The brands insignificance

In marketing we are always talking about the importance of brands, the creation and development, and so on. Everything circles around the brand. Sometimes we are so focus on brands that we forget the rest. And what we see in Havas Media's Brand Sustainable Futures is exactly that: we are only looking to the brand, to the outside.

One of the main revelations of Havas Media's analysis is that «the vast majority of consumers would not care if two thirds of today's global brands disappeared in the future». Only one third of brands are considered meaningful by consumers. The 2010 analysis explored new challenges to brands in a time of economic shifts and global crisis. The results reveal «a strong correlation between a brand's "meaningfulness" and its perceived sustainable performance, suggesting that the more sustainable the brand is perceived, the more meaningful it becomes to consumers».

The study confirms the more alert consumer to a broader range of subjects, and it goes up to brand choice. The consumer is getting more interesting in what's behind the brand that in the brand itself. So the brand power is getting weaker.

Consumers are even wanting to know about companies (brands) performance, and social and sustainability issues are major concerns. Following this, the analysis reveals that «companies are living up to expectations», and «furthermore, a growing and increasingly sceptical majority (68 percent) believe companies only act responsibly in order to improve their image».

So, for marketeers who still are only concerned in some aspects of brands, maybe it's time to change, and start to integrate sustainability issues into their strategies. That's meaningful!

The Obvious Revolution