Insights
Insights
When we looked at the highest performers, we observed that there are five ways they’re continually reinventing themselves.
An inspiring and authentic purpose
Customer loyalty is hard to earn and easy to lose. But when marketers center a brand on an authentic purpose, it creates a heartbeat that underlies everything it does. People want more than a transaction. They want an organization with beliefs, values and principles that inspire and resonate with them. And they need to see that purpose expressed simply and consistently, across every touchpoint.
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Mayo Clinic's commitment to clinical education and research excellence resonates with consumers in 2019. This brand scored highest in our survey for "Has a set of beliefs and values that align with my own."
Mayo Clinic's commitment to clinical education and research excellence resonates with consumers in 2019. This brand scored highest in our survey for "Has a set of beliefs and values that align with my own."
By humanizing its stories, it builds emotional connections in a way few other brands can match. While other news outlets tend to weigh people down in the realities of the world, NPR (#15) has found a balance between reporting the news and connecting it back to what it means to be human.
By humanizing its stories, it builds emotional connections in a way few other brands can match. While other news outlets tend to weigh people down in the realities of the world, NPR (#15) has found a balance between reporting the news and connecting it back to what it means to be human.
Curate experiences
The best marketers can distinguish signal from noise in the data they collect and then amplify that signal to deliver more value. By asking the right questions, these curation geniuses, like Spotify, Hulu and Etsy, find opportunities in gaps and create user experiences that are personalized, useful and fun. With data-driven insights, they invent engaging experiences with sophisticated offers customers love – even crave.
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Roku (#17) leaped into our Index this year, providing a satisfying video streaming experience to one in five U.S. households. With 30 million accounts, it uses data to help personalize experiences, earning it higher trust scores than Netflix.
Roku (#17) leaped into our Index this year, providing a satisfying video streaming experience to one in five U.S. households. With 30 million accounts, it uses data to help personalize experiences, earning it higher trust scores than Netflix.
Pinterest (#10) embeds artificial intelligence in everything it does. Using the PinSage neural network it makes recommendations that delight pinners. The brand uses those tech smarts to take users on an endless journey of ideation, inspiration and discovery.
Pinterest (#10) embeds artificial intelligence in everything it does. Using the PinSage neural network it makes recommendations that delight pinners. The brand uses those tech smarts to take users on an endless journey of ideation, inspiration and discovery.
Evolve, revolutionize, repeat
Innovating at two speeds is crucial for building relevance. It allows marketers to continually create incremental value from core products and service lines for changing day-to-day needs, while clearing a path for the big, audacious bets that will shape its future. Two-speed thinking requires partnering with the C-Suite to propel a change agenda that adds value now, while propelling future growth.
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Intel (#47) continues to introduce faster and more powerful chips, expanding into gaming processors for the first time. But beyond incremental innovations, it’s a technology daredevil that delights in cultural relevance. This brand is making bold, innovative moves while staying true to its – ahem – core.
Intel (#47) continues to introduce faster and more powerful chips, expanding into gaming processors for the first time. But beyond incremental innovations, it’s a technology daredevil that delights in cultural relevance. This brand is making bold, innovative moves while staying true to its – ahem – core.
Staying true to its core of fun-first, hands-on play, LEGO (#28) makes sets that reflect pop culture and entertainment, partnering with the likes of Disney, Minecraft, and even recently creating a Central Perk set for its Friends.
Staying true to its core of fun-first, hands-on play, LEGO (#28) makes sets that reflect pop culture and entertainment, partnering with the likes of Disney, Minecraft, and even recently creating a Central Perk set for its Friends.
Tap into shared interests
Consumers may have the world at their fingertips, but efficiency hasn’t replaced empathy, and connectivity hasn’t replaced community. Brands that win consumers’ hearts help them unlock individual passions while also connecting groups of people with shared interests. And they do so in ways that inspire and engage, often motivating them to build communities of their own.
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Nothing connects people who love to learn like the prestigious TED (#26) Talks, moving beyond its conference origins to become a powerful teaching platform. Each time viewers discover, click or recommend a video, they know they’re in the company of millions of similarly-minded learners.
Nothing connects people who love to learn like the prestigious TED (#26) Talks, moving beyond its conference origins to become a powerful teaching platform. Each time viewers discover, click or recommend a video, they know they’re in the company of millions of similarly-minded learners.
It’s not just the technology that makes exercising with Peloton (#35) so engaging. It's Facebook and Fitbit integrations change users’ lives by enabling connecting with and challenging friends, creating an indispensable community within the convenience of home.
It’s not just the technology that makes exercising with Peloton (#35) so engaging. It's Facebook and Fitbit integrations change users’ lives by enabling connecting with and challenging friends, creating an indispensable community within the convenience of home.
Engage employees to fuel growth
The best growth is fueled from within. A healthy internal culture–agile and open–allows employees to embrace and embody the company’s purpose and values. These brand advocates aren’t just important in customer-facing roles, but internally as well. Employees that live and love the brand push for constant improvement, innovation and reinvention.
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USAA (#46) wins on consistency, dependability and trust. Its superpower comes from seeing the world through the eyes of active-duty military. Employees immersion into the lives and emotional needs of their customers leads to high-impact innovations, like being the first bank to let customers deposit checks by smartphone.
USAA (#46) wins on consistency, dependability and trust. Its superpower comes from seeing the world through the eyes of active-duty military. Employees immersion into the lives and emotional needs of their customers leads to high-impact innovations, like being the first bank to let customers deposit checks by smartphone.
Chick-fil-A (#27) knows the experience customers have with employees is just as important than the food. Team members understand that their enthusiasm is the backbone of the entire restaurant experience. It ranks second among brands in "Has better products/services/experiences than competitors."
Chick-fil-A (#27) knows the experience customers have with employees is just as important than the food. Team members understand that their enthusiasm is the backbone of the entire restaurant experience. It ranks second among brands in "Has better products/services/experiences than competitors."
Relevance can be achieved through different avenues.
The brands at the top rise in the rankings because their leaders deploy a variety of relevance-building tactics at their disposal—pulling the levers in various combinations.
They have a commitment to being purpose-led, curating experiences that differentiate and rise above the rest and empowering their employees to play a key part in their marketing strategy. They focus on innovation and learn and execute based on data-rich insights. These insights create the ideas that drive growth in both the near and long-term.
Scott Davis,
Chief Growth Officer
Chief Growth Officer
Prophet
"The brands that inspire loyalty today are driven by three critical truths – they are purpose-led, experience-driven and believe in the power of their employees."
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