The Future of Brands - Forum for the Future

october 2014editorial
Brands face
a game of thrones
text Stefan Liute
Brands have always been multi-factorial, multi-faceted beasts. They’re becoming more so.
We’re seeing more opportunistic co-operation and co-creation as walls fall down between
brands and customers, as well as between competing brands. Any ‘throne pretenders’ face
two challenges. One is positioning. The other is power.
positioning
It is getting ever harder for brands to build strong positions in our minds. They have always
needed to make a stand. Now they need to excel at it, way beyond paid media and deep
down into what they really are. They have to be authentic, focusing on their strengths,
including the genuine convictions of the people who steer them – while admitting imperfections and limitations. To do this, they need to perfectly align all brand components –
product, environment, behaviour, and communication – which means better integrating
the departments that manage them. This is how today’s knowledge and organisational silos
will disappear.
They also have to strengthen their ability to listen and empathise. Brands are doing
more research and analysis in-house, with new means and channels provided by a world
of always-connected devices. In future they will need to get more involved in major social,
political and cultural changes, taking sides and making ethical stands in a much stronger
fashion than they do now. Brands that oscillate, pretend, evade, and postpone will lose.
power
A transfer of power from brand to customer is taking place, with technology and
access to knowledge lev­elling the playing field. Brands need to evolve from profitmaximisation engines into relationship manage­ment systems. These systems will have
to be more data-driven and less controlling, because owners and customers will jointly
create brand equity in peer-to-peer arrangements.
Brand loyalty will likely continue to decrease, particularly in the case of commoditised
products and ser­vices, where purchases require low buyer involvement. However, where
brands manage to build unusually strong connections with their customers (and thus avoid
commoditisation) loyalty will increase. The source of such strong connections will be the
personal touch, so these brands will usually be the creation of small organisations. At the
same time, large organisations will excel at building brands that thrive at low or nonexistent loyalty levels.
3
curator
Anna Simpson
art direction & design
zago nyc (Maria Lago)
production
Ruth Prior
Sarah Veniard
research
Robert Greenfield
Jessica Naylor
Jie Hui Kia
Jon Turney
direction
James Goodman
Esther Maughan McLachlan
Ariel Muller
image credits
Cover : artist - Jeremy
Hutchison; photographer Jonathan Minster
p.4: Bea Mahan, abc+, http://
www.beamahan.com
p.16: Alexander Kosolapov
Malevich - Black Square 1987
Oil on canvas
119.5 x 173cm
© Alexander Kosolapov, 1987
Image courtesy of the Tsukanov
Family Foundation Collection,
London
p.19: torbakhopper HE DEAD,
Revolution Toy
p.27: Nathan Sawaya, Untitled.
Nathan uses Lego bricks to
create his art, pushing the
boundaries of traditional
mediums, brickartist.com
contents
Brands shape how we see the world and relate to it. They
amplify cultures, influence perceptions, and create new norms.
We shouldn't underestimate their power. But as the world
changes, so will the role and manifestation of brands in it.
civic engagement
16 -23
Brand stand
17 Brand stand: Will brands take sides
on the civic playing field?
19 Sally Uren: Pressure gauge
20 Signs of change
With this edition, we are challenging ourselves to fathom
the future of brands. We scanned the horizon to collect signs
of change, interviewed experts, and invited critical analysis
of the shifting scene. As we were doing this, three significant
ways in which brands are responding to change emerged.
They are taking a stand in society. They are engaging with artists
and creators. And they are becoming more intimately involved
in our personal lives. What difference will they make to our
future? What good might come of it? What are the risks?
21 David Brunt: the value of social impact
22 A tool to help brands find purpose
creative engagement
24-33
The cover image is taken from a pop-up shop selling useless
objects, staged in the London gallery Paradise Row. The artist,
Jeremy Hutchison, asked factory workers in China, India, Turkey
and Pakistan to insert a design error into the items they produced,
exploring the relationship between perceived value and purpose.
25 Play time: What happens when artists,
makers and brands meet?
setting the scene
Published by Forum for the Future
Registered Charity Number: 1040519
ISSN No: 1366-4417
© Forum for the Future 2014
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those
of Forum for the Future, nor any of its associates.
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4-15
Play time
27 Co-creating the future
28 Signs of change
4 Biography of brands
30 Giorgia Lupi: Seeing is understanding
8 Don’t call me ‘millennial’
32 What will the Internet of Things
mean for brands?
10 Four scenarios for 2030
12 David Hall: The no-brand challenge
14 Who to watch? Four brands redefining
their market
personal engagement
34-47
Personal touch
35 Personal touch: Just how closely will brands
engage with us?
37 Signs of change
38 Trust and traceability
40 Professor Gemma Calvert: neuromarketing
42 Intimate conversations
45 Gut instinct
the future of brands
october 2014introduction
Biography
of brands
text Anna Simpson
origins
art Bea Mahan abc+
How did brands begin? The subject emerged as a major discipline in marketing schools in
the 1970s, but academics trace the origins of brands as a commercial phenomenon to over
4,000 years ago in the Indus Valley. Professors Karl Moore and Susan Reid of McGill University describe the emergence of proto-brands in the Harappan cities of 2500 BCE, where
craftsmen working in stone and bronze would create little square seals with animal figures,
and sell them to merchants as trademarks. These marks indicated the origin of manufacture and points along the supply chain (sorting, storage). Etymologically, the word ‘brand’ is
often associated with traders’ marks burnt onto livestock hide.
Brands evolved not only to convey information about where a product came from and
who made it, but also to carry imagery suggesting value. Early examples might include
the use of Shiva as a fertility god in the Harappan seals, or the brand of Melqart, a Tyrian
Iron Age king whose princes and priests presided over a well-oiled multinational trading
machine, closely linked to Melqart’s godlike status and imperial agenda.
As Moore and Reid put it, the value of a brand is not just transactional, but transformational. By evoking common cultural markers, they cultivate and respond to aspirations
for change and development.1
[ 1 ] mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/10169/1/
MPRA_paper_10169.pdf
WHERE DID THEY COME FROM AND WHERE ARE THEY GOING?
what came next?
Shift west, and leap forward to the 1730s, when the printing press triggered a news frenzy.
Newspapers would provide advert space and coverage to new brands, and chart innovations such as the Wright Brother’s first flight (1903). In 1885 the Lever Brothers begin
making soap, later merging with a Dutch company, Margarine Unie, to form Unilever. By
1892, General Electric is on the scene, making trademark advances in electric lighting and
appliances. Henry Ford’s conveyor belt assembly line comes on-stream in 1913, building
cars in 23 minutes to put them within the economic reach of the average American. Then
in the 1930s, the first ever television broadcast leads to TV adverts and product placement. Leap forward again, and the hashtag has transformed the speed at which ideas,
messages, criticisms and entertainment circulate.
6
7
october 2014introduction
changing context
believe businesses should have a social purpose. Brands are expected to make life better
not just momentarily but in the long-term. TUI, for instance, promises “a holiday where
you can get back to your true self and enjoy moments that really matter, now and in times
to come” – emphasising both the experience and its sustainable approach.
The potential of brands is no longer framed by either logo or trade. Political leaders,
non-profits and global socialites are developing their brand. In China, Premier Xi Jinping is
the first ruler to employ a big team to build his public profile since Chairman Mao. And he’s
challenging what it means to be head of state in China: out of the limo, and onto the bus.4
what promise?
The notion of ‘brand promise’ bridges the gap between business strategy and marketing:
what the business does, and what it says it will do. The Chinese tech giant Alibaba rose
with no branding to speak of, even in China. Its promise and strategy were one and the
same: simply to deliver, ensuring customers always got what they ordered. And so it burst
almost unknown onto the New York Stock Exchange, opening with an overall market
value of $168 billion.
The implication is that if the business has a clear sense of its purpose and sets out to
achieve it with integrity, then it will keep its ‘promise’ and the brand will thrive as a result.
So runs the logic leading to what Singapore’s Business Insider describes as the “worst
nightmare” of Abercrombie and Fitch’s CEO, Mike Jeffries. He built up the brand by
plastering logos – the square seals of the 20th century – all over the company’s clothes and
consumables. Now, he’s taking them off.
brands beyond logo
The fall of the logo is not the fall of the brand. Brands are multimedia channels, delivering meaning and culture through journalism, art, film, pop-up theatre, music videos
and more. Their value rests as much in the quality of the story they tell – uprated by
their online audiences – as in the product reviews. Hits, visits and trending tales sit alongside sales as markers of a successful campaign. They are expected to add cultural value,
challenging our assumptions through political campaigns, decorating our streets with art
and not just advertising. Moreover, people are looking to brands not just for embellishments, but for long-term engagement with societal issues. The study ‘Combining Profit
and Purpose’ published in October 2014 by Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) in partnership
with Cranfield’s Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility and The Financial Times’
FT Remark (FT), found that 88% of current CEOs and 90% of future leaders surveyed
8
beyond brands?
Stripped of the logo and the commercial context, what is a brand? Its ultimate role, coming back to Moore and Reid, is to “carry and communicate cultural meaning that is both
transactional (information-related) and transformational (image-related) in character”.
Of course, meaning must travel between two or more parties. Another way to understand
brands is a means of mediating relationships – mostly, though not exclusively, between an
organisation and its users, and often between a company and its customers.
If we take this mediation as our definition of a brand, then anything affecting those
relationships will also affect the role and manifestation of brands: the messages it carries,
the vessel it chooses and the route it takes.
Changes in how people relate to each other and to social structures come from many
sources: communications technology is an obvious one, now offering people an unprecedented capacity to share and to influence. Other shifts might be demographic – affecting
the values and aspirations of the people in question; political – shaping motivations; or
cultural and linguistic, challenging any assumptions of common understanding. Scientific
applications are already unleashing the potential for people and business to engage in
ways that are very close indeed – through lifestyle monitoring, internal health sensors,
and even modifications to the human microbiome. These pressures will have an impact
on how we relate to one another, how quickly and by what means messages are shared,
how they are understood, and what impact they have. There’s much talk of ‘emotional
branding’; what does it mean for a brand to care? Is that possible? Should it be?
