Brand news, views & insights: November 2024

Rough diamonds

Last week the AFR published its latest report on the management consulting sector.

The management consultancies are invariably perceived as the pinnacle of B2B professional services brands, and this was no understatement by the editor:

”It’s been a challenging year for the major consulting firms.”

But what piqued my interest was what the report revealed next, according to the AFR’s analysis:

“A shift by clients to smaller, more specialised firms.”

What a golden nugget of insight! For any business leaders of smaller, more specialised firms, this must feel validating to know that their addressable market is growing before their very eyes.

However, this opportunity does come with one all-important caveat.

In order to capture that commercial value, not only must your business performance be up to the task but your brand must be doing its job too. Otherwise, you risk falling into that classic B2B trap whereby you brand is a 'rough diamond' or 'hidden gem', but nothing more.

We hear it all the time from firm and practice leaders who see their brand lagging their business. What’s more, we see it in our own research too via the FutureBrand Index – more on that below, plus our Strategy Director Emma wrote this follow-up op-ed using the latest FutureBrand Index data to inform what smaller firms might need to do build a brand that employees choose to ‘work for’ and clients choose to ‘buy from’.

Brand brilliance comes from the strategic clarity of knowing what makes your B2B brand truly distinctive. Then, building the kind of salience that keeps the brand top of mind. And, last but not least, aligning all of your people to deliver your brand experience, consistently, all of the time.

Is your brand simply your logo printed on your business card?

Or is it leveraged as a powerful strategic asset for your business?

One is much more precious than the other. Don’t let your brand be a ‘rough diamond’ when it could be a ‘shining star’.

Who can you trust?

Trust is back in the headlines following the ACCC’s announcement that it had launched legal actions against Coles and Woolworths.

The day after the announcement, The Australian called to ask for comment – who better to trust than everyday Australians walking the aisles of supermarkets, week in, week out?

Within just the next 48 hours, 200 qualitative in-depth interviews had been facilitated and a comprehensive research report completed, ready to brief the journalist in time to submit the story before the next day’s copy deadline.

It proved to be a big story.

Suffice to say that’s a lot of rich insight into how consumers are feeling, right now, and so I wanted to share three deeper insights that build our understanding beyond the headlines.

1. Loyalty feels good .

2. More than brand .

3. Transparency builds trust .

…click the links to delve into each of those insights, as shared with me by Juno.

Another side to the story

Our research in partnership with Juno, an AI-led research platform, reveals yet another side to the story: not only what we did, but also how we did it.

Specifically, the opportunity presented by Artificial Intelligence to facilitate 200 qualitative in-depth interviews at scale in just 24 hours. And then, another 24 hours later to have turned those real conversations into a comprehensive reporting analysing the findings and highlighting valuable insights into how people are feeling and why they’re feeling that way, right now.

I wrote last month about our evolving approach to innovation, and I’m excited to know that our strategy is already delivering results just a few weeks later.

What's changed? What's stayed the same?

It’s been ten years since the first FutureBrand Index.

That’s a decade of data, tens of thousands of data points.

The first decade of the FutureBrand Index has been a golden era for brands.

This isn't a stroke of luck.

While some things have changed and others have stayed the same, brand strength is testament to smarter strategies based on a deeper understanding of the role and, perhaps most significantly, the value of brands at the highest levels of company leadership.

You can read some of the coverage here , or listen to this quick dip into the data for the Mumbrellacast.

I’ll be taking a deeper dive in the coming weeks so that I can surface some of the stories beneath the headlines. In the meantime, I’d recommend you have a play with the suite of interactive tools on the global website.

First things first, you can download the FutureBrand Index 2024 .

But that’s not all you can do.

You can compare the top 100 . For example, what might it mean to take the best of the top Automotive brand and add a little Luxury to it?

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 Staples, one of the nine sectors listed.

You can build a brand perception chart for your own brand . Even better, ask multiple people across the business so you can compare multiple perspectives. In fact, feel free to email me if we can help you facilitate your own ‘score your brand ’ and then analyse not only what they mean but also what the implications might be for your brand.

How brands travel

One of my favourite explanations for a rebrand has always been this one, thanks to the brilliant storytellers at Disney.

Watch the video above.

Something feels different, but what is it?

It's just about everything.

Because a brand is what a brand does.

It’s not just American Airlines that understand this. Closer to home, it’s also Virgin Australia.

Having been a Qantas frequent flyer for the longest time, I’ve started to wonder about the other half of the airline equation in Australia. Recently I booked my next trip with Virgin and I'm already seeing the difference in its brand voice in the lead-up to my flight departure.

In terms of brand experience, it's often the little things that make a big difference.

In this case, I'd say that brand language is behavioural: I feel like a 'favourite' already, and I haven't even stepped on board…

That’s all for another month of news, views and insights. Please do feel free to ask if I can help you ‘score your brand ’ via the the FutureBrand Index, I’m always happy to add value to your brand and business wherever we can.