FutureBrand news, views & insights: October 2022
Scribo ergo cogito…
It’s now one year since I started writing this newsletter, sharing our FutureBrand news, views and insights.
First and foremost, it is indeed an opportunity to share in way that’s useful for you to reflect on your own brand. Whether it’s the regular newsletter on the first of the month like this one from May, or the deeper dives into subjects like naming and ESG, all three of which have proven to be the most popular reads over the past twelve months.
Truth be told, I love writing. And I also love the regular rhythm that writing a monthly newsletter forces upon me, one month after another. It makes me pause, reflect and compose my thoughts – hence my modification of Descartes’ postulation in the headline, scribo ergo ‘cogito ergo sum’.
Writing also means taking note of what other people say. And, quite literally, there are two notes I’ve taken in the past year that keep pushing themselves front of mind.
The first, this comment from a client with a description of what to avoid that never fails to make me smile:
‘Random acts of marketing.’
The second, this comment from another client on the practical nature of the link between your brand’s purpose and the everyday experience – for your own employees as much as for your customers:
'A purpose statement should drive conversations every day.'
In order to avoid the first, think on the second. In both cases, insightful words that made me think then and are worth sharing now. What’s more, they serve as practical reminders on this first anniversary of sorts that any good writing invariably starts with good listening.
FutureBrand Index 2022 just launched!
Earlier this week, we launched the latest edition of the FutureBrand Index, now in its eighth year and as full as ever with relevant and meaningful insights for building brands across every sector.
From incumbents to challengers.
From B2B to B2C.
From brand purpose to everyday experience.
By way of an introduction to the research methodology behind the Index, the study starts with the top 100 companies in the world by market capitalisation according to PwC, and then re-ranks them based on the strength of their brand perceptions according to 'informed professionals' around the world – including Australia – namely business leaders, decision makers and market watchers.
This year’s top 10 is dominated by the B2B brands creating the new and innovative platforms, systems and infrastructure on which we can all live, work and play into the future, sustainably.
It’s a trend we first identified in last year’s study and one that has been accelerated by the pandemic effect: that we are increasingly living in a future-focused world in response to the fact that (1) technology adoption/integration and (2) climate change are identified as the two biggest threats to future success.
I'll be sharing a deeper dive into the Index 2022 in the next few weeks and surfacing some interesting perspectives from beneath the headlines after another year in the life of a brand.
For now, you can download the FutureBrand Index 2022 here and you can always get in touch if you’d like to know more about how this year’s insights can help you grow your own brand and business.
Try, buy, use
You may have read about how we regularly try/buy/use our clients’ brands, products & services.
It’s one of our ‘habits’ here at FutureBrand – seven small, easy and useful actions that automatically and consistently inform and inspire how we work.
Over the past year or two, we’ve played darts, golf and tenpin bowling, we’ve shopped for a private banker, the perfect home insurance policy and even a place in an aged care home. Our habit of try, buy, use even extends to using our client’s products and services, whether Airwallex for their borderless banking product for our business expenses or Yalumba’s for their lovingly-crafted wines for our client gifts.
And now, we’re using our client Innowell’s mental fitness solution as the platform for our various mental health initiatives across our employee experience.
Innowell offers a self-managed digital tool to help facilitate and encourage mental fitness. As well as being personalised to each and every team member – including pathways for support and escalation – it’s anonymised for organisational insights into our team’s collective mental fitness so that we can use the data to develop future initiatives. (And, of course, put ourselves in their customers’ shoes so that we might help Innowell continue to grow and evolve their brand.)
Try, buy, use your own brand, product or service – it can offer not only refreshing perspectives but revealing ones too.
Keeping it in the family
It’s been a big year so far for building brands, so much so that we have one new brand after another due to launch in the coming weeks and months.
One of those is Yalumba and we’ve been working with the Hill-Smith family on a new brand for Australia’s oldest family-owned wine company – one that positions the business for the future and recognises both the heritage of the family and the diversity of their wine brands.
I won’t spoil the surprise just yet but I thought you might be intrigued by some of the early design sketches and concepts for the new brand identity. Having spent valuable time with the family and their teams in the fields and facilities where they grow, craft, market and sell – try, buy, use, once again – we immediately felt the fierce independence of a brand that belongs to a family and an organisation made of many colourful characters.
We will reveal all in time: a new brand in name and identity to celebrate the family’s rich history and the mastery of their craft over many generations, past, present and future.
From company diversity to corporate kindness
I thought I might end this month’s newsletter by sharing a couple of different perspectives that go beyond branding and explore more broadly the world of business.
Firstly, Christina wrote for AdNews about the value of diversity and you can read here about three things companies can do to think with diversity in mind.
In Christina’s own words:
We’ve all heard the saying "great minds think alike" but have we stopped to think how much of this is true? If we all had the same ‘great’ mind, how great would that actually be?
And secondly, I was interviewed by CMO about how brands are exhibiting kindness in leadership and organisational action. I shared stories of my social initiative, Thirty:3; our own approach to the team culture and employee experience at FutureBrand Australia; and, how kindness even extends to our work in brand-led customer experience.
“The fundamentals of CX in capability or as a discipline is the openness and empathy to understand somebody’s point of view and experience. As we train ourselves to be better at CX, it’s naturally training us to be kinder and more empathetic towards one another.”
Hopefully you find those interesting reads, taking you behind the curtain to see a little more of life and work here at FutureBrand Australia.
That’s it for another month! Hope you enjoy reading and find some useful insights for your own businesses and brands. As ever, I’m be happy to hear all and any feedback – so please do comment, subscribe and share.