Anna Simpson is the Curator of Forum for the Future’s new
Futures Centre, and author of The Brand Strategist’s Guide to Desire
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). Readers of Green Futures will know her
already as the magazine’s most recent editor. @_annasimpson
[ 3 ] spiegel.de/international/business/interviewexpert-nirmalya-kumar-on-rise-of-emergingmarket-brands-a-942399.html
[ 2 ] bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-21/
world-with-more-phones-than-toiletsshows-water-challenge.html
The context in which early brands developed was dominated by urbanisation and the
rise of international trade. Local crafts journeyed from the maker to the packaging and
sorting centre to the seafarer to the merchant: a supply chain tracked to add value for the
end user. Iconic brands, from McDonald’s arches to Apple’s bite, have combined deep
cultural roots with easy adaptation to different contexts.
Needless to say, what we make and how we trade has changed, and is now subject to
rapid flux. New approaches to manufacture and trade are emerging in a hyperconnected
world, where more people now have access to smartphones than sanitation.2 The journey of
a product can now be so complex that every milestone could be as significant to the brand
as the origin. Traceability is a concern for health-conscious consumers, particularly in Asia
[see p. 39], but is this enough to determine a brand’s value and success?
As London Business School Professor Nirmalya Kumar told Spiegel, “Brands are not
being defined by their country of origin any longer. Of course, if I market champagne,
the country of origin still plays a role. However, if you buy an iPhone from Apple you
don’t think Made in China. And if you drive a Jaguar or Land Rover you don’t care
about its Indian owner Tata or that the CEO of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive is a
German. What matters to the consumer is whether the brand keeps what it promises.”3
[ 3 ] economist.com/news/leaders/21618780-mostpowerful-and-popular-leader-china-has-haddecades-must-use-these-assets-wisely-xi
the future of brands
new me mes
As Stefan Liute, Strategy Director at the brand agency Storience argues, branding is
reaching the end of its days. “The trade’s terminology is constantly evolving and fashionable labels grow tired at some point. We will call this discipline by a different name, giving
up the pretty barbaric branding.” Liute believes branding terminology and concepts will
diverge into two subspecies: a “pragmatic one”, focused on economic results, and “an
academic one, idealist and focused to bring the world back into balance”.
This edition explores the future of brands, questioning their value in mediating relationships, and interrogating their readiness to adapt in order to engage with people on
three levels: civic, creative and personal. In the first chapter, we question the roles brands
can play in the lives of citisens, activists, visionaries and change-makers. In the second,
we ask how brands can engage with creativity in individuals and society. And finally, we
reflect on the capacity of brands to gain greater personal proximity to us, from our physical health to the workings of our minds.
9
text Harriet Kingaby & Jen Katan
art Portrait of Maggie Wilson Watching a 3D Movie, after Frank Duveneck’. Mike Licht
10
setting the scene
So here we are, the millennial generation. Those that had our first snog, beer, or fag as the
world quaked in the shadow of the millennium bug. According to some, we’re self-obsessed and entitled. Narcissists addicted to smartphones, clicktivists with superficial knowledge. We’re lazy, addicted to consumption, with
grand, unrealistic life expectations that make us impossible to manage. We are not the sum
of our talents, degrees, or achievements, but of our Facebook likes and Instagram feeds.
We are ‘millennials’.
Or so we’re told.
The reality is that we’re a generation in ascendancy. Soon to be the largest workforce in
history, we will (eventually) run the world. However, we come with an inherently different
set of values to previous generations. Human resources managers are mystified by our work
ethic; big business finds us increasingly hard to sell to; older generations slam our dependence on technology. So what next? What do traditional systems do with a generation that often follows its
hearts and guts over its wallet? That values creativity, experience and culture over possessions – but is also a growing global middle class that demands the new iPhone? The most
connected global peer group in human history, that aspires for a better world, yet at the
same time is opinionated and rebellious – unwilling to engage with traditional systems and
insisting that we ‘do it ourselves’. Some will denounce us and claim these paradoxes demonstrate our inherently fickle
nature, or an inability to disengage with our smartphones and connect with the ‘real world’.
Instead, we see a language gap. A tragic lack of coherent dialogue that really represents
our generation’s varied beliefs and aspirations. A fundamental misunderstanding of what it
means to be ‘millennial’. When we reject ‘green’ or traditional politics, we don’t reject the
need for change, simply the baggage that comes with them. It’s not that we are not listening, just that you are not speaking our language.
We will inhabit the future, and as such, we need a thriving, viable platform from which to
mould it.1 We need outlets to voice these needs, to inspire a belief in our ability to shape this
future, which opens conversation to the mainstream, not just the elite. We must call for greater understanding of who millennials are and really question the forces acting upon, under,
or before us.
In 1961, Yayoi Kusama, said of the American art scene: Even those ostensibly new
schools of thought that arose to oppose the [existing ones] only embraced, in the end, nostalgia for [what had gone before]; they were incapable of moving so much as a single step
beyond historical theory … The truth is that, at the time, there was not even the hint of any
renaissance or rising tide that would define the century. Nor was it easy to imagine that we
were approaching some sort of critical mass. The only thing certain was that the future was
up to us, the younger generation.”
That was the 1960s: arguably the seminal decade of the last century in terms of social
change. Our millennial renaissance? It’s almost here. It echoes in the passion of the pub
debate, in the drum beat of the intrapreneur movement, and the steps of entrepreneurs
paving their own way.
Not all of us have grand ambitions to ‘save the world’. But we look forward to our
remaining 80 years of life, and want them to be the best they can be. This means change.
This means dialogues and power dynamics that work for us. It’s time to ditch ‘sustainability’ and ‘green’ and move on. The future really is ours: we must find our voice and claim it.
[ 1 ] Forum for the Future has partnered with VICE
and 30 global brands to launch collectively.org, a
new digital platform to inspire ‘Millennials’ to make
sustainable living the ‘new normal’.
Don’t
call me
‘Millennial’
october 2014
Harriet Kingaby and Jen Katanare marketers who’d like
to refresh the conversation about the ‘future’ and reinvent traditional
‘isms’ so that they confront current problems. Far from being rebels
without a cause, we have dozens to choose from. We’d like to know
what yours is, what makes you passionate. Tweet us your hopes and
fears for 2025 @MillennialGRR or #My2025
the future of brands
11
the future of brands
october 2014
setting the scene
Double or nothing
The US has pushed ahead with a high-carbon, high-growth model, while the rest of the world
What if…?
looks on in dismay. Water shortages, crop failure, and loss of land to rising sea levels are sparking
fierce global competition to secure supplies and develop alternatives. New frontiers are being
opened up for resource extraction, from Antarctica and GMOs are a mainstream response
to food crises.
How will consumers respond to the increasing prospect of crisis and conflict? Might they look
to brands not just to satisfy their needs, but also for stability in the face of rapid change? If so,
FOUR SCENARIOS FOR THE YEAR 2030 TO MAKE BRANDS SIT UP
brands could gain such strength that governments call on them in times of crisis, to spur collective
action. It’s a world of opportunity for brands that win trust through transparency and integrity.
Networked nation
Government power is declining, and
Brands that value longevity know they must adapt
to shifting landscapes for exchange and trade.
But are they planning for more radical change?
What happens when the economic and social
contexts in which they operate undergo radical
shifts? Technology – from 3D printing to robots
to the internet of things – is affecting the way
people exchange goods and services. Resource
shortages and climate change are presenting
ongoing challenges to value chains. Geopolitical
tensions are affecting global trade (they always do).
Such pressures add up, and can lead to systemic
change. Are brands seeing enough of the big
picture to prepare for it?
the economy is struggling, if you refer
to traditional metrics like GDP. However,
Predictive planet
[ 1 ] forumforthefuture.org/project/
retail-horizons/overview
12
due to digital sharing platform distributed
The US is transitioning towards renewable
solar, subsidised energy storage, and the
energy and a less materially intensive economy,
rapid spread of disruptive technologies
while racing China and India |to innovate
for manufacture. Regulation and taxation
in digital technology. Knowledge is power, and
are unsolved problems, and state revenues
the likes of ‘Lifeo’ rule the world. This widely
are losing out.
exported wearable device records everything
a user sees and hears, combines that with
In this scenario, brands could be profoundly
physiological data, and sends their ‘lifestream’
disrupted by piracy of consumer goods, from
into the cloud for storage and analysis.
clothing to furniture. What happens when
the consumer no longer cares about the ‘real
If you have Lifeo, you don’t need any other
McCoy’ – when the copy is just as good,
brand: it’s your friend and PA for life. It spots
practically a clone, of the original? Will brands
the gap in your diary and suggests an activity
move closer to niche cultures in search
to raise your energy levels, followed by a finely
of a stand-out identity?
balanced meal. A flicker of the eyeball and the
suit you wanted prints out of your wardrobe.
We ask how brands might respond to four
scenarios for the future of the US retail market.
They are drawn from the Retail Horizons toolkit1,
created by Forum for the Future and the Retail
Industry Leaders Association to prompt strategists
to embrace change, with sponsorship from Target
and Unilever.
the informal, peer-to-peer economy is thriving
‘Retail’ becomes invisible. A compromise
in privacy? Perhaps, but the next generation
has grown up with a tracked life and finds
the idea of Big Brother rather quaint.
Rust belt renewal
In an expensive resource-scare world, the US economy is benefitting from a resurgence
of local manufacture and agriculture. Increasingly, people self-organise to satisfy their needs,
seeking out strong connections close to home, sharing and making what they can. Anonymous
peer-to-peer transactions make it easy for consumers to buy direct, cutting out the middle
man of retail.
