The designer handbag has run its course for some time.
Luxury, equal to itself and to show off, interests less and less.
There is no brand loyalty (they were called Love Brand) if this does not correspond to concrete actions on what socially and culturally is happening around those who have to spend.
Consumers are citizens of the world who exchange information through multiple channels and decide what to buy while immersed in social and cultural flows, in debates on recurring global crises, from pandemic to ongoing wars to respect for the environment, all inclusiveness and the rights of all.
To win them over, companies have to change communication and creed, listen to what people tell and what they take care of, making it their own.
Dyeing the brands in the colors of the Ukrainian flag as seen in recent months, for example, is not enough.
We must pass from words to deeds.
How?
Listening to what the new consumer-citizens say on social media, or in family, with friends and communities through virtual squares that are the mirror of real life.
From online communities, to (rediscovered and again popular) discussion forums to websites dedicated to niche and very high interest topics, from choices on streaming and gaming platforms to online reviews, this is the basis on which to discuss.
So says the first law of business in a
'pop brand'
key where pop stands for the ability to interpret and participate in the debates and messages of 'popular' culture, or what people are saying at that moment.
"Social media have revolutionized communication, - explains Stefano Pagani, CEO of The Story Lab and co-author, together with Samanta Giuliani, both manager of managers at Dentsu Italia, of the new manual '
The second law of pop brands
.
The only story that matters is the one that people tell '(Fausto Lupetti publisher) - The cultural context of people, their interactions, behaviors, opinions, consumption and the desire to be an active part of conversations has radically changed our life.
We are facing a
democratization of information and opinions in the digital environment
capable of influencing the real life of people and
definitively debunking the idea of a boundary between real and digital.
It is an immense power, even uncontrolled, that in the hands of people and that allows popular culture to also take drifts of all kinds, just think of the No-Vax movement, which grew exponentially in a few weeks together with numerous conspiracy theories and fueled by the web from social networks and even from messaging groups such as Telegram to transform itself into a global social phenomenon capable of putting people in difficulty ".
What about shopping?
Pagani replies: “Products must pass from object to theme, a story that comes from consumers to build value.
Communication and advertising must take this into account, certainly not by bringing out the 'worst' from people's bellies but by indicating a point of view that stimulates the enrichment of discussions in social and cultural terms ".
“Brands must open up to what people tell through their lives, - underlines Samanta Giuliani, strategist director of The Story Lab and co-author of the manual.
- An effective example are the influencers who are considered more spontaneous and correct and who use products as an integral part of their life.
Brands must be in step with the times and interpret languages quickly, such as catching the success stories on people's lives,
embedding them in their messages, thus intercepting the values of the people and making them their own.
Companies that act quickly in interpreting the multiple languages of the present, from values such as sustainability, inclusion, diversity and respect for rights, translating them into concrete actions will be successful ".
"However, it is not enough to talk about issues that are dear to consumers, brands must also act and become testimonials of the cultural and social choices they announce, - Pagani specifies. - The pandemic has taught us to react quickly and now, in the face of example to the war that is taking place in Ukraine, brands must be able to react quickly in the face of the tales of citizens involved in the public debate. However, it is not enough to associate the colors of the Ukrainian flag with the brand,
Citizen consumers make themselves heard, as in the case of the twitter that went viral in recent weeks entitled #BoycottMcDonalds relating to the over 800 locations of the well-known fast-food chain that remained open in Russia in the first days of the conflict against Ukraine.
The brand closed them in recent days, without firing more than 60,000 employees.
Pagani comments: “Actions count more than words to win people's trust”.