The Next Trend in the Relationship Between Brand and Customers

Hello everybody, I'm Donna Brown, and whether you're watching live or you're watching a replay, welcome, welcome. Very happy to be with you today. It's not going to be a long talk. I just wanted to share what I feel are the biggest evolutions in the relationship between our clients, our customers, And our brands. And I'm going to dive right in, and feel free to reach out with your comments below in the event, or I think I might have to repost it because I wasn't able to go live on LinkedIn. And, you know, feel free to ask me any questions or share your thoughts. I'm very curious to see how you feel things are evolving right now. So I call this talk the next evolution of the relationship between brands and customers and clients because, you know, this last year has been a very interesting year and the changes are still unfolding. And I think we need to evaluate how we position brands, how we create brand strategy about product innovation, about our, you know, what it is that we want to create over the next few years. And so I thought I would dive a little bit into this. My name is Donna Brown. I'm a brand and business strategist. I'm specialized in actually multiple sectors. I have a lot of experience in fashion, home and design, and garden design, lifestyle, food, media, and I also work with solo entrepreneurs and owner-founders. So it's quite— and even some very, very large corporations. So it's quite an interesting background that I have. I'm very excited to work with all different size businesses. And so this is, you know, where I'm happiest in helping people, individuals, solo entrepreneurs, and brands become more of who they can become and serve the world in the best way possible for everyone. So I just thought I would talk a little bit, a few words about branding just to frame the argument a little bit. And You know, branding is a long-term strategy for success in your business. Branding is often misunderstood as sort of the visuals and maybe copy or logos and payoffs and taglines, things like that. But that's really just a teeny tiny part of things, which is more linked to the marketing aspect of things and the communications part of things. But branding is actually a bigger strategy. It informs You know, the way products are launched, the way they are developed, what, how to innovate and complete your customer's journey. And so it's very much design thinking at its best. And it goes hand in hand with business development. So brand strategy and business strategy are 2 slightly different things, but they are absolutely, they work together in tandem for the success, the long-term success of your brands. So, one of the things that we're looking for in your brand strategy is differentiation. So, how do you stand out from your competitors? What makes you unique? And of course, this differentiation has to have a meaning. It can't just be something you've attached to your, you know, you've attached to a product or a service just because, just to make it look different. There has to be a reason for it to be there. When you're lucky enough to push that differentiation so far, you can even create a new category. And, you know, if you think of old radios, you know, that sat on tabletops and transistor radios, you think of what the Walkman created, the iPod, all kinds of things, the iPhone, how things changed. These are just a few examples of, you know, complete disruption where older Older models, older products in those categories just became instantly obsolete. So, you know, these strategic plans are never static. They evolve, you know, they evolve, you know, also depending on what your competition is doing, depending on what's happening in the market, which means your community, the people who buy your products and services. And of course, this is something that evolves over time because nothing is static and change is really one of the only few constants there are in life. So it's important to understand that you have to constantly be reevaluating and rethinking what you're doing. Now, if you have a very clear idea of your core purpose, then that will never change. And it's something that is defined beyond, you know, making money, and it will allow you to be— it will be sort of a North Star for you as you experiment and explore these other ideas and the other opportunities that come up along the way with innovation, technological innovation, with big events, you know, with big events such as the ones we've seen this year, right? And what I've— what we've been used to, you know, over the decades really is, you know, quite a while ago, you know, a few decades ago, we were used to that approach of advertising and marketing at people. And if we tell them often enough, they will buy our thing. And then it, which is sort of a push strategy. And then we moved to this pull strategy. It's, you know, trying to draw in our customers, trying to draw in our clients and have them join the brand rather than buying the brand. So this having this sense of community, having a sense of, you know, they would use their purchases, let's say their purchasing power also to define who they are. I'm the person who drives a Tesla. I'm the person who, you know, owns a certain kind of home or wears, you know, certain kinds of clothes and eats different kinds of foods. They use them as elements of definition of themselves, right? So there's this very interesting process of the individual looking outside of themselves to define who they are as a way of defining who they are. So I found this really, really interesting. So it's the question in that, in this context becomes, who do I become if I buy this brand? What community am I joining? What values do they have? What does that make me if I buy the those things, right? And because brands are built on the meaning that their