In this scenario, will brands become redundant, or will they work much harder to add value
in a community of makers? Might they play a role in overseeing and regulating resource use?
“You can do this yourself, but we’ll help make sure you can do it again tomorrow…”
13
october 2014
a s : So do you see a role for brands beyond
The no-brand
challenge
communication?
d h : What I think agencies have not done
is keep in touch with developing thinking
around human behaviour: how the mind works
and the rules of thumb of how people tend
to react in different situations. Which means
that the broader range of ways in which you
might influence someone’s behaviour, which
is fundamentally what marketers are trying to
as: So you’re interested in a creating a
Brands are
sleepwalking
into a
completely
changed future
do, has been often ignored.
a s : Has concern about the scientific
credibility of neuromarketing put agencies
off?
d h : Yes, I think that’s right. When I worked
in advertising everyone thought that we had
David Hall tells Anna Simpson why rugby
matches and piggy backs are the future for
social change.
david ha l l : Many brands are
sleepwalking into a completely changed
future, armed with old tools. It’s hard to
keep track of all the disciplines: marketing,
advertising, PR and so on. Many of those
things are not necessarily the answer any
more.
a nna sim p son: Are there any new tried
and tested new methods?
d h: Agencies have always been very good
at consumer insight, but there are barriers
for that insight to get implemented in a
meaningful way. One is that agencies tend
to operate as a relay race rather than a rugby
match. The person who comes up with the
insight passes it on to the creative people,
who come up with a piece of advertising
and so on. So there’s often a mismatch
between the creative and strategic thinking
and how that gets turned into a piece of
communication. The second barrier is that
marketing of all types still sits essentially
in a world of communication, which is no
longer such a powerful tool.
14
all these clever ways of getting people to do
stuff. Actually that couldn’t have been further
from the truth. The stuff I’m talking about
is less psychologically derived it’s more that
whole world of nudge, and a lot of it’s about
social norms.
a s : Can you give an example?
d h : In Leicester, we recruited a group of
ambassadors to encourage people to take the
bus. We worked with local radio stations and
we also did some on the ground engagement.
We had street teams, the kind of people who
would try to get you to give money to charity,
and we deployed them in strategic places
where people might be feeling a bit negative
about their car journey: car parks, petrol
stations, people stuck in traffic jams. We
got the route from the council where traffic
wardens were going, and followed them
round as well. We basically spoke to people
who might have been thinking, “Actually
taking the car wasn’t a smart move today”.
We offered them a free ticket to try the bus
next time. But to validate the ticket they
had to fill in the contact details and tick the
form of the transport they would have taken
otherwise that day.
setting the scene
common culture around energy use?
dh : Yes, but we’re deliberately trying not
to create a new branding space. I think that
would be quite unhelpful. Finding the right
word for what we’re doing is very difficult.
At various different times we’ve called it a
linking mechanism or a platform; campaign
isn’t the right word either, with connotations
of political activism. It’s basically a set of
shared messages and some materials and
as: Was there any evidence of lasting change
from that campaign?
dh : There was. We ran a test against those
involved four weeks after, and found that
a significant people who had never used the
bus, or rarely, before the promotion had
taken the bus again since.
as: You’re working with some fairly big
brands – Kingfisher and John Lewis – on
a project relating to home energy efficiency.
What’s in it for them?
dh : The fundamental reason for them to
engage with the energy project is a deeply
commercial and rational one. Essentially
in energy, there is a very clear business
case for a wide range of organiz ations to
invest in growing the market for energy
content. We think we’ve got a new name now
which is The Energy Vision, but that’s not a
consumer facing name: it’s for our partners to
talk about it. The name, the website, certain
areas like that become quite contentious
because partners like to sign up to something
identifiable and they like to belong to
something, but they don’t necessarily want to
divert people away from their own journey.
as: You mean they want the value of shared
messages, without the brand?
dh : There was a time where every initiative
had to be a brand. It limited the potential of
David Hal lis Founder and Executive Director of the social enterprise
Behaviour Change. During a 13 year career in advertising, he created a series of
step-changing campaigns, including a multi-award-winning strategy for Skoda
that helped transform perceptions of a car that had long been the butt of jokes.
the future of brands
some of those ideas. Of course, we are relying
on the power and trust of the brands we are
working with in order to get messages to
their customers and supporters.
efficiency. In the case of Kingfisher selling
LED light bulbs or loft insulation, or John
Lewis selling efficient appliances, it’s in their
interest for those markets to be vibrant and
dynamic and growing. Our initial research
demonstrated that there were barriers to
consumers engaging with energy efficiency
and energy control which were too significant
for one organisation or one sector to tackle
alone – but that needed tackling to unleash
huge benefits for everyone, such as a lack
of understanding of the benefits and how
to make the most of them. We are helping
to create consistency in how we talk about
energy control. Using less, wasting less and
spending less is fundamentally the three
things we are asking people to think about.
15
the future of brands
october 2014
setting the scene
wa r by pa r k er : ‘Try it and see’ model for designer eyewear
Traditional retail stores and opticians buy and sell designer glasses with expensive price tags.
Founded in 2010, this carbon-neutral American eyewear company has built a sisable and loyal
Who to watch
customer base through an e-commerce business model based on user testing. It produces its
own designer eyewear that can be purchased at affordable prices (around US $95 a pair) via their
x i a omi : Affordable quality
website. Customers are offered a free ‘Home Try-On’ service that allows them to choose up
electronics meets social media
Chinese electronics company Xiaomi focuses
on developing cheap, high-quality products
for the lower-middle market. Its recent
unprecedented success in Asia is epitomised
FOUR BRANDS REDEFINING THEIR MARKET
by its innovative marketing model. Xiaomi
incentive for consumers motivated both by value and by ethics: for every pair sold, another is
donated to those without the means to buy. The combination of quality, affordability, values,
a dynamic user interface, and sheer style has won the brand loyalty and recommendations in a
highly competitive market. scale? One million glasses sold.
offers periodic online flash sales to increase
desirability: its second of this kind in India sold
out in just 4.5 seconds. Money generated from
these sales and subsequent software downloads
is then invested into first-class components
and upgrades rather than advertising. Xiaomi
uses Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter,
text Rob Greenfield
to five pairs of glasses to try on for five days. This flexible sales model comes with a charitable
to attract new customers. Engaging online
forums help to convert one-time users into
loyal fans. Wechat is then used for instant
customer support. Registered forum users
listed on ‘Me Fan’, the brand’s database,
are given the opportunity to vote for ideas
and review new software and product releases.
This way, Xiaomi treats consumers as
valuable assets in the creation and promotion
of a product. scale? Xiaomi sold more
smartphones than Apple in China last year
(4.4 million).
a ma z on p r i me: Drone delivery
for seamless online sales
Amazon has massively diversified its sales in
recent years: it started out with books in 1998,
and now sells everything from necklaces to
groceries. Now it aims to provide customers
with the quickest, hassle-free shopping
experience online, using all available mediums.
Amazon Prime Air, a 30-minute drone-drop
delivery system is set to take to the skies by
2015, building on offers such as 1-Click orders
and same or next day deliveries. Membership of
its two-day delivery policy, Amazon Prime, grew
substantially in 2012 – largely due to free trial
memberships being offered with each purchase
of their biggest seller, the Kindle Fire. The next
It’s an
approach that
values the
consumer’s
time
version, the Kindle Fire HDX, comes with an
instant tech support feature. It’s an approach
that values the consumer’s time, whether or
not the product is worth the ever shorter wait…
scale? RBC Capital estimates Amazon Prime
has 50 million members globally.
beyon d meat:
Love meat? Eat this instead
Most meat alternative brands cater for vegetarians or vegans. Rather than settle for the American
$600 million meat alternative market, Beyond Meat aims to break into the $180 billion meat
market instead. It is boldly offering plant-based substitutes to meat lovers with the promise that
it’s just as tasty as animal protein, with health benefits. The company prides itself in engineering
its products to look, taste, and feel like meat with every bite, rejecting the notion that something
is ‘missing’ from their products. Instead, its newest burger ‘The Beast’ is marketed as a nutritional
powerhouse with more iron and protein than beef and more omegas than salmon. scale? The
company claims to produce enough chicken replicas to save 1.5 million chickens a year.
16
17
WILL BRANDS TAKE SIDES ON THE CIVIC PLAYING FIELD?
C
onsumers are asking more questions of brands and taking the
implications seriously: how they are made, and by whom, matters as much as the product spec. A Nielsen Global Survey of
Corporate Citisenship in 2013 found that 50% of consumers round the
world said they were willing to pay more for goods and services from
socially responsible companies. That is an increase of 5% since 2011.
They may not all act as they say, but this rise in social engagement
stretches beyond consumption, and has wider implications for how
brands behave in society. According to a World Economic Forum report
on Engaging Tomorrow’s Consumers, ‘Millennials’ – those born 1981-1995,
now 25% of the global population – are looking to business to get involved
with societal issues. >
Brand stand
art Alexander Kosolapov
civic engagement
the future of brands
[ 1 ] csrwire.com/press_releases/36215-From-ObligationTo-Desire-2-5-Billion-Aspirational-Consumers-MarkShift-in-Sustainable-Consumption
> Overlapping with the millennials is the class of ‘aspirationals’ – the
2.5 billion empowered, young, urban shoppers with rising incomes, and
the largest consumer segment in Brazil, China and India. They care about
style and status, but also have an interest in collective action, and they like
to see change catalysed by the companies they do business with. According to a Globescan study in 2013, reported in Rethinking Consumption:
Consumers and the Future of Sustainability1 agree that we need to moderate
consumption to improve the environment.
Tapping into these mixed sentiments is not straightforward. Two thirds of
millennials say they would like it to be easier to identify companies that
are “doing good”. But at the same time they are likely to be confused about
sustainability, and do not feel they can trust companies’ claims. They want
evidence, both about products and the organisations that deliver them.
