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“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
The phrase made famous by Walt Kelly in the 1970s comes to mind when considering a brand’s relevance to consumers in general. As much as businesses desire it to be true, brand value is not something a business can create, push forth to the consumer and just “make happen”. Even very large companies can struggle with relevance in consumers’ eyes. While creating a brand is a detailed discovery and unveiling process of the authentic business attributes, maintaining and growing that brand requires businesses to take actions that customers value. That’s what the Prophet Brand Relevance Index* explored in their 2017 report.
The 2017 Index surveyed consumers and identified the top 50 brands in the U.S. Through this, they found the most relevant brands had 4 attributes in common:
- Customer Obsessed – These brands focus on meeting an important need in people’s lives
- Ruthlessly Pragmatic – These brands have their products where and when customers need them, deliver a consistent experience and make life easier
- Distinctively Inspired – These brands inspire, make an emotional connection and often fulfill a larger purpose
- Pervasively Innovative – These brands push the status quo, engage with customers in new ways and address unmet needs
It’s never too late for a brand to work on its relevance index, but it does depend on making a commitment to understanding customer needs and solving problems. Some questions you can ask to get started: What unmet needs are in your marketplace or industry that you could help solve? How can you do a better job of customer communications and consistent brand experience across all customer channels? Small customer-centric changes can go a long way toward making the Brand Relevance list next year – or at least having higher customer engagement, which is a key to ongoing success. If you need help getting started contact us.
What do you think? Let us know here or on social media.
*For more information about the Profit Brand Relevance Index go to www.prophet.com
About the Author: cat-tonic
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