FutureBrand news, views & insights: October 2023
“It’s such an obvious strategy”
Collaboration is essential to the work that we do.
Whether it’s collaboration with our clients – and our client’s customers – or simply collaboration with one another.
Because we believe that when you help create something, it means more to you.
Consequently, the feedback that always makes me most proud is when we’re told that we genuinely listened.
To the research.
To the insights.
To the feedback.
And ultimately, the outcome was all the better for it.
Following a recent project, we got this feedback, albeit in the form of an anonymous comment on a news story about our work:
“It’s such an obvious strategy.”
Alas, criticism – feedback’s fiendish foil.
I always find it a little jarring to read anonymous commentary in the media like this – who wouldn’t? – but it only took me a moment to come to my senses, courtesy of a thought I borrowed from Mark Ritson on ‘common sense’ and paraphrased as follows:
It’s ‘obvious’ because we made it obvious.
For me, that’s the true benefit of active listening.
The unsaid becomes heard.
The implicit becomes explicit.
The subtlety becomes significant.
And, well, the ambiguous becomes obvious.
I’ll take it as a compliment, feedback is a gift, thank you.
It’s Sunday, obviously
When I started writing this newsletter two years ago, I committed to publishing on the first of the month, every month, if only to make it a habit (and to hold myself to it).
Inevitably, once in a while, the first of the month lands on a Sunday – like today – and I feel that little extra bit of pressure to make it a worthwhile read on a weekend.
But this month, I’m in luck.
Because the FutureBrand Index 2023 just launched.
Consequently, I have enough ideas and insights to fill a month of Sundays.
Read all about it
First things first, you can download the FutureBrand Index 2023 via the button above.
But that’s not all you can do.
You can compare the top 100. For example, how does Tesla compare with Toyota?
You can dive into detailed dashboards for all top 100 brands. Take a look at BHP, the only Australian company with a market capitalisation large enough to feature in the top 100.
You can explore the key drivers by sector. Here are the sector drivers for Consumer Discretionary, one of the nine sectors listed.
You can build a brand perception chart for your own brand.
Suffice to say, it’s definitely worth reading the report as well as having a play with all the interactive tools.
TL;DR
Here’s my favourite page.
This is just in case your weekends are not a haven of quiet reflection as you enjoy a coffee on the verandah and a mindful morning of reading (but instead you’re desperately trying to get the kids out of the house without you tripping over their Lego or them kicking a ball into the TV, again).
Here’s page 10.
It’s the one page you should read if you have no time for anything more.
It’s all there. The secret sauce. The magic ingredients. The silver bullet.
(Or perhaps it sounds all too obvious?)
Reflect on number 2, in particular.
It’s easy to overlook but it could well be the single most important insight and a game-changer for any business of any size or scale. Because if your own people don’t believe in your brand, what makes you think your customers will?
If you have a marketing team of twenty in a business of six hundred, you can expand your reach and impact thirtyfold simply by giving your brand to all your people and equipping them with the right tools or training. Now that’s something that can give your brand the x-factor to grow: exponentially.
That’s all for now, I’ll be back with a deeper dive into the FutureBrand Index in the next week or two, including guest contributions from more of the team here. If you’d like to know more about the FutureBrand Index 2023 or even to have us present the Index in full to you and your team – whether marketers or non-marketers – feel free to ask and we can develop a presentation just for you.