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Principal
STRAT7 Advisory
The world is in a state of constant flux, compelling businesses to either adapt or face the threat of failure. With consumer preferences shifting, technological advancements progressing rapidly, and intense competition reshaping markets, maintaining a lead has become an increasingly complex challenge.
Table of contents
Building and managing a strong brand, defined by a clear purpose to meet customer needs, helps overcome these challenges – yet the concept of a ‘brand’ can be nebulous for many businesses.
At STRAT7, we consider a client’s brand as part of its top-level business strategy and governance, rather than simply viewing it as something to execute downstream as part of the marketing team’s output. This is because we understand, based on years of hard evidence, that strong, customer-centric brands with high enterprise value are built using a blended approach, combining both internal and external perspectives.
In this e-book we explain why customer-centricity is an essential component of brand value, the evolving role of the wider C-suite in brand strategy and outline practical steps to bring everything together.
It’s all to play for, so let’s see how you can maximise your brand’s superpowers and thrive in a changing world.
Investing in your brand for long-term growth
01
Brand superpowers. It’s time to think differently about the role of your brand
In today’s connected, hyper-competitive world, a strong brand transcends the output of the marketing team. At a much more fundamental level it represents a powerful asset that significantly influences the bottom line. This influence, however, presents a challenge as the value of a brand is hard to measure and is often regarded as intangible by many economists. This perspective tends to lead businesses to discuss brand and commercial assets as if they are distinct entities.
Yet, the truth is that branding should be at the heart of commercial growth strategies, akin to investing in a salesforce or opening new retail outlets. Despite not being formally recognised in GDP reports, the value of intangible assets, like brands, is considered to be higher than tangible assets in most developed economies, as noted by the International Organisation for Standardisation.
This is further supported by sector-specific econometric studies such as those from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). These studies demonstrate that the strongest brands can deliver shareholder returns that are 30% higher than weaker brands.
This evidence underscores the crucial role of the brand as a central driver of commercial success, highlighting the need for businesses to integrate their brand strategies more deeply into their overall commercial strategies.
The brand-centricity of top business
Let’s take a look at some real-world examples. Examining the annual reports of well-known companies like Nike, Adidas, Next, and GAP reveals a clear correlation. Brands with a higher focus on brand awareness (measured by brand mentions per page in annual reports) demonstrate stronger financial performance, reflected in both earnings per share growth and YouGov Consumer popularity scores.
The case for brand-centricity
The solution lies in doing more to bridge this gap in the day-to-day operations of businesses. Your brand, as a central driver of commercial growth, deserves a seat at the table. By treating brand as a core driver of value creation, companies streamline their operations and unlock a plethora of benefits. Brand-centric businesses experience:
- Increased customer loyalty: A strong brand fosters trust and emotional connections, leading to repeat customers and brand advocates.
- Enhanced profitability: In the UK alone, the top 50 brands achieved a cumulative return 10% higher than the average, even in the current economic climate (IPA 2022).
- Premium pricing power: A powerful brand allows you to command higher prices for your products or services due to the associated value and trust.
| Brand mentions per page annual report | Diluted earnings per share % change 19–22 | YouGov Consumer popularity score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nike | 1.39 | 51% | 68% |
| Adidas | 0.46 | -87% | 61% |
| Next | 0.73 | 20% | 71% |
| GAP | 0.02 | -159% | 46% |
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Powerful, well-managed brands are key commercial assets
A strong and relevant brand has the potential to attract, keep and satisfy your customers. It can also create incremental value and commercial resilience, so in tougher times, maintains value and stems potential losses.
A strong brand can…
Acquire new customers for less Greater ability to make customers choose you over competition with less investment
- Acquire new customers for less
Greater ability to make customers choose you over competition with less investment - Generate higher customer loyalty
Greater ability to secure a strong and devoted customer base - Command a price premium
Greater ability to charge more for your products and/or services - Attract the best talent
Greater ability to secure a strong employer brand and retain talent - Stretch into new spaces
Greater ability to enter new categories, markets, or channels - Adapt to change quickly and efficiently
Greater ability to changing consumer preferences
Commercial superpowers of great brands
Let’s look at how strong brands can both make and save money for any business.
1. Acquire new customers for less
We all know that well-established brands often tend to attract customers more easily compared to unknown competitors. However, less established businesses with lower awareness can gain this credibility and trust among consumers with the right brand strategy and investment.
