can’t wait until more organizations catch on because we are going to see some amazing things!
Let me explain:
How do you get obsessed customers? Simple…relevance. It is right there in the exact thing we are trying to achieve, brand relevance. It’s important to note that everything, yes EVERYTHING these brands invest in, is purposefully designed to meet needs in peoples’ lives. A lot of things work, but I am “obsessed” over the ones that work and are relevant in my day to day. Netflix nailed it for me, from the concept to the experience. Yep, I binge watch, don’t judge…How to Make a Murderer anyone?
Ruthlessly pragmatic? Well, it has to make sense, it has to serve a purpose for the user and frankly make their lives easier. Coming off the holidays all I have to say is Amazon; I have stacks of boxes if anyone is moving. Oh and did anyone swipe one of those “VISA’s” recently? Think they may have cracked the list because they serve a purpose and make life a little easier as well?
What do you mean by distinctively inspire? Companies that scored well here tend to exhibit more traits aligned with being practical and trustworthy. This was an interesting one because brands like Google, Facebook, and Snapchat couldn’t crack the top 50, while brands like Folgers did, outperforming Starbucks. The study attributes this anomaly to trust – But let’s equate that to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and think of having trust in your company, brand, and product as being the foundation to achieving Brand Relevance. If I don’t believe I’m working with reliable, trustworthy companies, products, or systems, I am not likely to autonomously chose to work with them again.
Lastly my personal favorite, pervasively innovative, what we, at ITX, refer to as Continuous Innovation. No really, it’s my favorite. Time and time again I see companies think they are being innovative but rarely do they fully tap into the opportunity. Well, I can tell you one thing, STOP blindly doing what everyone else is. Sure, it might be working, but what if something is better? I mean we are not trying to appease our customers here. We are trying to be the best of the best in Brand Relevance.
One of our designers once told me “A feature first solution limits the opportunity to create an innovative solution, we have to take a people first approach!” Hmmmm “People First Approach”, works in life and works with products and technology? Imagine that.
Bottom line, if you put these things together the possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to see what is next for the consumer!