customers attribute to them, a brand strategy is really all about the management of this meaning. So although the brand is giving towards this, you know, sort of is communicating and giving elements to their consumers, their clients, their audience, their community elements for them to work with. Ultimately, it's the individual or the community that attributes meaning and values and prestige to brands. So they have to, you know, believe that story, but they also can sustain that story, and they become a very— they've become an extremely important element. And you can see that in the, you know, the use of influencers and influencer marketing and things like that. So it's just an idea of how that dynamic has been working so far, and that the shift went from, you know, companies having the power to individuals having the power and saying, yes, we're going to join this brand, yes, we're going to flock here or flock there, and that makes a very big difference. So this shift in power really became evident in the first wave of lockdowns that we went through in early 2020. And what happened there is that people had more time, you know, they consumed a lot less, they didn't need to go out to dinner, they couldn't go out to dinner, but they also didn't have to commute as much, they used less they used less, you know, they didn't need to buy as many clothes to go to the office and look like they were always fresh and, you know, the way and present the image that they wanted to present. And they had more time to stay at home and to rest and to think. And it was a little bit— and the overall effect, the impression that it gave me as I went through it as well, but also talking to other people and listening to a lot of people, is this sense almost of waking up from a dream. Right? We were, we were, we bought into this doingness of everything, always doing, doing, doing, doing, doing without giving a whole lot of attention to being. And so the shift from doing to being is also becoming more and more important and, and won't really backslide even if things open up completely. The, this idea of having to, you know, take your kids to 2 or 3 different, you know, activities after school every single day, or us having, you know, I go to the gym, then I do this, then I go to work, and then I do that. And it's just like constantly having just this constant distraction from ourselves. And so what was very interesting is that, for example, Fitbit gave the statistics that during the lockdown, the first lockdowns, the resting heart rate went down a beat per minute, which may not seem like much, but if you think of how many minutes there are in a day, there's, you know, I think there are over 1,000 or 1,500 beats per minute that your heart is doing less of, is working less hard to, you know, to keep you here. And what that meant was that people lowered their anxiety level, their stress levels. And so we saw, you know, the skies were clearer, the wild animals came out, water became clean, you know, turtles hatched eggs, you know. hatched eggs on beaches that, you know, in Mumbai, all different kinds of activities. But within us, this search of staying at home and cooking. And yes, a lot of people binged on Netflix at the beginning, right? Because it's just like, okay, I'm just gonna catch up on all the things. But once they got over that, then they started asking themselves questions about how they want to work. Do they like the job they have? What are they doing? How essential is what they are doing to that company? How much of their job was filler when they were actually in the physical office? And what did they want for themselves? And were they happier, so much happier, not having to do all those things? And so this, you know, what Lee Edelkort called the quarantine of consumption, really let us reevaluate a whole lot of things that had just become habits. And, you know, first you need one thing, then you need 2, then 3, then 4, and all of a sudden you have this lifestyle that is extremely complex, that's expensive to run, and that in the end doesn't necessarily give you that deep sense of satisfaction and fulfillment and self-actualization that we're looking for. So We started to reset our priorities a little bit and ask ourselves what we really want from life and work. And it was really like a large retreat if you think about it. Time to go inwards, time to— definitely not silent though, right? Time to go inwards, time to reflect on our priorities and what is important to us, whether it was important to be able to see our loved ones because we were cut off from, you know, because they were in different areas or different cities. and we weren't allowed to see them. And all of a sudden, it became more important to us or more, we became more aware of how we spend our resources of time and attention and money. And this is going to continue. And this is the big shift I see in this evolution of the tribe mentality. What's happened is, you know, before individuals were saying, what do I become if I join this brand? If I buy a Gucci bag or a Louis Vuitton, glasses, or if I drive a Tesla or whatever it is, right? Or I own a KitchenAid stand mixer, what does that make me? Or if I have a Vitamix or something, right? What does that say about me? How will people perceive me through that? And I think that this detachment from constantly having to sort of put on a facade in many different ways, in many different social situations, including our work situations has really burgeoned into a need to communicate one-to-one, a need to communicate in groups, to have more honest conversations and transparent conversations. If you look at how Clubhouse is, you know, the latest and the greatest, well, because it kind of is, you know, right now that it's in beta and you can only invite people And it's— there's this feeling of being in a very special place, and