They have no particular loyalties to the majority of brands as they have
existed in the past. Havas Media’s report Meaningful Brands in 2013 found
that most people wouldn’t care if 73% of brands disappeared.
The Futures Company also cautions that surveys indicating good intentions can be misleading. In a 2012 report How to Sustain Sustainability? it
stresses that actual choices may be driven by other priorities: “Sustainability initiatives have to play more directly to consumer benefits, providing
reward for the consumer first and society and the environment second to
reach beyond the engaged niche to the mainstream.”
The Rainforest Alliance, in a 2014 report calling for a “new sustainability narrative”, goes further. It claims that “Sustainability doesn’t mean
anything real to consumers. Too often, it brings to mind technical issues
or seemingly insurmountable environmental challenges.” However, it is
optimistic that this can be dealt with, and that’s because more consumers
than ever want to “live meaningfully and engage brands with purpose”.
The challenge is finding the most effective ways to help them do that.
october 2014
civic engagement
Pressure gauge
CIVIL SOCIETY IS CALLING ON BRANDS,
SAYS SALLY UREN
Brands are coming under pressure from civil society. People
are waking up to the reality of climate change, resource scarcity,
civil unrest and conflict, and beginning to ask, what are brands
doing about this? NGOs are channelling this pressure. Oxfam’s
campaign ‘Behind the Brands’ tells consumers, “The world’s
largest food and beverage companies have a lot of power
– but you have more.”
While governments around the world dither and fall short of
their Millennium Development Goals, civil society is marching,
signing petitions, and asking brands to step up. Some already
are – like Grameen Danone, forged in 2006 by the yoghurt brand
and the people’s bank to provide children in Bangladesh with key
nutrients missing from their diet.
The strength of brands is that they can capture the imagination
and create an emotional connection, which is generally the
>> Will future
societies look
to brands for civic
stewardship?
precursor to changing perceptions and then behaviour. We’re
beginning to see ‘super-hero’ brands: those that don’t just want
to clear up their own mess, to change their external environment
through innovation, creative collaborations, and influencing
policy. Unilever’s Lifebuoy has always had this mission.
If corporates are to achieve any degree of social transformation,
marketing departments need to be on side. Sustainability metrics
are being incorporated into standard business performance
metrics. Very soon a marketer’s primary KPI won’t just be stuff
sold: there will be KPIs on the type of goods and services,
who they were sold to, and even ‘in kind’ services transacted.
Brands will answer to society.
20
21
the future of brands
october 2014
civic engagement
as: Is this sort of engagement seen as a
marketing investment, or philanthropy?
Signs
of change
Colour for
communities
db: The former. I think a lot of brand
strategists believe in the importance of the
social dimensions of the brand, but most
of these projects don’t come from that angle.
For many brands, it’s still a transactional
thing: if we’re going to invest money in this
activity, we need to see some payback. You
can get a lot from the PR side of it without
mood swing
having to advertise. Sometimes, the activity
The impact of colour upon our mood is the driver behind the Let’s Colour
project, an initiative developed by Akzonobel brand Dulux. By transforming
grey and unappealing spaces into bright and colourful environments, the project
results from a corporate imperative, which
is more philanthropic: for instance, the
CEO believes it’s important. But then,
if the CEO leaves,the impetus goes also.
buy partisan
oil-free paint
Even a few years ago it would have sounded
Public backlash against BP’s funding of Tate,
like science fiction, but a new app has been
which houses the UK’s national art collection,
launched that allows consumers to find out
is raising questions about the ethics of
in seconds companies’ political donations and
funding partnerships. Do poorly aligned
affiliations.
missions have such a significant impact on
marketers are not always drawing
the art lover’s experience as to outweigh the
connections more widely than to the sales.
financial benefits for the museum?
In all of our key countries we track our
Buy Partisan has been developed by the
US-based firm Spend Consciously. Using the
aims to bring happiness to the lives of thousands of individuals. Specifically,
by 2020, Dulux aims to have ‘coloured the lives’ of one million people around
the world. So far, the brand has donated 674,629 litres of paint to community
painting schemes across the world, including Community Repaint and DDC
Colouring the Community, supported by the Let’s Colour Fund.
as: Is that because it’s not easy to relate
the value back to the business model?
db: There will be a way, if you design
a measurement to do it. Unfortunately,
smartphone’s camera, it scans a product’s
Protests concerning the sponsorship
barcode, which then reports back on the
began around 2003, but more recently, the
political spending of the company in question.
issue gained momentum following the BP
At present the app can only scan barcodes made
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Over 8,000
by the Fortune 250 companies, though there is
people signed a petition in 2011 calling for
anna simpson: Are there commercial
This is something we’re working with Forum
potential to expand that number further.
the Tate to end BP’s sponsorship of the
reasons for brands to take on a greater role in
for the Future to understand.
gallery. Further controversy followed when
society?
in North America and Europe are enormous.
public requests were made for the Tate to
david brunt: Dulux does a lot of
as: Do these activities relate in any clear way
Companies would be unable to espouse one
disclose the sum of money it was receiving
engagement at a community level. In Brazil,
to the mission of the brand?
thing in their advertising yet donate to a
from BP. Its withholding of this information
it really is core to the brand. Dulux sees
db: I think so. The brand is more than the
‘contradictory’ political cause behind the scenes.
fuelled the opposition. Campaigners believe
the synergy between community and social
physical colour: it’s about engaging people
Brands that promote themselves as ethical
that the sum of money given to the Tate
transformation and the development of the
with their surroundings, and transforming
would have to be scrupulously watertight.
by BP is far less than most people would
brand. The resonance from campaigns even
communities. I think when people buy a
imagine. In fact, they believe it is as little
translates into normal marketing measures,
brand they want to feel good about it. So, if
as 0.4% of the Tate’s annual budget.
such as ‘top of mind’ indicators. At a higher
you can have a more thorough impact, then
The implications for brand strategy both
Leonie Nimmo, Director of Ethical Consumer
Magazine gives it a tentative welcome. “If the
information is robust it could revolutionise
about the brand value of social impact
impacts relating to social benefits. The
question might be whether the metrics are
appropriate to measure the deliverables from
that activity: do the numbers tell us enough?
level, the rationale for ‘Let’s Colour’ or
customers will think, “This brand isn’t just
the way people shop and think. Theoretically,
public pressure placed upon organisations to
‘Tu Decor’ is that colour can actually have
selling me stuff, but is consistently helping
it could prompt brands to tighten up their
ensure that their sponsorship and partnerships
an impact on wellbeing. You work with the
me transform my community”. There’s a
ethical stance. But political donations are only
reflect the image and ideals of the organisation.
community to brighten up a place, and that
depth of association for that brand: you’re
one category to look at; there are also issues like
For sponsorship to work well, it needs to
may seem superficial, but bringing people
known as that metaphor for transformation,
workers’ rights, tax avoidance, pollution and
be meaningful. The importance of this
together creates a lot of dynamic interaction.
and that leads to greater loyalty.
toxic waste. It sounds great but you would need
is heightened when a company’s social license
Dulux also trains people in that community
more information to get the full picture.”
to operate is in question.
to paint, so they can then sell their skills –
– Will Simpson
– Jessica Naylor
which of course relates back to sales.
22
The issue brings to the fore an increasing
Anna Simpson asks David Brunt
23
David Bruntis Global Environment
and Sustainability Director at Akzonobel
TWO INDICATORS OF A SHIFT IN BRANDS' SOCIAL ROLE
the future of brands
october 2014
civic engagement
protection. Its Switched On Families Playbook is an engaging
digital parenting tool that helps parents to engage their children
with development-appropriate content and fun games.
‘Assertiveness’ is the fourth emotional operating system,
and spans feelings of frustration and anger to power and
achievement. Humans will go to incredible lengths for peak
experiences of freedom, victory and epic wins. While many
marketers would assume a conflict exists between these kinds
By exploring what neuroscientists call the four primal emotional
of motivations and sustainability, Nike proves this isn’t the case.
operating systems, we have mapped a broader range of the
The ‘values victory’ strategy can be seen in the Nike Better
human motivations that brands seek to resonate with.
World platform: “Making athletes faster, stronger, better with
The Brand Substance Wayfinder enables any brand to identify
less impact. That’s not sustainable. That’s unstoppable.”
which of the 12 motivation states it best fits with and points
to a corresponding Brand Substance strategy to create social
Brands have embraced the full spectrum of human motivation
or environmental value in a way that’s consistent with their
for some time. The ‘Brand Substance Wayfinder’ shows
brand story.
that sustainability can do the same, and positively channel
motivations like toughness, individuality, a sense of adventure,
Within the ‘contentment’ zone, which spans feelings of fear
or even a desire for power, to engage consumers in creating
and anxiety to security and safety, respect for tradition and
positive change.
quality are well-worn paths in brand marketing. Levi Strauss
frame up their sustainability strategy around being ‘guided
opportunities for more authentic engagement. The ‘authentic
roots’ strategy is exemplified by the Levi’s ‘Go Forth‘ campaign
James Payne is Strategy Director at Given, which brings together
brand strategy, marketing innovation, behaviour change and
sustainability consulting. For more information about the Brand
Substance Wayfinder and additional case studies that bring the twelve
strategies to life, go to www.givenlondon.com/wayfinder
Beyond nice
by the same values since its founding in 1863’, which creates
drawing on its heritage using the ‘new frontier’ of regenerating
the US rust-belt as the focus of a $2 million commitment
JAMES PAYNE REVEALS A TOOL TO HELP
to rejuvenate the town of Braddock with urban farms and
ANY BRANDS FIND THEIR PURPOSE
community-building investment.