Consider UK fintech pioneer Revolut. Established in 2015 with a compelling ‘no fees’ offering, the company rapidly expanded its user base to 3 million by 2018. Impressively, Revolut incurred no customer acquisition costs in its initial years.
Our analysis of online sentiment in the banking and finance industry, using STRAT7.ai, shows how Revolut’s brand is considered trustworthy despite relatively low brand awareness. In 2022, 4 out of 5 customers who joined Revolut came in organically or were referred by someone they knew. That is not an accident. It comes from the brand’s enduring focus on the customer. Simplifying all things money is the mission that flows through the entire business.
2. Generate higher customer loyalty
Loyalty emerges from an interplay of factors that foster a strong emotional bond between customers and a brand. Key elements typically include exceptional customer experience that builds trust, a brand identity that resonates with personal values, and emotional connections that transcend product attributes. Quality and reliability also play a role in customer satisfaction, while community engagement and genuine brand transparency further solidify loyalty.
Businesses that invest in their brand and prioritise understanding their brand’s tangible value and their audience, have a better chance to be authentic and create strong customer loyalty.
3. Command a price premium
This is probably the most recognised and valued commercial outcome of a strong brand among leadership teams and in business strategy discussions. Strat7.ai – Sentiment analysis
| Awareness | Authentic | Distinct | Inspi-rational | Leader | Mean-ingful | Superior | Trust-worthy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santander | 99% | 86 | 120 | 99 | 88 | 100 | 97 | 89 |
| Lloyds | 97% | 97 | 100 | 89 | 110 | 110 | 100 | 74 |
| First Direct | 82% | 94 | 130 | 100 | 110 | 86 | 100 | 84 |
| Amex | 96% | 120 | 130 | 110 | 80 | 83 | 110 | 120 |
| Monzo | 66% | 78 | 68 | 98 | 76 | 94 | 64 | 82 |
| Starling bank | 65% | 99 | 95 | 96 | 110 | 86 | 91 | 93 |
| Revolut | 54% | 120 | 85 | 95 | 100 | 100 | 92 | 120 |
There is ample evidence to support this statement. Take for instance Evian, being able to charge 2.5-3 times more than a generic brand – for a commodity like water. Dyson is another good example of a brand that has successfully transformed the home appliance market, being able to justify higher prices through strong brand reputation, innovation and design.
Revisiting the sentiment analysis it shouldn’t come as a surprise that American Express, which is known for its high fees towards both retailers and consumers, is associated with many of the key characteristics of a strong brand.
What all of these brands have in common is a strong commitment to brand-centric business management. By using a well-crafted brand strategy as a powerful tool to navigate focus and investments, businesses can influence consumer perceptions and justify higher prices.
4. Attract the best talent
Brand-centric businesses are not only able to benefit directly in terms of commercial outcomes, they also have a greater ability to secure and retain talent, which is a key criteria for future business success.
There is a strong correlation with brand strength and employer brand equity. Looking at rankings of most attractive employers globally we see familiar brands in the top such as Google, Netflix and Apple. All of these businesses can also be found dominating lists of most valued brands in the eyes of consumers.
Powerful brand strategies do not only guide external, customer-focused initiatives, they are also deliberately manifested internally – emphasising the importance of purpose, culture and values to secure future brand growth.
Manifesting your brand strategy internally contributes to attracting top talent, fostering employee engagement, and ultimately driving business success.
5. Stretch into new spaces
Strong brands often have an advantage to expand into categories, markets and/or channels because of their established consumer trust and recognition.
To capitalise on these avenues for growth, brands must be very deliberate in how they navigate identified opportunities, and more importantly how to leverage existing strengths and equity.
Amazon must be the world’s most widely known e-commerce brand. But its brand extension, Amazon Web Services has also been hugely successful. Launched in 2006 it quickly became one of the most popular computing platforms.
The success of AWS can be attributed directly to the parent company’s core brand principles. ‘Customer obsession rather than competitor focus’ – AWS is recognised for its excellent customer service. Amazon also claims ‘A passion for invention’ which drives AWS’s innovative technology.
In fact, Amazon strives to be ‘Earth’s most consumer centric company’. A brand position that continues to pay off across the business’s portfolio.
