As more brands seek to engage in what has been referred to as the “cultural conversations” of today, they encounter reactions ranging from strong endorsement to cynicism about their motives. Starbucks, for example, hit turbulence with its Race Together campaign. (There’s an excellent analysis of why here.)
People live first and foremost in the digital world, and the battle for their attention and loyalty exists there. The digital world, aka social web, is powered by human media. To realize the promise of what all digital can do, brands need to understand that digital is not a “thing”.
Just as brands reflect the business they are part of, so they must systemically modify how they operate to reflect technological and systemic changes in the business.
Recently on Branding Strategy Insider, Mark Ritson wrote about the wild and concerning variances across different brand valuations.
Often when executives look to address underperformance on the inside of a brand or business, the temptation is to treat the brand or business as one entity, and to assume that the problems are spread evenly. That’s usually not the case.
