The social unrest and the pandemic laid bare all the emotional and social shortcomings of the vast majority of brands. Even before the arrival of COVID-19, some brands were already seeing how their connection with customers was drifting apart. Today, many brands resemble that desperate father who does not know what to do in front of his teenage son, trying to connect with him without any success because he does not understand how the teenager thinks. The teenager requires a little attention—for the father to sit in front of him, listen to him, understand him, empathize with him, and look at and respect him exactly as he is, not as a child and not as an adult.
Our consumers want to be heard; they want brands to DO relevant things for them. They no longer want speeches that remain just that: a simple speech of good intentions that is only lip service. Companies, like that disoriented father, fail to understand this because for many years they have maintained a functional relationship with their customers—like the dutiful dad who pays for school, clothing, and basic needs, but offers little to nothing in terms of hugs and experiences.
Brands behave very much like people: they have personalities, values, a way of looking, acting, and a philosophy of life. If this is not clear within an organization, it is very difficult to transmit an emotional direction to our employees, customers, shareholders, etc. It will be almost impossible for them to read us correctly, and therefore, they will never manage to understand and connect with our brand beyond a commercial/functional link.
The challenge is no longer to connect with Millennials or Centennials; the challenge has become greater: It is to understand oneself in order to evolve consistently, with a coherent discourse and action that respects, understands, and values the feelings and opinions of people—not just its customers—because today brands play a community role (beyond those who buy their products or services). Only with that clarity will they transform into what we now call Community Brands.
Community Brands are brands more connected to the environment in four dimensions: social, cultural, environmental, and economic. Today, there are several good examples of what this means, and at BBK, we are helping other great organizations (great in their way of thinking, not necessarily in their revenue) to transform their internal mindset first, because change starts from within and in conjunction with all stakeholders, in a collaborative and co-creative manner. It means being able to design a new brand purpose: from the redefinition of its values, personality, and how its physical and digital relationship and experience will be, to even how we will be perceived visually by making an adjustment, evolution, or change in our visual system and chromatic territory, ending with the communication strategy and its execution across all media and touchpoints.
That is the new Branding—it is brand-building from every angle and layer of an organization. It is not what is commonly known and limited to a change of logo and image. Today, the change of image is the consequence of a deeper change.
The good news is that our transformation methodologies toward becoming a community brand work, and there are already leaders who are determined to walk that path.
For those companies that do not take that step, there will be a tunnel at the end of the lights.