Brands going ‘beyond’: Intro
HOW EXPERIENCES CAN TRANSFORM
Building from this landscape, what are the opportunities for brands? How can they leave their mark? Be ahead of the curve? Elevate consumer experiences in ways that are relevant — and long-lasting?
Here, and in the following, we’ll unpick some of the key ingredients to making an experience ‘transformational’. And explore what it takes to meet the expectations of savvy and informed audiences.
The ‘softer’ tone of things to come
Many leading businesses have expanded on their corporate missions to include soft values and societal benefits, supporting our health, wellbeing and community spirit.
Nike’s mission statement ‘Unleash Human Potential’ is becoming more relevant than ever, but it is also easy to be cynical of the commercial motives behind brands putting efforts into the Transformation economy.
Whilst the opportunities are boundless, the ask is high. This is certainly not about simply commodifying wellbeing — that would be more of the same. This is about brands looking beyond opportunism and instead championing consideration.
Consumers’ awareness is undergoing a fine-tuning, from a ‘greedy for more’ mind-set to seeking sustainable, more meaningful content, with positive social impact.Customers are more interested in the meaning behind a product or a brand (a trend only set to increase with the purchasing power of young consumers).
Going ‘Beyond’
At SXSW ’18, radical concepts were no longer about being purely ‘Disruptive’, but about the age of ‘Beyond’. Challenging the overflow of jaw-dropping stuff and experiences we accumulate, and questioning what this leaves anyone with, ‘beyond’ the moment?
Marketeers and brand specialists seem to be gaining a newfound optimism that design, branding and marketing can be used to enhance human prospering and to regain a sense of trust in a seemingly chaotic world.
Brands hold vast potential: they can be enablers, helping us discover new ways to belong within lifestyle groups, connecting us to a sense of individual purpose and passion.
Marketeers, strategists, innovators and designers can help brands in this process. Challenging them to shift to long-term thinking.
