How brands can resonate in 2023 and beyond

Competition has never been higher than in the Internet Age. Your customers are just a few clicks away, but so are your competitors. And if you're not competing on price, then you're competing on brand - simple as.

But now we've seen the "traditional" channels of digital marketing only take you so far, and the traditional traditional channels of offline are often inaccessible, where does that leave brand strategy for challenger businesses or tech startups looking to scale up in the 2020s?

As our choice of which brands to consume becomes ever wider and our collective interest fleets ever faster, we consider how brands can create lasting resonance.

Brands now have an opportunity to emotionally connect with consumers in creative ways that build a legacy for modern times:

Brands can set an example by taking value-aligned actions

Take, for instance, travel unicorn Airbnb, who offered temporary accommodation to 20,000 Afghan refugees. Sure, this move could easily be construed as a PR strategy to hit the headlines, but it does not detract from the good Airbnb are adding to the world, nor is it inconsistent with how the brand regularly lives its values.

Brands can create intrigue, by pursuing novel schemes that capture our curiosity

Lil Nas X and MSCHF created a limited run of 666 pairs of black Nike trainers, which they claim were customised with human blood. The "Satan Shoes" were created to mark the singer's music video for his new single, which features visuals of Lil Nas X sliding down a stripper pole into hell and giving the devil a lap dance.

Brands inspire awe, by providing opportunities for us to view the world in new ways.

Austrian daredevil, Felix Baumgartner, completed a record-breaking jump in partnership with Red Bull. The 43-year-old skydiving expert also broke two other world records; highest freefall and highest manned balloon flight. The experience captured on camera below gives us meek earthlings a taste of pushing humans to the limits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I

They can spark surprise, by delighting us with out-of-the-ordinary products or experiences.

Take, for example, Spotify's 'Discover Weekly' service: 30 songs generated by an algorithm but feel like a gift from a music-loving friend, who might once have made a cassette tape with your name scrawled across the front. Automated music recommendations are hardly new, but Spotify seems to have identified the ingredients of a personalised playlist that feel fresh and familiar at the same time.

Brands that adapt by connecting with consumers through something more than a tiring air of nostalgia have a good chance of staying afloat (and maybe even standing out) in our disposable culture today.

If you're looking to scale up your challenger brand, speak to the UK's favourite agency for tech businesses. Simply book a no-obligation 30-minute chat, or send us an enquiry.