One of the things I hear most often from marketers is that they
‘Nurturance’ is the second emotional operating system and
struggle to connect their corporate sustainability efforts with
spans feelings of separation, distress and panic to connection
what their brands stand for.
and care. Brands that stand for being caring, nurturing and
honourable usually find it easier to integrate creating positive
Integrating social or environmental value into marketing is too
change into their marketing activity. That said, brands in the
often seen as a niche idea that only makes sense for ‘nice’ brands
banking sector that should stand for being trustworthy have
like Innocent or TOMS – brands that have social purpose ‘baked-
seen a huge disconnect between their brand image marketing
in’ from the very beginning. As a result, there’s a dominance of
and the reality of recent banking scandals. The way the recently
sustainability-led communications that focus on care, harmony
demerged TSB bank is attempting to build trust as a local,
and gentle collaboration – something I call the ‘sustainability
community bank exemplifies a ‘deeper caring’ strategy.
story-rut’. But this narrow focus excludes much of the spectrum
of human motivation. And with it, a huge range of brands.
The third emotional operating system is called ‘seeking’,
and spans feelings of boredom to playfulness and curiosity.
24
So if you are a brand like Lynx, Louis Vuitton or Hugo Boss,
The ‘play with purpose’ strategy can be seen in the way that
how can you create social value in a way that supports what
Virgin Media stayed true to its ‘make it fun’ brand-value,
your brand stands for?
even when addressing a serious issue like online child
25
Play time
art Ron English
creative engagement
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ARTISTS,
TECHNOLOGISTS, MAKERS AND
BRANDS MEET?
W
ill brand strategy move of business school into the creative industries?
The fence that kept brands on one side and consumers
on the other is down. Today, if your audience didn’t help you make it,
they’re not interested. The idea, design, funding, manufacture and distribution can all be co-developed.
Which means everyone is peering over into each other’s patch. Sweeping
privacy and property issues for a moment, this could be a good thing. A 2014
report from BT’s Better Future Forum, ‘Making Waves – The Rising Tide of >
the future of brands
[ 1 ] www.foresightalliance.com/2014/08/29/
future-of-brands-2030-crowd-defined-brands
> data for social good’, suggests that, “Transparency through technology
such as apps, social media and connected smart devices enable new consumption models and more sustainable habits to thrive. These can deliver
value which is shared and experienced rather than owned. The sharing
economy – which makes the most of social connections – can be a disruptive business model for reducing consumption at scale”.
The 2014 Foresight Alliance report, Crowd-Defined Brands1, which looks
ahead to 2030, anticipates that brand will be continually evolve and refine
themselves in response to consumer feedback. Data analytics are already
honing brands’ capacity to respond to consumer wish-lists, which may or
may not reduce unwanted consumption.
Other disciplinary fences are also falling. From universities to professions, and from text books to museums, specialisms are increasingly
multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral. Perhaps tomorrow’s brand strategists
will also be artists, technologists, teachers and urban developers – marked
out for success by their ability to think big, challenge current assumptions, and find value in unexpected places…
october 2014
creative engagement
Co-creating the future
COLLABORATIVE DESIGN AND CO-CREATION PROJECTS
ARE REDEFINING THE WAY BRANDS WORK
Tapping into a vibrant community of creative consumers can deliver
big rewards for brands. The ingenuity and feedback provided by
a vast global customer base has allowed many household names
to go beyond focus groups and target niches, generating new fans
with an enhanced sense of ownership and loyalty.
This kind of collaborative creation can reduce the development
costs and risks associated with new product lines. According
to Brian Millar, Drector of Strategy at Sense Worldwide, a
co-creation consultancy that has worked with Nike, PepsiCo,
Converse and other big brands, no in-house R&D department
can keep up with the current pace of change: “The smartest
companies have learned to turn to their most creative
consumers for inspiration and ideas.”
For consumers, the rewards of creative engagement with a brand
vary from a more personalised level of interaction, through to
shaping its development, or even financial rewards in the case
of those who co-create new products. Through the Lego Ideas
Platform, for instance, Lego enthusiasts are invited to submit and
vote for new Lego designs. Those that clear an initial review and
receive 10,000 votes from the community are evaluated by a Lego
product team before becoming part of the brand’s portfolio of
products; the person who originally came up with the idea receives
1% of the total net sales of the new design. Often these designs
are available to buy within six months, rather than the two to three
years it takes for in-house examples to reach the shelves.
Of course, not everyone has the time or desire to lend their
skills to an advertising campaign or product development
competition, and brands must avoid overloading those who
do with requests for their input. Millar advises that good
co-creation projects require “commitment, honesty and an
appetite for discomfort” from the brand.
Duncan Jefferiesis a freelance writer
and editor specialising in digital futures
>> Will brand
strategy move out
of business schools
into the creative
industries?
But for many, the inspiration, innovation and deeper customer
engagement that co-creation projects can foster make them
more than worth the effort.
28
29
the future of brands
october 2014
creative engagement
i b m ’s t h i n k
Outside the Lincoln Centre in New York,
Brands
meet art
a 123-foot wall swarming with colour, first
opened in 2011, grabbed the attention of
passers-by. The temporary display illustrated
FIVE BRANDS LOOK TO ART FOR INSPIRATION
text Jessica Naylor
min i me e ts de ze e n
s el f ri dg e s :
t h e f e s t i va l
o f i m a g i n at i on
In the opening months of 2014, the world-
A car engineered from biological materials mutates and evolves through the process of human
renowned windows of Selfridges’ London store
design to suit localised conditions. It’s a bit like a car putting on a raincoat, then swapping
took a look inside the mind. Why? To explore
it for shades when the sun comes out. This is designer Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s response
the power of imagination to drive the process
to The Future of Mobility, an arts project commissioned by mini in a year-long collaboration
of innovation and inform the shape of our
with design magazine dezeen. Ginsberg took her interest in synthetic biology and materials
future, so the luxury retail store proclaimed.
and fused it with art, science and engineering. Her piece is comprised of 112 handmade model
man a, an interactive window controlled via
cars, all part of a diverse model ecosystem which imagines a shift in the way we recycle and
an app, explored the relationship between man
repair our vehicles. Six designers took part in the project, all showcased online. There is a
and environment: dazzle-camouflaged figures
chamber which prepares the body for space travel, a world in which augmented reality is used
were visible only with the help of technology.
to superimpose traffic information onto our own individual maps, and a colourful car made from
Artist Agatha Haines designed External
stained glass. Yes, glass. Its creator, Dominic Wilcox, took inspiration from the rise of automated
Brain, a huge head with an outside extension
cars. You can use any material you like to build cars if they aren’t going to touch each other!
investigating how parasitic prosthesis may in
the future regulate our bodies. A double-bass-
the potential for solar power on the city’s
t ige r t rans lat e
rooftops, using a colour-coded map. It also
An arts and music festival run by the Asia
tracked the amount of water leaking from the
Pacific Breweries brand Tiger Beer aims
Delaware Aqueduct, and visualised incoming
to showcase the best of Asian talent and foster
data charting traffic flow and air quality in the
collaborations between artists from around the
surrounding area. If you had any doubt about
globe. The festival exposes revellers to exciting
the potential of sensors and data mapping
forms of art by combining different cultures
to change the way that we live, a glance up
and artistic styles in an ongoing celebration
would probably have quelled it. Developed
of multicultural creativity. One focus is Tiger
by ibm, the think exhibit connected
Translate Streets, which showcases the street
technological advancements to the daily
art of Asia. Twelve artists were given six days
lives of its audience, using an immersive
to create graffiti with the theme ‘Pulse of the
film displayed over 40 screens offering an
Megacity’ at a live event in 2013 in Ulaanbaatar,
interactive touch screen experience. The
the capital of Mongolia, to the sounds of a DJ.
aim was to inspire visitors to reflect on how
The theme continued with a virtual graffiti
technology can be used to create a more
project, which used photographs of buildings
sustainable and efficient world. In 2013,
in Asia’s big cities as canvases for the latest
think was opened at Innoventions West
in graphic design. Engaging with its audience
at Walt Disney World, Florida, and both an
through street art and live music has given the
app and lesson plans for visiting schools were
brand new resonance with a hip young crowd
developed to bring the same inspiration to
throughout Asia, thirsty for talent, inspiration
the next generation.
and new ideas.
turned-sailing ship designed by Nancy Fouts
i n t el m ee t s v i c e
invited the viewer to imagine the music
Floating nature towers offering new habitats for urban wildlife; clothing which translates
it might play. ‘Imagineers’ led discussions
the wearer’s movement into a soundtrack; 3D-printed earthquake data… Just three of the ideas
in the Imaginarium, a purpose built
showcased in an ongoing collaboration between information giants Intel and global media outlet
amphitheatre designed by architect Rem
vice . The Creators Project aims to illustrate and help foster the endless possibilities that can
Koolhaas. Of course, there was a sales element
be achieved when art and technology collide – and, of course, to make the semiconductor
to it all. Throughout, The Imagine Shop
chip just that little bit cooler. Founded in 2010, the project is a platform for global creative
was at the forefront of futuristic retail with
expression. An online blog, videos and YouTube channel keep the audience engaged and up
3D printers and printed glasses, a virtual
to date with developments in the art world. Users can glimpse behind the scenes of recent
watch shop and – resonating with Selfridges’
music videos and browse features on the latest in boundary-breaking art and design. A short
commitment to luxury – an augmented-reality
documentary showing how art and science collide in the work of Harvard chemical botanists
model of Zaha Hadid’s £300 million yacht: the
who create miniscule floral structures from crystals is one of many to help The Creators
most expensive item the store has put on sale.
Project reach 250 million video views. There’s more offline. Chris Milk’s The Treachery of
Sanctuary engaged participants who used their bodies to interact with digitally altered shadows
projected onto 30-foot panels. Through such platforms, Intel aims to engage a younger, artistic
demographic and one which pushes the limits of technology for creative purposes, gaining
valuable input for fresh advances.
