Are you a marketer that tries to make your brand worthwhile, purposeful and relevant in consumers’ lives? Well, according to a new study, almost three-quarters of your customers don’t give a stuff anyway and wouldn’t care an iota if your brand disappeared for good.
The report by Havas and titled Meaningful Brands 2017 found that 74 per cent of the 300,000 people who made up part of the study wouldn’t care if a brand disappeared, while a further 60 per cent said the content produced by most companies was poor, irrelevant or failed to deliver. You can read a copy of the report here.
The study said a meaningful brand is one that works, offers value for money and makes your life easier, as well as considering the impact it has on a community. Havas looked at 1,500 global brands, getting feedback from people in 33 countries.
The Havas study found that 75 percent of those surveyed expect brands to “make more of a contribution to our wellbeing,” while only 40 percent think brands actually do it.
According to the study, the most meaningful brands on the planet were Google, PayPal, WhatsApp, YouTube, Samsung, Mercedes Benz, Nivea, Microsoft, Ikea and Lego rounding out the top 10.
According to Havas, the ‘Meaningful Brands’ making its 2017 ranking outperform the stock market by 206 per cent, up from 133 per cent in 2015.
Maria Garrido, Havas Media Group’s global chief insights and analytics officer, said: “For 2017, we’ve used the statistical might behind Meaningful Brands to gain a better understanding of the role content has for the brand and the purpose it serves for people.
“Surprisingly, the data demonstrates an alarming ineffectiveness of existing brand content. Our expectations for the role or the types of content are simply not being met.”
Yannick Bolloré, chief executive of Havas Group, added: “These results give us the same kind of wake-up call we delivered back in 2008 when we demonstrated that most people wouldn’t care if 74% of brands disappeared. For 2017 we see two new statistical facts: content’s critical role in creating brands which are meaningful to people and the underperformance in this area.
“The data is clear, brands must rapidly become better at seizing the opportunities that good content can offer – or they – and the advertising community that supports them – will struggle to survive. At Havas Group we are already using these valuable insights to better serve our clients.”
