Is Brand Marketing in a Revolution or Evolution?
Marketing professionals have mixed opinions on the state of branding today: 58% of those surveyed say "we're in a time of revolutionary change when it comes to how powerful brands are created," whereas 42% express the opposite viewpoint, saying "the fundamentals haven't changed at all," according to a report by the Branding Forward Project.
Brand marketers are even more divided about the importance of consumer-generated content: 51% say such content is more relevant and effective than agency-generated ideas, whereas 49% question its superiority over agency content.
However, nearly all (73%) brand marketers agree the days of strong brands being characterized by consistency above all else were indeed over.
Below, additional findings from a survey from the Branding Forward Project, an ongoing collaboration between Mechanica and Fast Company focused on developments in marketing and brand management.
New Forces at Work: Social Media and Personalize Experience
Social media (70%) and the rising demand for personalized experiences (48%) are viewed as the forces having the most significant impact on branding and marketing today, followed by the growing need for provable ROI (44%) and increasing competition (42%).
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It's good to see that so many companies are reaping the benefits of SEO. Too often one blogger or another is heralding the death of SEO, and that's just not the case. SEO is evolving, but that doesn't mean it still insn't incredibly effective.
It's very true that inspiration and engagement is key to brand advocacy but I don't believe that replaces the need for strategic consistency. Nothing should change with respect to delivering consistent messaging when engaging consumers with a brand or immersing them in a personal experience. In fact, consistency is an important component to the success of any program.
without it product is unaware
I don't understand the use of "... nearly an equal proportion ... " when comparing 42% and 58%. Was the sample so small that these percentages don't represent a statistically significant difference?
You wrote: " ... 58% of those surveyed say "we're in a time of revolutionary change when it comes to how powerful brands are created," and nearly an equal proportion (42%) express the opposite viewpoint, saying "the fundamentals haven't changed at all," according to a report by the Branding Forward Project.
If I'm reading this right, 38% more respondents felt one way than the other (58/42 = 1.38). If I had that kind of win in a side-by-side product performance test, I'd celebrate big-time. What am I missing? Or was the sample size embarrassingly small, so that the margin of error was 16 percentage points?
How great a difference would there have had to be before you didn't consider them "nearly equal?"
Thanks, Michael. You raise a good point. The language is misleading. I've adjusted the copy a bit to reflect your point.
Michael, you're absolutely right. In the process of writing, editing, and rewriting, what had once been the lede--the stat about consumer-generated marketing--fell out of the lede, but the language used to describe that stat (49% vs. 51%) remained in the lede. We've made the correction. Thanks for noticing!
I'm with you Wagner - Being consistent allows people to build a trust in what you stand for so that you can inspire and engage. I don't engage with people that I don't trust and that's the same for brands. For trust to be developed you must be consistent.
That doesn't mean that you don't ever evolve, but you balance staying relevant without compromising the heart and soul of your organisation.
Marketing is an holistic approach. Brand is the umbrella above the behaviours and promises of the organisation so i'm not sure 'brand' should be compared to marketing when one relies upon the other. They aren't comparable, they are complimentary as far as I see it.
It does however show that the world has shifted and continues to do so. It's important for all of us to stay up to date and keep our minds open.