6. Adapt to change quickly and efficiently
The retailer Zara has become known for its commitment to customer-centricity and data-driven decision-making. By actively involving its customers in product development, leveraging in-store data analytics and AI monitoring to predict trends, Zara has cultivated a thorough understanding of evolving consumer preferences to inform their future brand work. This approach has enabled Zara to swiftly adapt to changing trends, introduce new styles at speed, and deliver fashionable apparel at affordable prices. As a result, Zara has established itself as a global leader in the fashion landscape, consistently satisfying customer demands and maintaining a strong brand identity.
Creating customer-centric brands
Being more customer-centric amplifies brand value and feeds growth
A deep and ongoing understanding of your customers, brand and market opportunities fuels greater brand equity and commercial impact (and businesses that do this are also well-positioned to maintain brand value over time).
Building and maintaining a strong brand requires multi-level insights
Foundational understanding of market, culture and technology
Culture
Understand broader social, cultural and societal trends shaping consumer behaviour to ensure contextual relevance for your brand.
Market
Understand broader market conditions, economic trends and regulatory changes to assess opportunities and growth trajectories.
Technology
Understand and leverage technological advancements to maintain competitiveness and create new value propositions.
Context of the category, competitor landscape and audience
Category
Understand the dynamics, trends and consumer expectations to identify opportunities for differentiation.
Competitor
Understand current market positions and competitive threats to guide crafting unique selling points and areas for competitive advantage.
Audience
Understand needs, aspirations & behaviours of consumers to create relevant and meaningful brands, products and experiences.
Assessing the brand and business in current and future context
Commercial
Performance – Where currently making money – growth ambitions opportunities.
Brand
Understand your brand’s current perception in the eyes of consumers and stakeholders to understand gaps and help craft authentic strategies.
Operational
Understand your operations to guide and ensure feasibility of brand initiatives.
Is it getting harder to build a brand?
Building a strong brand is becoming increasingly challenging. The digital age has transformed consumer behaviour, inundating them with a vast array of choices and information. This ease of access to alternatives and competitors reduces the loyalty consumers once had to brands, as they can easily compare and switch preferences with a few clicks. Moreover, consumer values are evolving, particularly among younger generations. There is a growing demand for brands to uphold principles such as sustainability, ethics, and social responsibility. The shift towards these values requires brands to not only meet product and service expectations but also align deeply with their customers’ worldviews.
Saturated markets and the rise of social media amplify these challenges. With more brands competing for attention, establishing a unique and memorable brand identity is more crucial than ever. Social media platforms accelerate and expand the influence of consumer opinions and trends, often driven by influencers who can sway public sentiment rapidly.
These dynamics of the digital marketplace create a complex environment for brands, where traditional strategies may no longer suffice. That is why businesses need a new way of thinking about brand, and how this ties more explicitly with broader strategic business plans.
Challenges and opportunities for brand value creation
02
Challenges and Opportunities for Brand Value Creation
Working with clients across different sectors, we have identified some key recurring challenges which must be overcome to secure brand growth
Challenge 1: Linking the right consumer and commercial insights to guide brand decisions
In the face of change and uncertainty, businesses often struggle to identify the right insights to guide predictions and decisions for their brand.
At the heart of effective brand navigation lies data-driven understanding. By systematically leveraging relevant consumer insights, brands can gain a deep knowledge of their audience’s needs, aspirations, and behaviours, providing invaluable guidance for crafting compelling brand experiences that resonate with consumers.
The ability to identify the data that best informs sound brand decisions at any given moment is crucial to protect the equity you have built.
Challenge 2: Turning strategy into execution
Even the best brand strategies can lead nowhere, hindered by a lack of clarity, and commitment to fully activate the strategy across the organisation.
While a well-crafted brand vision serves as a compass for your business, it is the holistic execution that will bring that vision to life and create desired impact.
A recent study by Bain & Company found that companies that align their brand strategy with their internal and external activities are 37% more likely to achieve their financial goals.
Tesco’s Every Little Helps strategy is a great example of a brand execution played out in hundreds of different activities across the business, driving decades of commercial success.
Challenge 3: Managing & growing multiple brands
Managing and growing multiple brands presents a unique set of challenges, particularly for businesses that have historically expanded through acquisitions. Such companies often reach a growth plateau and underestimate the significant investments needed to maintain and enhance their brands. This frequently results in a disjointed portfolio lacking a coherent strategy to harness and leverage changes effectively.
