Marketing
with th DOUG MACMILLAN
Doug MacMillana is president of The Letter M Marketing in Guelph, ON. To reach him, email doug@letterm.ca.
This is the time to put your brand under a microscope
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t’s a blindingly obvious statement to say that 2022 will be a pivotal year for many companies, but it’s worth reminding ng us that business won’t be as usual anymore. As we emerge from the pandemic pundits from McKinsey to Deloitte to PwC are reminding emindingg us that the entire landscape will have changed. Safety and health will be more important than gadget-y features. tures. Genuine, caring service and community support will have more meritt than once-and-done service calls and nominal donations. Real al videos and stories of real people will be more effective than flashy footage of ate change gleaming products. Through it all, social issues such as climate and inclusion not-so-quietly became the beacons for the newest west generation of consumers and tone-deaf brands will be shunned. ned. In short, the values that brands trumpeted before COVID will need a critical eye. More than ever, it comes down to purpose.
Crafting C rafting a successful successful brand brand Behind every great brand is an even greater purpose, and to craft a successful brand you need to know exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. In 2022, rather than focusing on the “what do we do” or “what do we want?” businesses and organizations are taking a few steps backward toward the fundamentals, asking “what difference can we make?” It’s a scary question, no doubt. I’m sure at some point in your life you’ve been sitting in some kind of “get to know you” conversation, perhaps a job interview or customer presentation, and the person across the table says the dreaded “so, tell me a little bit about why you’re doing this?” You panic. Do you
tell them about your goals? Your passions? Your dog? What is it they really want to know? Is this a loaded question? Is there a wrong answer? While the circumstances might be different, the basic principle is the same: be genuine in your response. No one wants fluff anymore: your impressive, trendy, big-britchestype answers actually fall flat in comparison to if you were to just stick to the basics of what makes you who you are. The same goes for your brand, and that’s a great way to start the exploration. Brands are aligning their actions and messages with the core values that define why they come to work each day. Connecting directly with customers, being reliable and accountable, showing gratitude and appreciation, supporting community, and prioritizing safety, health and wellbeing for employees and customers remain primary tenets of effective brands. Consumers − especially the younger generations noted earlier − are expecting more from these messages than just details about the latest seasonal sale. Rather, they are questioning whether a brand supports fairness, sincerity, and diversity and inclusion both publicly and behind the camera and this focus is becoming increasingly important to brands as well. But it’s not enough to just market inclusiveness or diversity, as recent studies have shown 57 per cent of consumers are more loyal to brands that commit to addressing social inequities in their actions. (Deloitte, 2021).
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