Tag: Business

Why is it more trendy to reuse vs brand new and rent vs. own?

Posted on by Knom

We want brands that are enablers of experiences.

You probably remember the slogan ‘It’s not what I have, it’s who I am’. And that phrase has probably never been more topical. The fact is that, at the moment, the experiences we have with products are more important than the products themselves.

A change in consumer habits that has been accelerated by many factors such as growing environmental awareness, a change in our priorities, or the lower purchasing power of the middle class.

All this translates into a certain shift in market supply, where brands in all sectors are beginning to rethink their business model or, at least, to propose alternatives to satisfy an audience that is looking for products that adapt to their lifestyle without renouncing sustainability.

A good example of this is Ikea Rental. The Swedish brand has been able to see that part of its audience is not looking for a piece of furniture in its catalogue that will last a lifetime, but one that meets their current needs and that they can change if one day their needs change. But it has also understood an increasingly aware public, which is no longer comfortable with the ‘throwaway’ and is looking for alternatives that help it to slow down a rhythm of consumption that competes with its value system. Many more brands are responding to this phenomenon, which brings with it a boom in the ‘second-hand’ market in the fashion industry or proposals such as ‘renting’ in the automotive sector. New models that are more committed to the circular economy and that understand that brands, at the end of the day, must be facilitators of experiences.

Why are digital native brands going physical?

Posted on by Knom

Brands have understood the value of physical contact to connect and build loyalty with their audience.

Touching the fabric of a garment, using a smartphone before buying it, or simply meeting someone to go shopping. While the pandemic has turned our consumer priorities upside down and accelerated the digitisation of many sectors, it has also revalued real contact and real experiences.

Brands have realised the potential of the physical shop to activate the brand promise and generate a deeper bond with the customer. As a result, more and more digital-native brands are deciding to make a move away from in-person.

We saw it in March with the arrival of Amazon Go in London and we see it now with the arrival of Google in New York. But it’s not just the big brands that are making this journey. Startups such as Hawkers and Pompeii decided days ago to go for more direct contact with their public.

The crux of the matter is that these big brands have in mind something much more ambitious than a point of sale. These spaces plan to take technological innovation a step further, to host workshops and product presentations, to inspire users by letting them experiment with the brand… In short, to create a community with which to strengthen ties, share values and have memorable experiences around their brand.

You only have to walk into any bank branch to realise that experience is now at the heart of the business. And a simple, quick and intuitive exchange is no longer enough; it is taken for granted. Brands must now go further to differentiate themselves.

According to an Accenture study, nearly half of Gen Y and Z prefer brands that make them part of something bigger and help them engage with causes they believe in.

In any case, we cannot forget that the point of sale, however experiential it may be, is just one more point of contact and that we must work the brand holistically, being consistent and coherent with our brand promise in every moment we share with the consumer.

Can you judge a brand by the company he keeps?

Posted on by Knom

Unite to win.

Brands are what they project and therefore should not only control what they are and say, but also what they do. And yes, also with whom they do it.

This is why cobranding is a very interesting strategic tool, as it allows us to associate with other brands and benefit in some way from their image, adding new meanings and broadening the imaginary of our brand.

This alliance can help us to make an impact on an audience that would otherwise be beyond our reach, but also to enter new markets or fields of action hitherto alien to our brand.

So far, everything seems ideal and beneficial. However, we must know how to choose with whom we establish this collaboration in order to maintain the coherence of our brand and not generate mistrust in our current audience. As your mother would say, “beware of bad company”.

It is therefore essential that the brand with which we ally ourselves shares our values and has a personality that is “compatible” with our own. In other words, that this union does not generate contradictions and builds with our brand strategy in the medium and long term.

In short, if we do not lose control of the collaboration and we plan it well, cobranding is a very interesting strategy for standing out in a globalised and competitive context, as it will allow us to achieve objectives that would be much more complicated and costly to achieve individually.

Where does the person end and the brand begin?

Posted on by Knom

A brand is much more than the person who runs it.

Amancio Ortega and Zara, Richard Branson and Virgin, Elon Musk and Tesla… There are many examples of brands in which the image of the CEO is mixed with that of the brand itself. A few days ago we learned that Jeff Bezos decided to step aside and no longer continue as CEO of Amazon, just when the company reached its peak turnover.

A move that may be due to a desire to evolve the brand, or perhaps it is just an attempt to disassociate the Bezos brand from the Amazon brand. Because there is no doubt how fragile it is for a brand to depend on the image of a single person, no matter how closely linked that person is to the company (remember how Apple’s shares fell when Steve Jobs fell ill).

Of course, the existence of a self-made visionary genius creates a myth around the company that humanises it, makes its values more credible, and generates an aspirational halo that everyone wants to be part of. But thinking in the long term, to what extent is attaching oneself to a character (however magnetic he or she may be) a recommendable strategy for a brand? And if this strategy is built from the bottom up – from the employees – and not from the leader?

Because, without getting into polemics, will the Barça brand still be worth the same when Messi is no longer there?

What are the limits of brand elasticity and flexibility?

Posted on by Knom

It is not so easy to drag equity from one brand to another.

Tesla’s $250 tequila has reopened the debate, polarising industry professionals. With a branding manual in hand, this tequila would never work under the Tesla brand: it would be considered unstrategic, in an orbit too far away from the parent brand and its activity or positioning. But what if it’s just about showing that Tesla is capable of doing anything it sets its mind to? Is brand confidence enough to transcend into another sector? Is it a waste of resources? Or something only iconic brands can afford?

While it is clear that a well-built brand has an easier time expanding the business focus, we must tread carefully, avoiding opportunism, jeopardising the trust built or losing focus by trying to address scenarios in which we are not experts. That said, who wouldn’t spend a night at Apple’s hotel?