Interview Inga Havemann und Oliver Hupp, Ipsos Brand success - how to keep control over your brand

Social media can trigger shitstorms to well-intentioned advertising campaigns – but they can also accelerate their success enormously. Keeping control over one's own brand was easier in the past. How should brands act in this environment? We talked to Inga Havemann and Oliver Hupp from Ipsos about the topic they will be presenting at Week of Market Research.

How should brands act in the dynamic, complex and crisis-ridden environment that we are currently experiencing? What was well received by the target group today may be met with disapproval tomorrow. Is there any kind of roadmap at all? 

Inga Havemann: Today's environment undoubtedly poses special challenges for brand management. It is important for brand managers to get a clear picture of the relevant target groups and their needs.  Target group-specific expectations of brands certainly vary with changes in the brand context, rarely from "overnight", but more continuously. The brand management roadmap should take into account the changes in the expectations of the target groups.  

Brands must make it clear with their acting that they are aware of these changes and adapt empathetically to them. But of course, the authenticity and coherence of the brand must never be lost in the process.  

These three factors influencing brand success - expectations, empathy and context - are, by the way, the three fundamental dimensions of our philosophy.  They do not work independently of each other, but influence and reinforce each other in their effect on brand choice. 

Sign up for the webinar (15 May, at 15:00 hrs., in German): Brand Success – wie Sie die Kontrolle über Ihre Marke behalten 

Is it not also the intention of companies that a brand develops a kind of life of its own among the fans and users of the brand? Brands like Opel Manta or Star Wars come to mind, which have achieved cult status. That would hardly have been possible without a loss of control. 

Oliver Hupp: Yes - brands today have lost some control over their success, maybe even over their destiny!  

People influence the future success of the brand much more than brand management with the help of strategic and operational brand management. 

The exchange of people via social media can destroy the success of even the best brand ideas within days, but just as well accelerate it. Legendary is an old campaign by H&M that tried to show humour and creativity with a T-shirt print "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle". However, the T-shirt was worn by a black boy in the advertisement. The result: accusations of racism in the social media and a plummeting share price.  On the other hand, social media communication helped the OTC drug Elotrans, which is supposed to reduce gastrointestinal diseases, to achieve an unplanned hype and coolness factor. Influencers described the effect of the electrolyte solution against hangover symptoms after a night of drinking. The result: in the summer of 2022, the brand faced considerable supply problems and was partially sold out. Companies can, however, counteract the danger of losing control in a targeted manner, for example through continuous social media monitoring, in order to promptly recognise new brand influences initiated by the market and to integrate them into brand management. 

Which social media trends should currently be taken up by brands? What is particularly suitable? 

Oliver Hupp: Unfortunately, this cannot be answered universally. Brands have to measure and take into account longer-term developments in society - be it through social media monitoring or trend studies. However, these trends usually affect the entire category or segments such as particularly high-priced brands.  

It is also important to develop a sense for each individual brand of how the central expectations of it, but also the central competitors, change over time.  

If the brand or product category has a high social relevance, this applies for example to clothing or alcoholic beverages, then new or changing trends in certain contexts of use can certainly be derived from social media such as Instagram or TikTok. These are highly relevant to the expectations of different target groups and thus need to be taken into account in possible adjustments to brand management and communication. 

Which brands are particularly good at maintaining control over their brand? 

Oliver Hupp: If we equate the desire to 'stay in control' with 'identifying new market trends early and successfully addressing changing brand expectations through marketing', then a number of successful brands can be identified. These include brands like Hello Fresh or Netflix, which specifically identify different target groups and their needs and address them with regularly changing offers. But also classic branded companies like hohes C, which gain new customer groups or address usage situations by expanding their portfolio, have successfully kept control of changing market events in the recent past and thus defended their market-leading role. In our presentation, we will look at the Heineken beer brand, which also derives its success in South Africa from the fact that it is seen as a highly relevant brand in the most important drinking situations and also loses buyers to competitors due to no discernible barriers at the point of sale. 

Who can't miss your webinar? 

Inga Havemann: Our webinar is aimed at all target groups who deal with the strategic and operational management of brands. In addition to corporate and brand managers, these are of course also insight managers and creatives. Brand Success is relevant for all brand leaders, regardless of whether they come from the B2B or B2C world. 

Sign up for the webinar (15 May, at 15:00 hrs., in German): Brand Success – wie Sie die Kontrolle über Ihre Marke behalten 

 

– published in German on marktforschung.de – 

 

Many thanks to the Week of Market Research - sponsors
 

 

 
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