30
31
the future of brands
october 2014
Visual
understanding
creative engagement
Why do you draw?
structure what I’d expect to eventually have in
What does it mean to be a designer?
I draw to freely explore possibilities. I draw
Illustrator software, but on paper. Isn’t drawing
To be a designer you have to find new ways
to visually understand what I am thinking.
already ‘design’ in these phases? I think so.
to attract attention through new languages,
I draw to evaluate my ideas and intuitions
products and solutions that – besides being
functional and appropriate – must
to help my mind thinking without limitations,
What impact would you most like
to have through your drawings?
without boundaries.
I don’t draw to have an impact, I draw for
no universal answers to ‘how’ one does that.
by seeing them coming to life on paper. I draw
be magnetic and surprising. There are
myself. My drawings are never final pieces.
I think that I would simply say that it’s
Drawing plays an important role in the
I think this is something very personal.
important not to leave any possibilities
production and communication of knowledge,
The most important impact I want my
unexplored; and that it’s important to pursue
and in the genesis of new ideas. It illustrates
drawings to have is to lead me towards new,
logical solutions while freely letting the
how instinctively our perception is directed
unexpected and beautiful visual design
imagination flow.
towards finding meaning in things, recognising
solutions, to create powerful and unusual visual
things. The act of drawing, and the very fact
compositions with data. In fact, I really want
Sometimes a great idea can come unexpectedly.
we choose to stop and draw, demands focus
our work to be accurate, but beautiful and
Free explorations in design can lead to
TALKS ABOUT DRAWING, DESIGN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT LEAVING
and attention. I use drawing as my primary
disruptive to a certain extent.
insights and epiphanies that cannot be always
ANY POSSIBILITY UNEXPLORED
expression, as a sort of functional tool for
GIORGIA LUPI, INFORMATION DESIGNER AND CO-FOUNDER OF ACCURAT,
Do you see yourself as part of a data
visualisation movement?
What I always do when I start every kind
For me, drawing is also an obsession: I always
What drives me is the search for multiple
inspired by the world around me, while having
carry pens, pencils and paper in any situation.
ways to create unexpected, beautiful things in
the ‘brief’ in mind. I spend a great amount
I cannot think about a project without a pen and
a way that can accurately represent complex
of time looking for visual inspiration, which
some paper. Drawing is my way to understand
systems of information. More generally, I think
I carefully organise on Pinterest.
that I had an idea in the first place. Besides,
there are many reasons for the popularity of
I take an incredible pleasure in tracing lines
data visualisations. People are exposed to an
on paper and seeing abstract shapes come alive.
increasing stream of content from many sources;
What advice would you give
to someone who can’t draw?
bright and catchy images such as infographics
There is a lot of freedom in drawing; sometimes
When does drawing become design?
fit perfectly into this media diet, playing with
this freedom can scare and paralyse you.
I see design as a way to translate a structural
hierarchies to provide multiple levels of possible
Complete freedom is never very good for
concept for a specific audience, through a
readings within a single piece. Of course, the
coming up with truly disruptive ideas.
specific medium. It is also the process of visual
proliferation of a number of easy-to-use and
planning and organising the choices made
free tools has made the creation of infographics
Even in my personal project I set constraints.
along the way of a project, given the specific
available to a large segment of the population,
What I would suggest is to start with a topic
boundaries of it. Drawing becomes design when
even non-experts.
you want to explore (or redraw), and some
capturing and exploring thoughts.
Giorgia Lupi is an information designer and researcher.
She is Co-founder and Design Director at Accurat, an
information design company based in Milan and New York.
accurat.it giorgialupi.net @giorgialupi
anticipated with a rational design approach.
of project is allow myself to have time to get
you start tracing lines that help you rationalise
rules for the final output, and then just start.
what you think, and envision a possible solution.
And do it again. And do it again.
When it comes to designing data visualisations,
I see three phases. One is understanding the
Draw for yourself, not for anybody else.
macro categories to start sketching the first
And approach drawing less scientifically, more
visual possibilities to organise the data, its
naively.
‘architecture’. Then I focus on the singular
elements, the entry points, to figure out which
I draw without any prejudice: letting my hand
shapes, colours and features we might invent
go freely, without asking if it makes sense for
to represent the sub-categories. Finally, we
the project in that very moment. Then I look
at what I’ve drawn and decide whether to work
on it, engaging this loop between thoughts,
paper and sight.
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the future of brands
october 2014
creative engagement
Talking shop
art Giorgia Lupi
THE INTERNET OF THINGS WILL TRANSFORM
Will the internet of things
drive radical change?
BRAND-CUSTOMER RELATIONS, SAYS ANDY HOBSBAWM
A tectonic technology shift is underway as the physical world
becomes part of the web. Our real and virtual lives are merging,
powered by smart net-connected chips and mobile devices.
The principle that products are inherently more useful and
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES CAN EMPOWER PEOPLE
desirable when they come with personalised digital services that
TO UNDERSTAND CHALLENGES AND MEET THEIR OWN NEEDS,
expand and enhance the owner experience will soon be applied
SAYS HUGH KNOWLES
across all categories. The technological building blocks required
to deliver dynamic services are now in place and have passed
the tipping point in terms of cost. The global market opportunity
Digital technologies can help drive genuinely radical systemic
represented by the Internet of Things has been estimated
change in two basic ways. One is by changing the structure of
at $19 trillion by Cisco’s CEO.
information flows – new information, simplifying complex data,
making the invisible visible, and so allowing people to make
The real game-changer is smartphones, which function
new decisions in new ways. The other is by providing people with
as a set of handheld digital sensors for the physical world
platforms to self-organise.
(accelerometer, proximity, ambient light, compass, gyros, GPS)
with a range of in-built connectivity. These devices we carry
Connecting things does not make the world smart – it makes
around with us constantly have more computing power than
it full of information and this does not result in understanding
was needed to launch the first Apollo space missions.
or change. The acquisition and sharing of new information
reaches its full potential when it meets a clear need and can
For brands, the global rise of smartphones represents
marketing operations smarter by gaining real-time analytics
about every product interaction.
Already, there’s a growing range of web-connected products
on the market. The Philips Hue LED bulbs let consumers create
a personalised mood lighting system controlled with app.
Rolls-Royce has embedded jet engines with sensors that not
only transmit real-time data about their condition, allowing
them to be monitored and maintained remotely, but means the
engine usage can be metered on a thrust-per-second basis and
sold on a subscription-based pricing model.
This is only the start. Smart products can allow consumers
not have done before. For example, at the Internet of Things
to access the kind of real-time, socially-connected web
Academy we are building mobile, accurate air quality devices
experiences they’ve come to expect in their daily lives.
to help people change behaviour to avoid pollution hotspots
What does it mean for a brand if their product can talk to their
and to create a new data set that can be used to lobby for change.
customer? What stories can it share? What advice on sustainable
use might it offer? Already, we ask search engines questions,
We are interested in how citizens and communities are going
and follow people we may never have met on social networks.
to gain power and insight over their challenges, rather than have
Is it really any different to engage with a smart and responsive
smart solutions imposed on them. Whether big brands can play
object – in effect, to ‘friend’ our stuff?
a supportive role in this remains to be seen.
Product Relationship Management™ – brands leveraging
physical products as owned digital media to super-charge
the consumer experience in exchange for a rich stream of
transaction and usage data – will leave no product or industry
unchanged. To remain competitive, all product companies will
have to think about technologies that bridge the real and virtual
worlds to provide smart digital services through the physical
things they make.
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35
Hugh Knowlesis Head of Innovation at Forum for
the Future and Director at Internet of Things Academy.
connections with customers, and make their business and
provide people with the opportunity to act in way they could
Andy Hobsbawm is a Founder and the Chief Marketing
Officer of Web of Things software company EVRYTHNG,
and a Trustee of Forum for the Future.
a tremendous opportunity to form direct, ongoing digital
HOW CLOSELY CAN BRANDS ENGAGE
WITH OUR INTERNAL LIVES?
W
orth around $1.5 trillion a year, employing more than
25 million people, and fashion-conscious or not, an
information-rich culture and a world of big data leads
to an expectation that organisations can tailor their offerings more
closely to individuals.
This may be especially important in areas related to personal
well-being and physical health. The same digital technologies that
allow access to data about companies and support social media trawls
also lend themselves to personal monitoring – giving brands like
Nike Plus a window on the ‘quantified self ’. Wearable technologies
and implants allow people to monitor exercise, blood pressure, heart
rate, and even blood chemicals. Apps make it easy to keep tabs on eating, sleeping and physical activity. These are likely to combine with >
Personal touch
art Ron English
personal engagement
the future of brands
> personal analyses of genes (through cheap, individual gene profiling)
and, potentially, profiles of personal microbial consortia, in the gut and
elsewhere.
At the same time, the things we consume are blurring traditional
boundaries that separated sustenance from medication. In Singapore,
a high-street store now promises the ‘right diet for your blood group’.
Neutraceuticals are a growth industry, and already big business. Accenture Life Sciences forecasts a market in consumer healthcare, valued at
$502 billion in 2013 rising to $737 billion within five years.
There’s also a growing market for self-optimisation and amplification,
through grafts, extensions and brain-computer interfaces. This raises all
sorts of questions about what it means to be human. As Steve Fuller says,
“it’s not so much that we’ve been losing our humanity but that it’s becoming projected or distributed across things that lack a human body”.
Personal health concerns are reinforced by an ageing population, which
affects millennials as they gear up to care for their parents or grandparents, with a shift from acute, infectious illness to chronic disease, and an
increasing burden from conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular
problems and obesity.
Current attention is turning to the human microbiome – now subject
to intense scientific scrutiny. This is reinforcing established interest in
boosting ‘good’ bacteria through probiotics (food and drinks providing
live bacteria) – and prebiotics (food that supplies nutrients for microbes,
especially in the gut). Brands combine rather general promises with packaging that supplies a convenient daily dose – as with Danone and Yakult.
