To reflect our recent work and the widening challenges we’re tackling with our clients, we’ve been developing our purpose, approach and offer. Our Strategy Director, Paul West discusses why it's time to start thinking about new ideas for a new era.
The times we live in can be defined by some significant shifts in consumer behaviour and, as a result, brand success. Some brands are surviving, some are thriving, and some, sadly, are hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons – they’re failing to engage the new consumer.
The rate of change is unprecedented and well documented. New consumer expectations such as the need for speed, access to information, endless choice, price transparency, entertainment, enjoyment and ultimately, control, are reshaping the way brands behave today.
Brands have to be bold, innovative and, ultimately, remarkable, to stand out in a crowded market
Previously, brands and retailers could rely on awareness and presence through traditional advertising and a dependable retail network. As leading brands grew and dominated their markets, they strived for brand consistency in order to meet the ever-challenging objective of remaining front of mind.
This model has been disrupted. ‘Awareness through advertising’ has been replaced by ‘engagement through experience’ and ‘the dependable retail network’ has been replaced by a smarter ecosystem of engaging spaces, creative campaigns, clever digital tools and timesaving services. As for ‘brand consistency’, this has been replaced by ‘brand creativity’ – where brands have to be bold, innovative and, ultimately, remarkable, to stand out in a crowded market.
Looking at the brands and experiences we’ve created it’s evident that they’re all behaving differently and are doing so in unexpected and unique ways. We can see global brands behaving like start-ups, and start-ups behaving like category authorities. As a result, they’re all challenging the status quo, creating clear space in their sectors and having an impact. This impact is building brand advocacy, customer satisfaction and business growth.
While these consumer experiences are diverse, they’re all driven by some common themes. They all share the view that experiences are the new media model, that shareability is a fundamental ingredient, and that polarizing their audiences – although daring – reaps rewards. Most importantly, what they all have is a view that a clear, differentiating brand purpose and bold new ideas are the ingredients needed to be remarkable.
At Dalziel & Pow, our ambition is to create the world’s favourite consumer-centric brand experiences. Brand experience is everything that connects people with your brand. It’s defined by your brand purpose, personality, people, the places you create, your product offering and the process of inspiring and serving your customers. We work with our clients to define and design brands, bringing them to life as physical and digital experiences using our expertise in strategy, branding, communications, digital and environments. If you’re interested in finding out how we can help your brand, please do not hesitate to contact Celine Bacconi at c.bacconi@dalziel-pow.com.
