Chief Branding Officers Need to Make Meaningful Changes

With everything going on in our world, I'm surprised to see branding and marketing leaders still doing things "by the book" - meaning how we did things before the pandemic. I don't blame them. They're part of massive organizations with thousands of stakeholders and millions of dollars at stake. We're living in a transparent world where we don't yet understand how dependent we are on others for our success. Our ego tells us that we'd be better off without them. So in today's business arena partners no longer trust each other, investors can sue owners for making a mistake, and activists can make a brand's life hell. Not to mention how a single disgruntled employee, customer or influencer can cause unlimited damage to a brand.

Due to all this the major brands are not capable of making bold moves like they did in the past, and are therefore missing millions of opportunities to strengthen ties with their customers, and make the connection more meaningful.

Remember in 2013, How Dove's 'Real Beauty Sketches' Became The Most Viral Video Ad Of All Time INSIDER. How did it reach that extreme level of virality? "I think what made this campaign perform particularly strongly is the content, which?elicited the intense emotional responses of ‘warmth, ‘happiness’ and ‘knowledge’ from its target demographic." (David Waterhouse)

In my opinion another reason the Dove campaign went viral is because the consumers really felt personally involved in this campaign - it was really about them, and everyone could be part of this big thing that was happening. It's hard to imagine one of the brands that's been around for decades making such a bold move nowadays. They are not capable of collaborating with partners in really exciting and innovative ways like young brands can.

A great example is Gymshark's brilliant mental health campaign where they created a non-judgmental safe space for men to open up, deload and have a chat with professionals who are there to listen, all while getting a fresh trim for free. They totally knocked it out of the park as usual. The next generation has a better grasp of the importance of working together to succeed. To collaborate with genuine partners where everyone can put their ego aside to make it work. These are the brands that are going all the way. Nothing will stop them.

I think by now we're all tired of big brands creating a huge campaign around a slight logo adjustment - we all know it's a complete waste of resources at time like this. But instead of saying that outright, Colgate came up with this funny post that got a big discussion going and went quite viral:

Brand Recognition Challenge: Guess which color is Colgate's "Colgate Red."

The only way the big brands are going to be able to make the necessary shifts is by bringing everyone together to discuss things as equals, which is what the integral method is all about. But even though they have the most to benefit from tapping into their collective intelligence in new ways, I'm afraid they'll be the last to adopt these advanced methods. It's hard to introduce new things in a place where everyone is concerned with hanging onto their position and title that they've worked decades to earn.

The shift I'm always talking about, to more human and warm interaction with consumers is going to happen either way.

The shift I'm always talking about, to more human and warm interaction with consumers is going to happen either way. People are looking to the brands they trust to help offer some kind of light in the darkness, some kind of guidance, or at least cheer them up since anxiety is on the rise everywhere. Most brands are falling short. Not because they don't have the resources and creativity, but because the biggest executives are afraid to make any sudden moves. And we all know that leading by fear is a bad strategy. It won't end well.

I keep hoping that one major brand will be able to step up and present a different way forward. We have many confectionary brands to buy from, and quite a few have been hit with some major setbacks in the form of recalls. So my recommendation is that instead of waiting to see what happens next, major brands need to start thinking how they can begin suiting their products, culture and branding to the new era. And in order to do that and be successful, they'll have to learn how to move their ego out of the way.