you can be in a room with people who are the founders of multi-million dollar companies and with somebody who's just starting out on their career, and they're talking to each other and giving each other advice and asking questions and sharing thoughts. And so all of a sudden there's this flattening of hierarchy, which again is another trend that's going on. There are a lot of things actually going on. I should have I'll be talking about them maybe a little bit in, in on other calls, not to make this one too long. But that need to communicate, you know, going back to Clubhouse, it's that hearing the voice, because even this is a frontal experience. You're listening to me speak, but I don't hear your reactions. I don't necessarily see your faces. I'll be able to read your comments, so we do interact, but there's not that immediacy And there's not that warmth or, you know, emotion that can be conveyed with a human voice. And so that's another big shift. So as we are looking for ways of communicating, ways of connecting with other people, because we're all still so isolated— now this is continuing on. This is really important, but what I've also noticed is that people are starting to, you know, having asked themselves, what is it that I want? Was what I was doing the way I actually really want to live, or did it just become a habit and it just become the thing, became the thing to do? You know, because my friends were doing it or because my children's school friends were doing it and sort of making everything, you know, normalizing certain behaviors. And now I— this is the big difference that I feel that is going on right now and that I feel that all brands of any size need to pay attention to. And that is this, that people are deciding for themselves. They're taking back that sense of sovereignty, that sense of responsibility, self-responsibility, and saying, this is what I want for my life. I no longer want to do this or be or pretend to be that. I want to be who, who I am. I want to express who I am, and I want to find a way of living and a way of earning a livelihood that allows me to do that and supports me in my becoming, in my path of self-actualization. And so the difference here then becomes is that the choice when you see a brand, when you see something, is that does that help me on this journey? And yes, I can be happy to be part of that community and feel, you know, part of something. You know, when we— so we do join the brands, but there's a diff— there's a shift in the choices and why we're making them. And it's a little bit more like individualism. So you'll think of somebody who's walking their own path, but is also happy to connect and be with others and to find meaning with others. But now that meaning, the management of meaning, you know, before was something about what does this make you if you join us as a brand? But now it's how can we help? The company should be asking themselves, brands should really be asking themselves, what do these people want to become and how can I help them on this journey? There's a very different— there's a shift there that's subtle but significant and moving to this sense of service, to the sense of considering the whole person and And the company imagining what that— how their product or service fits into the entire life of those— of that person. And be willing also to see that how they serve is something that's a little more fluid, right? We're seeing that flexibility and fluidity is really, really important so that Brands are sort of like living, breathing things. If we're able to respond and adapt to what's actually going on, then our customers will be even more, you know, they will buy even, they will join the community even more. They will become brand ambassadors. They will support, you know, the meaning of that brand, of your brand. And this is a very different thing, but they want, people want to be seen as whole. They want to look at, you know, what is going on for them and want to find— and they're relating to the companies, the brands, the solo entrepreneurs, the SMEs. It doesn't really matter what size, but they're looking at everything from how does this help me on what I want to achieve in this life. And so This, you know, we've become happier with less. We're more conscious of consumption. You know, fashion is undergoing a huge revolution right now, and there were statistics saying that if there are enough clothes produced today, that if we stop today, we could clothe 6 generations of people without having to produce a single other item. And that's shocking. We don't need this much. And so, you know, taking— brands also need to take a stand for this. There, you know, Giorgio Armani came out and said he wasn't going to produce as many collections. He wrote an open letter on Women's Wear Daily that you guys can check out if you want to, but saying how I make clothes of quality, you can wear them more than one season. There's no need for me to be doing more and more and more collections because they're all the— there are many collections throughout the year, not just fall and winter and spring and summer. There are also these shoulder collections and you know, little other little drops. So now it's I'm going to have a basic collection and have these moments of when I want to do something else that's sort of interesting that livens things up, we'll do smaller numbers of them. And this is a good thing. It's going to take a lot of reset and rethinking of the whole process, right? The whole supply chain of what that, you know, and how that's going to affect the entire supply chain. of a garment. But ultimately, if done well, it won't abandon the people who are actually producing, let's say in the factories, or producing the fabrics, or the buttons, or the accessories, or whatever. But there will be a way for them to work differently. So, and this is a very