Combine such promises with more detailed information about, say, personal genomes, and the human microbiome, and we have the advent of
designer innards.
RnRMarketResearch forecasts rapid growth in the microbiome market.
Currently, Asia-Pacific is the market leader for probiotics, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 7.0% from 2013 to 2018, according
to Transparency Market Research. Here, China and Japan dominate the
market revenue for probiotics, with India and other regions also showing
significant growth. Europe is another key consumer of probiotic products,
with consumer awareness levels much higher than in North America.
Will we look to brands for internal make-overs, just as we have for our
faces and fashions? Trust is of the essence, and sharing reliable information about a product remains a challenge for key systems, from food to
clothing [see ‘Gutter oil’, p. 37 and ‘Trust and traceability’, p. 39].
>> Is this the advent
of designer innards?
october 2014
personal engagement
Signs
of change
personal care:
a syste ms approach
gut ter oil alert
On 4 September, 2014, Target and Walmart
markets. Appetite for trusted sources grew
no more sleeping
at the wheel
following crises such as China’s 2008 milk
An in-car monitoring system has been
USA, facilitated by Forum for the Future.
scandal, in which infant formula was found
developed by researchers at the Instituto
It brought together retailers, brands, chemical
to contain the protein adulteration melamine;
de Biomecánica in Valencia (IBV) that could
companies, academics, NGOs and other
the contamination affected 300,000 infants,
prevent fatigue-related car accidents and
stakeholders, to identify the top three action
of which six died.
potentially save thousands of lives.
areas to put the personal care sector on track
Safety underlies the attraction of established
food brands to consumers in East Asian
Another recent food scandal has
The EU-backed project, named Harken,
co-hosted the first Beauty and Personal Care
Products Sustainability Summit in Chicago,
for a sustainable future.
highlighted the need for brands to maintain
involves attaching a sensor to seat belts and
the strictest health and safety standards –
driving seat covers that tracks a driver’s
which demands alignment in chemical use
which involves building transparency into
heartbeat and respiration, an indicator of
and transparency. One action agreed during
supply chains.
fatigue and drowsiness. The team at IBV is
the summit was to make disclosure along
hoping to develop visual and audible warning
the supply chain easier and more consistent,
autumn festival of the moon, it emerged that
systems into Harken that will warn drivers
enabling stronger relationships and increasing
pineapple cakes and mooncakes – two popular
to take a break. Jose Solaz, IBV Innovation
willingness to share information. Participants
products – had been taken off the shelves due
Manager, describes Harken as a “powerful
also agreed to engage and educate consumers
to fears that they contained Taiwanese lard
tool” that will be beneficial, not just to car
on the science behind priority chemicals
that had been mixed with cooking oil illegally
manufacturers but also to health providers:
in a way that is meaningful and accessible.
‘recycled’ from the grease traps that collect
“The monitoring capacity is the key to develop
waste in sewers.
on-board systems that could diagnose health
was the waste and packaging sector - both
problems due to other causes, say age or drugs.”
its environmental impact and its inconsistent
In Taiwan and Hong Kong, during the mid-
By the middle of the month the scandal
had moved to Singapore where other
“It’s a very positive step”, says Mark James,
First, there’s the chemical supply chain,
The second area identified for action
communications. The delegates agreed
Taiwanese snacks – not just mooncakes –
a journalist on the motoring website UK Car
to address disincentives to collaboration,
were being removed from supermarkets.
News. “But I’d say we’re likely to see high-end
looking at pre-competitive ways to develop
manufacturers – BMW, Jaguar etc – introduce
common processes, policies and metrics, and
it, before it enters the mass market.”
to make information available to consumers
In East Asia the high number of fake goods
has meant consumers are generally not as
trusting of brands as their European or North
He also predicted that a system like
in unbiased fashion.
American counterparts. Tackling corruption
Harken could have an impact on employers.
Building on consumer messaging,
and taking every possible step to ensure that
“If an employee has a fatigue-related accident
consumer behaviour was selected as the
a product is safe is essential for any brand
in a company car, then at present that
industry’s third priority. One action is to
after consumer confidence has been rocked.
company is liable. So the introduction of this
develop information that resonates on a
could well change that – and keep the human
personal level with consumers, helping them
resources guy out of prison.”
make better decisions and to buy more
sustainable products.
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the future of brands
october 2014
Trust and
traceability
WHAT WILL INNOVATIONS IN DATA COLLECTION MEAN
FOR GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEMS?
art Craig Shaw
In 2013, Europeans were surprised to learn they had unknowingly been eating horse meat
that had been sold to them as beef. While safe, eating horse meat is considered taboo in
many parts of Europe, and the news became a scandal that revealed deep vulnerabilities
in the food system.
The seafood industry suffers from similar problems. “Illegal, unregulated or unreported sources account for 7-15% of globally traded fish”, says Alistair Douglas, Partner at
SmartAqua, an aquaculture, seafood and agribusiness advisory group. “And even then,
legal fish sources aren’t necessarily sustainable.”
The drive to improve food systems will come from two directions: governments and
consumers. “Governments will continue to focus on food illness, animal welfare and fraud”,
says Brian Sterling, Managing Director of the Global Food Traceability Center. “But consumers are demanding better reporting of other metrics like nutrition, taste and source.”
Innovations in data collection and analysis are already giving consumers an unprecedented view of where their food comes from. A good example is the Fish Trax Marketplace, a platform that aggregates fishery data and provides a public interface. “It allows
consumers to scan a QR code and see where their fish was caught, by which captain and
on which boat”, says Douglas. “There are even videos.”
A more transparent food system also allows suppliers to identify efficiency improvements. That means suppliers who take food traceability seriously could doubly benefit,
as they could significantly reduce their costs while improving their brand image among
increasingly discerning customers. “Analytics could potentially help fishers optimise
where, when and how they catch fish, thus reducing their costs, fuel consumption and
carbon footprint while also providing a better service to customers”, says Douglas.
If suppliers are looking for inspiration, they don’t have to go far. Indices that measure
and communicate the environmental credentials of consumer products have cropped up in
sectors as diverse as electronics, textiles and tourism. Even the diamond trade – an industry
traditionally fraught with opaque supply chains – has found a way to let some light through.
Diamonds mined under the Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct are etched with a recognisable logo – a polar bear – to prove that they have been responsibly sourced.
So what does the future hold for traceability in food systems? Sterling is optimistic.
“Traceability will move from something that individual organisations do to a more collaborative effort that involves the whole system”, he says. “And better access to information
will benefit everyone along the chain.”
Michael Ashcroftis an innovation
consultant who helps early-stage ventures get
innovative low-carbon technologies to market.
text Michael Ashcroft
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personal engagement
41
the future of brands
october 2014
personal engagement
PROFESSOR GEMMA CALVERT DISCUSSES NEUROMARKETING
AND THE FUTURE OF BRANDS IN ASIA
text Professor Gemma Calvert
art Beppe Giacobbe
42
Asia is fast becoming the centre of gravity for big consumer brands. By 2016, Asia will account for a quarter of
the consumer goods market and 40% of total consumer growth. In the bid to dominate and maintain market
share, brands compete ferociously to attract and maintain
the rising tide of middle class consumers in key markets
including China, Indonesia, Japan and India. Vital to their
success is the ability of these global brands to communicate their unique assets in an increasingly cluttered market
environment and cut through the morass of cross-cultural
differences that shape consumer behaviour. Yet all too
often, these prevailing cultural norms are impenetrable by
traditional market research methods, and marketers are
left scratching their heads as to why new products, campaigns and other marketing initiatives fail despite millions
of dollars invested in consumer insight.
It is now well established that as much as 90% of our
behaviour is driven by emotions and motivations that
operate below our conscious awareness. These so-called
‘System 1’ or ‘implicit’ brain processes are now accessible
via a range of neuromarketing techniques including MRI
scanning, cap electrode EEG, biometrics, facial decoding software, eyetracking and implicit association tests.
Of these, web-based methods such as implicit testing, facial
decoding and eye-tracking, wich offer scalability, practicality (no equipment necessary) and fast, cost-effective solutions, are beginning to dominate the rapidly expanding
neuromarketing industry.
Implicit association testing is one of the most established
approaches now at the forefront of cross-cultural market
research. These tests use online respondent panels and
capture consumers’ ‘gut instinct responses’ at timescales
too fast for the conscious brain to respond and influence
the outcome. They are now being used to predict the likely
acceptability of new products, brand extensions and pack-
aging designs, as well as measuring advertising effectiveness, the ease with which shoppers can identify a brand on
shelf, and what is really stored in their heads about a brand’s
perceived benefits and assets. By acting in the brain as
shortcuts to expected rewards, powerful brands will increasingly become guides to aid consumers through the unfeasibly large choice of purchasing options, winning advocates
by simplifying and enhancing the shopping experience.
Many implicit association tests are language agnostic,
exploiting images rather than words, and are able to expose
individual differences in consumer attitudes, stored brand
memories and product preferences. In a study carried out in
Malaysia, a global supplier of personal care products commissioned Neurosense to identify which of several designs
communicated the concept of the modern Muslim woman. Where explicit qualitative failed to elicit a clear winner
(partly due to this group’s discomfort about talking about
such concepts), respondents’ implicit reactions (obtained
in less than a second) to the different illustrations of women produced a clear statistically significant frontrunner and
gave clear insights into which features of the design elicited
different emotional attributes.
Beyond the marketplace, governments and non-profit
organisations are also gaining greater insight into how best
to effect behaviour change, to encourage sustainable choices and connect at an emotional level with the world’s growing populations. In a study using functional MRI that we
conducted in connection with the French Government’s
initiative on anti-smoking behaviour change, cigarette
warning labels designed to put smokers’ off or make them
think twice, was found in reality to stimulate the brain areas involved in nicotine addiction to a greater extent than
images of the same packs without these warnings – a counterintuitive insight that was not revealed by focus groups or
explicit surveys.