Common difficulties include the high costs associated with sustaining multiple brands, unaddressed new market opportunities, and substantial brand overlap leading to cannibalisation. These issues often stymie growth for many portfolio companies.
However, businesses that commit to a deep understanding of consumer and market dynamics – and crucially, those willing to make informed decisions about prioritising certain opportunities and brands – stand a much better chance of achieving sustained growth and future success.
Challenge 4: Siloed departments
The challenge of siloed departments often undermines brand strategy effectiveness, with initiatives typically confined to marketing and communications teams. These initiatives are frequently hard to monitor or beyond the organisation’s current capabilities without specific resources.
For brand strategies to truly deliver their intended impact, they must permeate the entire organisation and be grounded in a solid commercial understanding, aligned with clear and measurable growth goals.
A brand strategy reaches its full potential when it is integral to all business decisions, influencing everything from acquisitions to customer experiences and innovation. Most importantly, initiatives should be feasible, trackable, and directly connected to explicit business and brand objectives.
The essential role of C-suite in branding
In many organisations, brand management is often seen as a marketing function, constrained by short-term metrics and siloed from the rest of the organisation. However, this limited perspective hinders long-term brand growth. This is confirmed in a recent study by LBS showing restricted involvement from non-marketing functions in building a brand.
However, C-suite leadership can elevate brand building from a tactical marketing activity to a strategic business consideration. Here’s how leaders in various roles can foster a brand-centric approach:
CEOs: Shape and communicate a compelling vision, leading by example to motivate employees towards a unified goal.
CTOs: Utilise data and analytics to gain insights into customer behaviour and improve the customer experience in alignment with the brand’s values.
CFOs: Strategically allocate resources to fund branding efforts that support long-term objectives and evaluate the returns on these investments over time.
People & Culture: Cultivate a workplace culture that fully integrates the brand strategy, encouraging employees to embody the brand’s values.
COOs: Ensure operational processes and practices are in perfect harmony with the brand’s vision and values to enhance overall performance.
Sustainability: Incorporate sustainability into the core of the brand’s future direction and initiatives, aligning closely with broader sustainability goals.
Legal: Safeguard the brand’s intellectual property, including trademarks and copyrights, and remain vigilant about relevant regulations to protect and future-proof the brand.
CPOs: Drive the brand forward through innovation and the development of products that resonate with key customer needs, based on rich insights.
Understand where your business lies on the brand-centricity scale
Branding is an organic process intrinsic to every business, but not every business operates on the same level. Some organisations, like Unilever, are inherently brand-driven, their success deeply rooted in their brand identity. Others, such as EasyPark, prioritise sales. While the former might require fine-tuning their brand strategy, the latter often necessitates a more profound transformation. It’s important to understand where your brand lies on the scale before embarking on a brand-centric journey.
- How well-defined is your brand identity?
- To what extent does your brand influence decision-making beyond marketing?
- Are brand strategies siloed within the business?
- Does your business have a strong brand culture in the C-suite?
Making it happen
03
Making it happen
Maximising your brand’s superpowers
Unlocking your brand’s potential requires strategic navigation and a careful prioritisation of opportunities. This approach must also be rooted in a deep understanding of your brand’s strengths and how it is perceived by consumers.
It is crucial for businesses to make intentional choices and concentrate their efforts on avenues that resonate with their core values, heritage or founding principles. Failing to do so can risk diluting consumer trust and brand relevance.
Are you looking to inject new vitality into your brand to boost sales and expand market share?
Based on our experience, cultivating a robust brand and fostering its growth over time depends on a strategy that is anchored in solid data and an insight into prevailing trends. We utilise our customer-centric toolkit in collaboration with our clients to decode, develop, and defend brand value. This approach helps us bridge the gap between visionary ideas and practical, adaptive strategies that align with commercial objectives.
Do you truly understand what your audience desires and needs from your brand?
Adopting a customer-centric approach enhances brand value and drives growth. Gaining a deeper understanding of consumer expectations allows your business to meet their needs effectively and truly connect.
We examine brands through the lens of the consumer, culture, category, and market while considering the business landscape, competitive environment, and technological advancements. Our work with clients focuses on where to invest for the highest returns and how to identify strategic opportunities to grow brands and optimise portfolios.
Do you have a commercial brand strategy in place to guide your business to growth?
