How to Build a Strong Future Brand

Many organizations rely on their marketing capabilities to sell products and services while others focus on developing innovation capabilities to drive growth. However, few organizations have superior capabilities in both marketing and innovation. The latter usually understands the interconnectedness between marketing and innovation, masters both capabilities, and manages well the relationship and flow of information in order to maintain a strong brand image and drive sustainable growth.

the interconnectedness between marketing and innovation...maintain a strong brand image and drive sustainable growth

Apple, Amazon, Google, and Starbucks, for instance, are customer-centric organizations that have managed to build solid brand names due to superior capabilities in both marketing and innovation alongside corporate culture. Starbucks became a well-known global brand after transforming the way customers drink a simple product, coffee. Apple has long been at the helm of the industry due to its strong brand image and innovative products that delight customers. Both these organizations excel in innovation and marketing interconnectedness, understand their customers really well, and deliver a superior and differentiated brand at all times.

Organizations can leverage marketing to promote and sell products or services until someone else pops up with a similar or even better product offering. On the other hand, organizations can leverage innovation to develop a novel product or service, but what if few or nobody is willing to buy this new product. The key here is for leaders to understand the relationship between the two and work on linking and building both capabilities in order to deliver a strong and future brand that continuously attracts and retains customers and drives sustainable growth. There is a misconception that marketing is only about promoting and selling products and that innovation is all about new technology, but in fact innovation is about creating value and marketing is about capturing and delivering this value to stakeholders. The two complement each other and should work in tandem seamlessly, and that is what Apple and other strong brands excel at.

innovation is about creating value and marketing is about capturing and delivering this value to stakeholders

Marketing is at the forefront of identifying current and future customer needs and pains, and innovation is at the center of catering to those needs through creating value with novel solutions, also known as new products, services, or business models. Also, marketing makes those innovative products accessible to customers through various channels and communication techniques, hence capturing and delivering value. It is a cycle and a two-way communication between innovation and marketing, and these two functions shouldn’t work in silos and should be given equal focus in an organization – unless the goal is a mediocre brand with traditional approaches, boxes pushing, price wars, and unsustainable growth that fades away over time.

The cycle concept represents a process that never ends, and this is because markets are never static. Consumer habits change, new markets appear, disruptions and new competitors pop up all the time. So, organizations need to maintain a seamless relationship between marketing and innovation on an ongoing basis in order to evaluate disruptive changes and capture current and future opportunities before someone else does. The challenge here is that innovation is futuristic in nature, and that is it addresses solutions that will probably exist in the future and marketing has to keep up with that. Addressing this challenge requires a visionary leader, and that is because visionary and proactive leaders are able to predict and act on future trends and disruptive changes with a high level of accuracy. This means that leaders need to act on the future, while still in the present and any signs of change in the market should be evaluated, captured and acted upon well in advance before it is too late. For instance, Jeff Bezos, who is a visionary leader, was able to build the strong futurist Amazon brand by acting on the future and going to where his customers were, when many people doubted the online shopping model in the late 90s. Today, Amazon continues to maintain strong customer loyalty, enjoyable customer experience, and high growth due to its innovative solutions, marketing channels and messages, and relationship with customers. 

visionary and proactive leaders are able to predict and act on future trends and disruptive changes with a high level of accuracy

This is not to say that leaders should neglect the present for the sake of the future, but this is to urge them to keep an eye on signs of disruption and act on that as the future might look nothing like today. If we only look at the last 10 to 15 years, we will be able to realize how innovation and marketing interconnectedness has changed our lives and economies in relation to social networking, shopping, communicating, manufacturing and more.

Now, let’s scan the environment and look at what our lives will look like in the new era and scout upcoming market changes, marketing and innovation developments, and emerging trends. Some of the promising trends that signal disruptive innovation, stand a chance of changing the market and today's life, and affect organizations in how they make and market goods and services are:

1.      Metaverse:

There is no doubt that the ‘metaverse’ is the buzzword of the year especially among younger generations. But, what is the metaverse? And what opportunities it presents for businesses?