43
Professor Gemma Calvert, Founder
of Neurosense and Senior Fellow of the Institute
for Asian Consumer Insight.
Brands
on the brain
the future of brands
to engage people with an issue in society that they think that
as: Are you aware of change today as
their brand responds to. This resonates much more widely than
a particular challenge?
the sanitary towel, the brand’s leading product. So that’s an
hb: The pace of change is an issue: it means
example of a brand starting to change those marketing criteria,
marketers have to be much more responsive.
restating its purpose, and using that purpose to attract people
Digital media means reactions move
who share a similar view. There’s a peer-to-peer influencing
incredibly fast. Of course, change is always
thing going on as well: the video goes viral, because if you agree
BRANDS ARE SHAPING OUR ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS
TO STAND OUT ON THE SHELF, SAYS GEMMA ADAMS
personal engagement
with it you’re inclined to share it.
Hugh Burkitt offers insights into
long-term value
Brands that are able to have different kinds of conversations,
an issue. If you go right back in history
– even in my lifetime – there was the arrival
of television in the 1950s, and then the arrival
of supermarkets – which radically changed
and in particular emotional conversations, retain certain
anna simpson: What makes for
the balance of power between manufacturers
The view is circulating among strategists that businesses are
associations with people when they are hunting around
a resilient brand?
and retailers.
competing less on product innovation and more on their ability
for something on the supermarket shelf; they’re likely to
hugh burkit t: What you’re looking
to shape consumers’ purchasing criteria. So, rather than focus
prefer that brand over another, given the same price level
for when you create a brand is something that
What’s interesting right now is that, in the
on having the best product in the category, you redefine what
for comparable quality. But such conversations also enable
will survive and last for as long as possible,
UK, the largest supermarket Tesco is rapidly
people find desirable and then reposition your business
brands to push particular offers more, and I think this could –
that people will come back and look for –
losing sales and share because the whole
so that you’re then best able to deliver against those criteria.
eventually – help to open new markets for sustainability.
and one that develops value in its own right.
UK grocery market is undergoing structural
Whole books are written about brand equity.
change. People are shopping more online
It could be seen as a shift from internal R&D to marketing a core
business strategy; engagement with consumers sets the agenda
and at local grocery stores, rather than
as: Which factors might increase a brand’s
go through the tedious and mundane process
chances of retaining long-term value?
of driving a car to the local supermarket and
I find this a really interesting prospect from a long-term point
hb: Historically, marketers have broken this
loading a car with heavy things and driving
of view, because a business that is able to shift consumer
down into simple models about the product,
it home. So that’s bad news for Tesco, but
desires can expand the market for sustainable products and
such as where it’s available and its price.
it seems that, the more people shop online,
services. Then, when you throw in campaigns like the ‘Throw
My own view is that the critical thing at any
the more important product brands become:
time is that the consumer sees value in your
people search for a particular brand in
brand: in its own market or in people’s lives
the first place, rather than just comparing
generally, because the great majority of us
attributes and price on the shelf.
like a girl’ video by Proctor and Gamble feminine hygiene brand
Always, you see that viral video and social media offer a way
art Eleanor Taylor
The critical
thing is that
the consumer
sees value
have only a finite amount of money to spend
and a finite number of ways to spend it.
as: Should brands be making radical changes
to keep up, or should they stick to their guns?
as: What characterises value for you?
hb: I was looking back over winners of our
hb: Really good brands do subtly adapt all
own award, and was struck by the importance
personality remain reassuring factors through
of the product or service that underlies that
this change. Brands simplify choice,
brand. A good image – attractive packaging
and as choice proliferates, brands help people
and advertising – can get you so far, but
to find what they want.
the time. Their essential proposition and
Hugh Burkit t is Chief Executive
that you can then meet.
underlying that you have to be delivering
a really good product – or increasingly, these
days, a really good service. Easyjet rose
to fame originally by offering cheap flights
where the service was deliberately quite
basic. Actually, recently, they have radically
improved their position in the market place
and seen a rise in sales and brand value
by improving their customer service!
44
45
of the Marketing Society
Intimate
conversations
october 2014
the future of brands
october 2014
personal engagement
Gut instinct
WILL BRANDS TEND OUR MICROBIAL GARDENS?
text Jon Turney
art Beppe Giacobbe
Do you get your daily dose of bacteria? If the answer’s ‘yes’, the chances are that is because
you have yoghurt for breakfast. It may be a fancy ‘probiotic’ brand, with some supposedly
extra-beneficial bacteria added, or just bring you regular yoghurt-making cultures.
Either way, you and millions of others are picking up on outdated advice. Pioneer microbiologist Elie Metchnikoff singled out milk-fermenters (lactobacilli) as ‘good’ bacteria over
100 years ago, without much evidence. His recommendation to eat them has survived on
one side of our contradictory attitudes to microbes. On the other, we fear germs, and attack
them with antibiotics and disinfectants.
Both views are about to shift, as new science sheds light on the intimate connections
we all have with a vast, complex community of microbes. Your colon, for example, which
Metchnikoff regarded as a ‘vestigial cesspool’, is home to a teeming ecosystem, which contributes to digestion, to production of vitamins, and to fine-tuning of the immune system.
As researchers discover more about the microbes that live in us – in our guts, mouths,
genitals, and elsewhere – new ways of managing this vital community come to the fore. And
they will lead to new, more scientifically sound products. Drugs that zap pathogens will
still be life-savers, in their place, but we will probably be less prone to wage total war on our
microbes for lesser ailments. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are like napalming a rain forest
because all that foliage shelters predators. We will move to more subtle approaches, cultivating our own preferred mix of microbes. With one firm of analysts forecasting a human
microbiome (the term for the total complement of microbes) market worth $650 million
dollars worldwide in 2023, what might be in store?
One medical application under development is microbial profiling for diagnosis and
personalised treatment. DNA-based analyses of gut microbes are becoming fast and
cheap. The species composition they reveal may help assess risks of a range of conditions,
including inflammatory bowel disease and cancers, and judge which drugs might work
best. French start-up Enterome Bioscience is developing diagnostic profiling for patients
with Crohn’s disease and metabolic disorders. Metabiomics Corporation in the US promises a similar approach to spotting incipient colon cancer.
There will be medical products based on beneficial microbes, too. At the moment the
best-validated microbial treatment is a total faecal microbial transplant – yes, that means >
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the future of brands
october 2014
®
We believe
in quality first
... as long as
customers are
willing to pay
a bit more for
something
of great quality
48
personal engagement
> what it says – as a simple remedy for patients who have a colon riddled with harmful
strains of the bacterium Clostridium difficile. It works, but is a blunt instrument: just transfer
the whole damn ecosystem! There will be better ways of repopulating the colon of someone
whose normal microbiome has been depleted, using less complex mixes of bacteria.
Expect to see more products that supply helpful bacteria for other parts of the body,
too. Anti-dandruff treatments (more a fungal than a bacterial problem, but the principle
is the same) are under development. Chewing gum that helps prevent tooth decay is a
serious possibility. There are already genetically engineered bacteria that colonise the
surface of teeth and help prevent them becoming a home to Streptococcus mutans, which
transforms sugar in the mouth into acid that corrodes tooth enamel, but turning them
into a product has not yet overcome regulatory hurdles.
An alternative route, a mouthwash that contains a specific antimicrobial peptide that
targets S. mutans, might be a better bet. Meanwhile, US shoppers can already buy oral
probiotics for humans and, if they wish, their pets. Health claims are largely ruled out by
the regulations on marketing probiotics as food products, so the pitch here is mainly cosmetic, even for pets. Sprinkle a patented blend of three microorganisms in powder form
on your dog or cat food once a day, and the beast will have fresher breath and whiter teeth.
The next step is products that supply the right bacteria to anoint yourself with. A
spray-on for skin care, intended as a substitute for soap and deodorant, is already under
development and has been tried by a few intrepid journalists. The company bringing it to
market, AOBiome, says that its patented ammonia-oxidising bacteria, “have been shown
in a cosmetic clinical trial to improve the appearance and feel of people’s skin.” It quotes
a price of $99 for a month’s supply, but has yet to scale-up production so has a near threemonth waiting time for orders in the US.
Further ahead, we have to speculate. But imagine a future in which we spray our
homes with bacteria instead of disinfectant, bring home-fermented foods into hospital
to strengthen a loved-one’s recovery, or dab a cunning mix of bacteria behind each ear to
boost our pheromones before a date.
Entrepreneurs are speculating freely, too. Gilad Gome, founder of a California start-up
called Personal Probiotics, begins prosaically but then gets more fanciful in an interview
on the website Motherboard. He suggests that a woman could protect herself from urinary tract infections and pathogens by taking a probiotic, and that the bacterial strains
used might also be modified so that “if she wants she can hack into her microbiome and
make her vagina smell like roses and taste like diet cola”. Whether or not this is a serious
proposition, it is an effective way to get attention for a new company.
Meanwhile, there will be a large number of, er, less ambitious probiotic formulations
that, unlike most of the old-school probiotics on the shelves, will be tested well-enough
to allow their makers to make specific health claims. This June, Cultured Care probiotic
gum, on the market as a mouth-freshener for some years, was approved by Health Canada. The makers, Prairie Naturals of Vancouver, can now advertise that the benefits of the
bacteria the gum is loaded with – Streptococcus salivarius – include fighting bad breath and
improving oral health. It is likely to be the first of many such products.
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the future of brands
Forum for the Future is an independent non-profit working globally with business, government
and other organisations to solve complex sustainability challenges.
This special edition, sponsored by L’Oréal, has been crafted by the team who brought you
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