exciting thing. It means that the brand can have not just luxury but also meaning. that sense of responsibility, the sense of it's not responsible for me to just keep pulling from— I mean, I'm not talking just about his brand, but, you know, all the fashion brands, especially the fast fashion ones, just constantly so that I can make more money, I need to sell more and drop more clothes. And like the H&M and Zara of the world, you know, there are many other brands. I'm sorry to point them out, but— You know, this constant, constantly making people that feel like they need to, how they feel like they need to buy something new all the time, all the time, every week, because it's only this much, it's only that much. But the impact of all of that is, you know, crushing the planet. So what they've been talking about is the humanization of business. And I find this kind of a funny word in many ways, just because you would think that businesses made by people would be for people. But that actually hasn't been the case. They've been mostly about profit. And growth and competition, but they haven't actually necessarily considered their place in society as a whole and in the world as a whole. So this trend of, you know, humanization is very, very different, and it means that each business, no matter what the size, is being asked to think of what they're producing, whether it's a product or service, Not just in towards, you know, the people who will benefit directly from it, so their clients and customers, but also how does that fit in with the needs of society, with the needs of the world today? Does that business model make sense? Is there something I can do to make it more interesting, more sustainable, more powerful? And I also believe that companies are moving beyond empathy and moving to compassion and generosity. And I feel that this really looking sense of service and looking after other companies, sorry, their customers and clients. We're being asked to consider the whole person, not just what is going to make them buy the car we make or the cereal we make or the coaching services we have or the health or wellness services that we have. It's much more than that. It's how does this fit into their whole life? How is this actually helping them move towards their life goals? As as individuals, as you know parents, as people you know with different kinds of relationships, or what they want to create in the world as well. Because a lot of you know B to C, but also you know B to B, but also B to C is also you know this is looking at that whole person. What is it that they're trying to create, or that other business you're trying to serve? What is it that they are trying to create? What would be the sort of the ultimate expression of who they are and how would that change the world and how can you help them become that. So this is why I invite all brands to consider themselves lifestyle brands because it is about the lifestyle of the business, the lifestyle of, you know, your business, the businesses you serve if you're B2B, of the customers you serve you serve if you are B2C. And this is such an important thing that it's going to become a non-negotiable, and, and the companies that remain a little bit deaf to this shift are not going to survive. They're not going to be recognized as vital functioning parts of society. I'm just checking some of my notes because I can go off Off track a little bit. So just really sort of summing things up, I'd like to say that every business should consider themselves a lifestyle business, a lifestyle brand, and start thinking of the whole person. And you'll see this especially in the entrepreneurial space. You will see this because of course most businesses, a lot of those businesses are solo entrepreneurs, so one-man bands. And so they address their mental health, their physical health, their emotional health, not just their productivity and their business strategy and their brand strategy, right? And but as you— as we blow up that model to include larger corporations, it doesn't actually really change that much. You know, it's a very interesting shift in power It's a very interesting shift in the way individuals are spending their resources of time, money, and attention. And there are a lot of— instead of clinging to what was, if we open ourselves up to what can be, as, you know, business owners, as large brands, or as people who are helping these brands to thrive, I think that this is a really powerful and exciting moment in our history where we can inhabit all in the sense that we can have sustainable growth, we can be sustainable sort of ecologically, and we can also contribute to the well-being of the people that we serve in a functional way. And the more we are able to tune into these— this sort of mentality and this approach and this worldview, the, I think, the more interesting solutions you'll have also for making the necessary pivots that have come up through the challenges you've had at this time. So that's— I'd love to hear your thoughts. That's it for today. I'd love to hear your thoughts and your feedback. If you'd like to go deeper into this, feel free to send me a message on LinkedIn or write me at donna@ donnabrowndesign.com. I just know that this is an exciting time for us all, and it is true that there are a lot of challenges, and it is true that there are a lot of businesses that won't survive, and there— but there are a lot of— there are new ways of being, of creating businesses. There are new ways of practicing business that are exciting and fulfilling, and we should be opening our minds and our hearts to what's available to us and what's possible. And, and through that, who knows whether that's where you'll find your radical differentiator or even create a new category. So I want to thank you for today, and I look forward to our next call together. Bye for now.