Lack of emotional connection costs brands

Brands’ failure to connect emotionally with consumers has caused a steep spike in brand apathy and distrust, which is having a significantly negative impact on their bottom line, a new study claims.

Why it matters 

Marketing strategies built for the broadcast age need to evolve. Unless brands embrace methods of participation they run the ever-increasing risk of being ‘cancelled’, innovation network Iris suggests. Its Participation Brand Index finds that those brands that are embracing “people-powered participation” are outperforming their competition and reaping commercial rewards during the pandemic.

Key findings 

• Indifference towards brands has doubled since 2018: eight out of ten brands are not thought about regularly and 82% of consumers say they are not excited by brands.
• Four out of five brands are failing to connect emotionally with customers.
• Three quarters (77%) of consumers no longer trust brands; 57% don’t feel comfortable sharing their data.
• A three-year investment in the top ten global brands in the Participation Brand Index would have earned a return almost 2.5 times that of the bottom ten brands. 

• Purpose provides the performance edge.
• Great CX drives an emotional response.
• Sustainability has become a key indicator of a brand’s success.
  
• People are willing to pay more for brands that lead culture.
• Consistency is the biggest driver of trust.
• B2B brands embracing participation are outperforming B2C brands.
• Hot brands polarise.

Background 

The ‘Participation Brand Index’ surveyed and analysed data from 7,000 consumers across 150 B2B and B2C brands in the US, Europe and Asia, using 25 different levers of participation to demonstrate the impact each has in driving both brand and business performance.

Sourced from Iris