As if the Covid pandemic has not piled enough pressure on businesses, brands are now being urged to be “inspirational” if they want to get consumers’ approval and ultimately drive growth.
According to a new study by WPP agency Wunderman Thompson, even being “thoughtful” and having a “brand purpose” are no longer enough, customers now want brands to inspire them too.
Claimed to be the first of its kind study, “Inspiring Growth” is the based on years of research into what brands need to do to succeed in the 2020s and beyond.
The three-phased programme involved academic research, a proprietary BrandZ dataset studying over 33,000 brands in 183 categories across 45 markets over the past six years and a survey of 4,000 respondents.
It reveals that while brands may be inspiring, most are simply not doing enough. Customers want brands to be inspirational (72%), but only 53% experience brand inspiration, presenting a significant “inspiration gap” that offers major growth opportunities for brands.
The shows two ways in which inspiration can drive brand growth; growing market share faster and charging a premium for products and services. Inspiration predicts 63% of a brand’s ability to drive demand, 52% of brands’ ability to command higher prices, and 48% of brands’ ability to convert customers at the point of purchase, the study reckons.
Growth is not just determined by whether people think of brands or their value, but also by what they think of them. While awareness is always an important goal, the study claims to prove that inspiration is a far better predictor of growth and, ultimately, the next stage of the marketing evolution.
As part of the study, Wunderman Thompson developed a proprietary diagnostic tool, the Inspire Score, that ranks the top 100 inspiring brands in the world today, as well as the top brands in more than 45 markets globally.
Each year this ranking will be updated to track and analyse the brands that are best at inspiring their customers. This year, Amazon leads, as, according to the the study, it “motivates millions of people across the world to think differently as they discover and experience new products and services”. It is followed by Samsung and Apple, both “successful at connecting people to new things and elevating people’s lives to be better”.
Among the key findings are a brand’s category has a strong effect on inspiration, with technology brands performing extremely well and finance brands under-represented.
There is also a significant difference between categories and regions, with Brazilians most inspired by brands, while it may not come as much of a surprise to learn that UK consumers are more sceptical, being the least inspired.
Meanwhile, between categories, brands inspire in different ways. Tech brands tend to inspire by broadening horizons; retail brands score relatively high on helping people discover new things; and personal care brands do well in creating inspirational experiences.
Wunderman Thompson global chief executive Mel Edwards said: “The launch of the study comes at a hugely significant time. Our mission is to inspire growth for ambitious brands, it’s at the heart of our business and this could not be more relevant today.
“Brands face immense challenges to grow among the economic downturn effects of the pandemic. However, against a backdrop of uncertainty, our Inspiring Growth study unearths the power of inspiration as a strategy for growth, presenting a significant opportunity for brands that perhaps was once overlooked.”
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