Brands able to fill the void of belonging?
Fostering distinct cultural elements unlocks customer engagement
It is the first time in history that brands alone, not the product or service a company produces but its mission and cultural impact, have the ability to fulfil a universal human need. Digital revolution has caused a disruption, a huge behavioural swift creating a heavily fragmented audience and allowing brands to play a new, key, leading role.
Untied as we are from our physical existence able to access tons of information and communicate with almost anyone on the planet, we are gradually losing our sense of belonging. As we embrace the new endless possibilities Internet has created, we are exposed to a new reality where we find ourselves culturally boundless. Until now, it has been our family, our friends, the city we grew up, our neighbourhood, or even our work space that have helped us develop our identity, shape character, embrace a system of values. But in the intangible digital world where we blend in with billions of other people from around the world it is hard to isolate a group that shares a distinct identity.
The behavioural change caused by the digital revolution is undeniable and has been documented by the recent IBM iX global qualitative study conducted by IPOS, revealing that because of this “perfect storm of cultural influences that is eroding our sense of belonging” we tend to develop a new relationship with brands. Consumers around the world, while being more distracted than ever, exposed to an average 10.000 brand messages per day, are willing (55% of them) to pay more just for a better customer experience, not the actual product or service but the experience. Consumers tend to identify themselves in relation to the brands they choose more than ever before. As documented by this study, if they were countries, Apple and Amazon would be the 2 biggest ones right now, not because of their wealth but because their brands produce the strongest sense of belonging to their customers.
Are brands going to fulfil our need to belong in a globalised and fully fragmented digital new world? How attached will you be to your native country, to your family or the city you live in, in the future compared to major brands? How upset would you be if Netflix had to shut down today compared to changing neighbourhood for example?
As big parts of our lives, like work, communication, entertainment move to the digital world we tend to have more experiences on the web rather than the physical world. Brands are the touchstone of the digital experience. You accept the terms of use of a digital service/platform the same way you comply with a country’s regulations. Brands have a bigger effect on your digital experience, than the country you live in or your family and friends. This way businesses, through the customer experience they design, are able to create very strong bonds with the users, bypassing the conventional offline experience influencers. As our lives become more and more digital every day, key digital players gain the power to prove themselves superior to any other off-line cultural group, no matter how well established it used to be.
It isn’t a simple task to become so influential though. Brand Belonging requires clear and compelling brand purpose and business objectives as a foundation. It also involves continuous strategic choice-making in the context of business and brand objectives. Brands need to select key drivers, define a differentiating play and most importantly put customers’ needs as their first priority.
The IBM iX study, finds extra reasons that have caused a belonging deficit. Increasing isolation, erosion of trust, economic inequality, political polarisation and mass migration are among them. No wonder that the need to have a cultural reference in the digital world has created a huge business opportunity with proven business returns. Are corporations able to take such a responsibility? Customers have higher than ever ethical expectations .