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While many brands were already values-driven in the early 21st century, by 2030 more brands have made consumer values central to their journey toward the future. Brand evolution is directed bottom-up by their customers’ aspirations, rather than top-down—co-evolving in sync with consumers’ advancing values and dreams.
What’s driving this forecast…
- Branding is evolving. Standardized branding is being replaced by meaningful, socially minded, authentic, and experiential approaches.
- Emotion is the killer app. Studies reveal that consumers are downgrading brands to commodity status if the brand fails to connect emotionally.
- Clean-slate brands. Brands with little or no heritage are finding appeal by infusing aspirational business values—fair labor, transparency, co-creation, etc.—deeply into their business models and practices.
- Values importance varies by generation. Boomers and Millennials make values-based purchases more than Gen Xers or Matures.
What this means for companies…
- Engagement is everything. Brand interaction will move past message bombardment to productive interactions. Deep engagement, both directly with consumers and indirectly with their data trails, will be the rule through 2030.
- Beyond CSR. Companies will need to truly walk their talk—going beyond CSR and embodying their brands’ values in their own practices and policies. Transparency and peer-to-peer communication will reinforce this need for values integrity, as consumers both seek out brands that understand and personify their evolving values, and communicate about them to their circles.
- The great divide. By aligning with one set of evolving consumer values, brands may have to alienate others. Chik-fil-a’s association with anti-gay marriage forces in 2012 drew legions of traditionally minded customers, but provoked wrath in many others.
For more on the future of brands and branding, see our report The Future of Brands 2030.
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