The foundation of a successful brand lies in its cultural relevance, salience, authority within its category, and its significance to consumers. By developing a solid, evidence-based strategy for your brand or portfolio, you can unlock substantial growth potential. We pinpoint strategic opportunities to maximise brand opportunities and transform these strategies into actionable initiatives. Our strategic roadmaps seamlessly connect vision with execution to realise tangible value.
Is your brand equipped to win at change?
A robust brand must be equipped to adapt and thrive amidst continual change. We enable our clients to navigate shifting market dynamics and consumer behaviours, ensuring they remain proactive and retain their relevance. Our approach involves asking pertinent questions, gathering accurate data, and providing an evidence-based assessment of brand equity and its potential risks within the market context. We equip our clients with tools to measure performance and adapt effectively to ongoing changes.
Three essential pillars to brand value creation
And some practical next steps
Decode: Making the intangible, tangible
Size and evaluate market opportunities and measure qualities that contribute to a brand’s overall strength, influence and competitiveness to win in these spaces
(practical steps)
- Understand your brand’s tangible value and guardrails
- Overlay your strategic frameworks with cultural insights
- Size identified opportunities to guide prioritisation
Develop: Bringing the strategy to life
Uncover the key strategic opportunity to address for your brand(s) and define an actionable and holistic roadmap to unleash the full brand potential across all touchpoints
- Make brand a leadership priority
Put brand on the board and leadership team agendas to manifest brand as a commercial asset and tool for growth. Whenever a strategic choice is made, assess sure that it aligns with the overall brand direction. - Align your business and brand strategy
Create a framework that links your brand strategy to clear commercial ambitions. Integrate your brand strategy with yearly business planning processes, to secure focus and investment behind key initiatives. - Make your brand strategy holistic and actionable
Create a brand strategy that encompasses initiatives and actions across functions – from innovation to people management and IT. Balance boldness in vision with pragmatism in execution to set the right expectations and targets to realise the strategy. - Enable cross—functional collaboration
Promote collaboration across different departments to realise brand initiatives. Organise regular cross-functional meetings to share insights and developments
Defend: Securing relevance over time
Monitor changes across essential dimensions – brand, consumer, category – to future proof your brand(s) for consumers, driving sustainable, commercial success over time.
- Be vigilant
It’s a fact that your sector will not stand still, and neither will the competition. The business needs to take an active role in monitoring your environment, your customers and competitors - Follow the metrics that matter
Identify your brand superpower KPIs and follow them. They are your early warning system - Imagine the future
Take a proactive approach to monitoring and analysing market and cultural ends, spot deviations in patterns of customer behaviour that shed light on how their needs are changing. - Scenario plan
Prepare for change. It is coming. Consider different ways your brand can best adapt to the future and pick a lane. Test your scenarios and refine the winner.
Conclusion
04
Conclusion
As we have seen, investing in your brand is essential for long-term growth and resilience. A well-defined brand can drive customer loyalty, allow for premium pricing, attract quality talent, and enable your business to adapt swiftly to market changes and consumer preferences. Moreover, by making the brand a central and holistic element of the corporate strategy, companies can maximise their commercial potential and maintain a competitive edge.
Building a brand from the outside in, inside out: Checklist
- Assess your brand’s impact: Evaluate how deeply your brand influences decision-making across your organisation, beyond just marketing.
- Align brand with business strategy: Ensure that your brand strategy is intertwined with your business goals and is reflected in every facet of your operations.
- Invest in brand building: Commit resources to strengthen your brand, focusing on long-term benefits over immediate gains.
- Foster C-suite engagement: Involve senior leadership in brand discussions to emphasise the brand’s role in achieving strategic objectives.
- Enhance customer centricity: Continuously gather insights about your customers to tailor your brand’s operations and offerings to their needs.
- Monitor and adapt: Keep a vigilant eye on market trends and consumer behaviours, adapting your strategy proactively to maintain brand relevance and competitiveness.
- Integrate and innovate: Use your brand’s strengths to explore new markets or product categories while staying true to your core values and mission.
05
About
Our philosophy: We create strong and customer-centric brands with commercial impact
Bringing science to the magic
We combine an evidence-led approach, commercial expertise and creative and cultural capabilities to uncover, realise and capitalise on key strategic opportunities for your brand.
Adopting a holistic approach
Ready to dive deeper? We align brand and business strategy, making strategy tangible, actionable and commercially impactful
