Looking ahead to 2030, how organizations and brands communicate will have a stronger, more direct connection to their own reputation. In turn, their reputation will be inherently dependent on the reputation of those who lead them. Such terms may sound familiar. However, in reality a brand or organization’s reputation is often viewed on a standalone basis, while in other cases, the brand or organization’s reputation very much relies on those who lead them. From an era defined by creative thinking, we are now entering a different era, one defined by creation through wisdom and thought creativity. But let’s take things from the beginning.
The new data is already outdated
Drastic changes in communication as we race towards 2030 will arise simply because conditions and requirements will impose them on us. These have in fact already begun, for the large part led by big data, 5G and the Internet of Things. Clearly these changes will also have an enormous impact on our daily lives evident through augmented reality which has already entered our lives as well as artificial intelligence – still in its early stages. In the field of communication, image and video inevitably embody the dominant element of change. To be precise, this will refer to live or recorded news events, streamed live or recorded and then posted, requiring the physical presence of the broadcaster in conjunction with the details/characteristics of the media organization broadcasting the event. The personal presence or involvement of the broadcaster will guarantee the validity of the event while the reputation of a broadcasted event will be attested by the reputation of the media outlet. This sounds like – and is – an antidote to fake news and images, which while effective isn’t exactly a controlled antidote. Many sources of news media and outlets will continue to broadcast events, not limiting such reporting to traditional legacy television organizations. While the technological means at their disposal will be considerable, the reputation of the media broadcaster needs to be as equally significant.
Brands and organizations and the role prestige will play in the new decade
The evident trend we’re already in the midst of witnessing, is the inextricable link between an organization or a product with its reputation whereby consumer choice is directly linked to the reputation of products and services provided. What we presently generally define as “responsible operation” is changing with “nice to have” being viewed as a key criterion. At the same time therefore, along with brand leadership, it clearly emerges that the brand also be recognized by its leader, i.e. the individual or the team of people behind the leader’s creation. Managing the organization he or she leads starts with self-management. Therefore the organization’s communication needs to begin with the leader’s communication campaign before dealing with any product communication.
Super micro targeting = mega effectiveness
Big data, asides from the expected changes concerning protecting personal data, are drastically changing both how you approach and target your desired audience. While age, education or gender classifications will continue to exist, they will become completely ineffective on a standalone basis. The identification of our daily habits may not be based on our personal details – which is both desirable and legitimate – but instead on a profile constructed around our everyday life and choices, with the ability to identity our movements and preferences and ultimately our opinions and personality.
As a result, communication will target very specific personality types instead of population groups. Its tools will not only be based on encyclopedic knowledge but on a big brother to whom we ourselves will give access to our lives. Inevitably, this big brother’s credentials will have to be robust; to be more specific, the brands that enter our lives through this new big brother should inspire such prestige that as consumers we accept providing access to our privacy and possibly our security. Although this may sound irritating or intrusive, this is what our daily lives will resemble in the future.
The strategy behind Thought Creativity
In 2030, leaders, as is the case today, will be called upon to design the communication strategy for their organizations or brands. In the future however, a creative thinking strategy will needed to reflect why the leader’s organization or products possess prestige and responsibility based characteristics in order to enter the everyday lives of an audience with a strictly predetermined profile. The key will lie in prestige, substance and purpose while success will depend on effective management and the optimum use of micro targeting. This will define the love brands of 2030. In the future however, “love” won’t reflect the “lovable” aspect of a brand etc. that is portrayed today through a creative communicative approach. “Love” will be defined as the valid, clear, safe, reliable and “visionary” product that we allow to enter our lives and know at least part of it, if not every aspect of it. In this respect, the term “visionary” therefore is by no means accidental.
Welcome to an era of brands with a bigger purpose – purpose-driven brands
Everything discussed up to now may seem like a shift from the technical to the technocratic. After all, technology will trigger rapid and overwhelming changes in communication in the years to come. Logically, one final question arises: What role will feelings play in the coming decade? How will a brand enter people’s hearts? This question has already begun to be answered by life itself, in many modern societies around the world. Successful brands will steadily, methodically and effectively serve at least one important social purpose. Naturally, the leaders behind them will also strongly support such ideals.
The technological revolution has not entered our lives alone but alongside a series of global challenges, in a world where there are no political leaders able to unite together in resolving or solving those challenges. This weakness will de facto turn into a superpower for brands. The era of communicative neutrality and detachment has passed. The world will soon be in need of brands with a strong point of view, and behind them a need for leaders with a genuine sensitivity and awareness of critical modern problems. For the foreseeable future, we will love brands that answer our own sensibilities, our own concerns. And this will be the most important criterion and way in which we select those brands depending on how both they and their leaders communicate with their audiences in the decades to come. Brands which will become love brands if and only if they express opinions and provide answers to current problems that politicians, technocrats or religious leaders are unable to solve. “Love” won’t refer to the “sweet” apolitical products that have entered our hearts based on the superficial criteria of everyday life. After all, the reality of everyday life is one that is in a state of flux. The “love brand”, the brand in general, will become a life choice. It will mirror what we really love and what is important to us, representing a conscious choice reflecting our character that will serve an important purpose for us. Fortunately, then, in the years to come, in the years of communication in 2030, we won’t stop communicating from the heart. We will not stop loving and being sensitive. We may even love more consciously. We will seek practical and everyday brands with substance and content. Leaders with substance and content. The ultimate goal: Good for all.
Published on DRIVING THE FUTURE EDITION