Integration is more in demand than ever.
And no, I’m not speaking about integrated marketing, as in using multiple channels and tactics to purvey a marketing message. Instead, I refer to the need to integrate all aspects of a business so they are correctly aligned with the brand, and the entire company can support the brand—operationally, in how they hire, in sales, customer service and even product development. This internal alignment further ensures that marketing is brand-aligned and therefore inherently more authentic and believable.
I speak not of branding and inward marketing per se, but of integrating the entire business to focus on serving the brand.
The idea of the brand-led business is not a new one. Companies that were early-adopters of branding were likely the first to recognize that the brand could become the guiding force to how a business operates on all levels, not just in marketing. For these companies, “business strategy and the brand are indistinguishable,” as David Taylor of The Brand Gym said of Apple.
The Customer in the Equation
Companies that truly understand how integral their customers are to the brand are further adapting how companies are built and become successful. Today’s brand leaders are doing much more than creating a product or service and then finding someone to sell that to. They are building customer eco-systems. These are designed to engage with customers in ways that extend the brand’s value to the customer, and keep the customer coming back for more. More can be more product, certainly, but it may also be more content, more information, more social interactions, more ways of connecting through mobile and tablet apps, even more opportunities to influence new products or help choose the social causes a company supports.
“More” is a concept that helped Nike + move from an idea for helping individual runners track and manage their personal training regimens, to connecting runners within the larger community of running enthusiasts, to changing how millions of people around the globe think about and approach exercise.
“More” led Starbucks to invest $30 million in a management leadership conference at a time when the company was struggling. The conference aimed to inspire and “vest” its global managers in the Starbucks Story—to give them a deeper understanding of the reach and influence of the brand, from its bean growers to its customers. They turned their managers into brand evangelists. The company then posted 11 consecutive quarters of "either record earnings, or revenue or both.”
“More” moved Nissan from a brand known mostly for being price-focused, to a brand now identified as affordably eco-friendly. The driver of this shift was the development and launch of Nissan’s very successful, fully electric car, the Leaf. The company engaged with 250,000 “hand-raisers”—the very engaged, interested electric car audience. This group had considerable input in vehicle design; detailed customer expectations for the vehicle, service and technology; and helped the company understand how they could further extend customer relationships by committing to creating public infrastructure and collaborating with corporate partners to promote and encourage EV adoption.
Eighty-three percent of Leaf owners were new to the Nissan brand, and now are informing, through in-car interactive feedback and direct conversations between customers and company, how Nissan develops and markets other vehicles in its fleet.
Integrate Everything
Understanding how customer engagement and brand focus can enhance and support company success is now essential to be competitive in the global marketplace. Small brands can benefit from the same kind of thinking and approach. As your agency works with local and regional clients, take a close look at how to integrate brand thinking with data collection, media tactics and customer ecosystems. Use this integrated thinking to inform new products, provide insights into sales and buying processes, and build an audience of loyalists. Integration is so much more than a media tactic. It’s a whole-business success strategy.