The metaverse is currently under construction, but it is an evolving and promising medium of the future that merges the real and virtual worlds through multiple individualized universes and immersive technologies providing users with different experiences and interactions in a web3 context. The best analogy to the metaverse is the internet in a web2.0 context, where users can browse the internet’s various webpages looking for different experiences at each stop. Something similar is happening in the metaverse, where users are able to create their own avatars and digital identities, play games, socialize, own, buy and trade digital assets and NFTs, and more by relying on extended reality XR, crypto currencies, decentralized platforms, blockchain, and other advanced technologies. The metaverse is attracting mainly GenZ and Millennial users with around 40% adoption rate so far, and this is driving many brands and celebrities to jump on board, go to where customers are, activate their brands, connect with their target audiences, cash in and stay ahead of the competition. Brands like Gucci and Target are amongst the early adopters to join the metaverse, innovate with digital assets, communicate and market digital products in a whole new way. Similar to what happened with social media more than a decade ago, brands that were early adopters had a first-mover advantage and reaped the benefits while others lagged behind.

The metaverse model is currently popular among Millennials but is expected to change our lives and experiences in relationship to product ownership, digital identity, interaction, socializing, shopping, and trading digital assets. Therefore, it makes sense for brands targeting the youth to embrace the metaverse in order to meet current and future customers in their preferred space and to maintain a strong brand connection and loyalty before it’s too late. Epic Games is doing just that to win in the gaming industry where its ‘Fortnite’ metaverse platform is taking the gaming experience to a whole new level. 

it makes sense for brands targeting the youth to embrace the metaverse

2.      Phygital:

Phygital retailing is another new concept that merges the physical experience with the digital one offering a new shopping experience altogether. Phygital stores do not carry products on display, but they have tablets and immersive technologies for product browsing, digital fitting rooms, comfortable seating areas, and other digital technologies that allow customers to select, try, buy and pick up products almost instantly in a seamless shopping experience environment. This innovative concept is gaining traction, because retail brands are able to mix the best from online shopping with the best from in-store shopping to market their products, communicate with their target audiences, and deliver exceptional customer experience in a frictionless and cost efficient way.

If omni-channel experience is part of a brand promise, then this futuristic phygital store concept should be integrated into the strategy in order to stay true to the brand. 

If omni-channel experience is part of a brand promise, then...phygital...should be integrated into the strategy 

3.      Circularity:

A circular product, which stems from the circular economy model, is another trending topic especially among ‘conscious consumers’ who make their purchasing decisions based on the social, environmental, and economic impact. Since this is a growing community and customer segment, it is forcing many purpose-driven brands and governments around the world to adopt circular economy principles. Unlike the current linear economy, the circular economy is a regenerative economy that tends to preserve natural resources, keep goods in use, eliminate waste, and increase disposable income; hence circularity drives sustainable economic growth and social development in an environmentally friendly way. Brands like H&M, IKEA, Unilever, and Philips are known for innovating in this space and shifting towards a circular economy model due to a growing pressure from consumers as well as from government regulations around circularity. This change is expected to have an impact on our economies, our lives, and the way we buy, use and dispose goods in the very near future. Moreover, many startups and big brands have already started to innovate and market differently in this space. From a reuse business model for fashion products to renting electronics and appliances products, the opportunities for purpose-driven brands to innovate and capture value are immense.

From a reuse business model for fashion products to renting electronics and appliances products, the opportunities for purpose-driven brands...are immense.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is meant to show how the relationship between marketing and innovation, if managed effectively, can build a strong, innovative, and future brand that not only retains current customers but also attracts future new customers as it stays relevant over time.

It also does not mean that organizations have to adopt all of the above, but it means that scanning and evaluating future trends is a practice that requires strong capabilities in both marketing and innovation in order to estimate with a high degree of precision if any or all emerging trends are disruptive and resonate with a brand’s targeted audience, then it is wise to capture opportunities before others do, establish a foothold in the new era, and stay ahead of the curve.  

Author: Elias Hayek - Management, Strategy, and Innovation Consultant and Retail Expert

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