Businesses must reimagine their place in the world  

With ongoing disruption through rising inflation, energy crisis, devastating political unrest and damaging climate change, brands must reimagine their place in the world and shift from a transaction-based offering to solving real-life challenges for people and society to stay relevant. These macro trends have caused consumers to behave differently and are therefore forcing businesses to radically change their business models and operations and turn this disruption into opportunity.

As the year comes to an end, I want to share what businesses can do to learn from the now and prepare for what’s next. 

More than ever, consumers want to feel connected to and have a relationship with the brands they interact with. Customer centricity is not new – but consumer behaviour is ever-changing, and in an age of disloyalty the risk that brands don’t adapt their own business models to service the needs of the modern consumer is higher than ever. 

To achieve true customer centricity, brands must move from the mindset of ‘selling’ to the mindset of ‘solutions’ and organising their capabilities around the customer challenge. It’s about moving beyond conventional, targeted, data-driven marketing, to connecting customer journeys in a more meaningful way. That means putting your customers at the heart of the innovation process and bringing in the right capabilities to revolutionise brand interaction. 

In 2023, I anticipate more brands accelerating their business transformation journey as they realize that relying on pricing and distribution channels to increase market share is simply not good enough. Brands need to build more trusted and intimate relationships with their customers and create value for them that competitors simply cannot replicate. The experience and the value need to be unmatchable, so consumers don’t prioritise cost, even under inflationary and recessionary challenges.   

Along with better understanding the needs of the modern consumer, we also believe that in disruptive times we can work with brands and use modern creativity to change the world. It’s a bold claim. But it’s clear that society is demanding it, and brands have the unique power and influence to make it real.

When we ask our clients what is needed to engage tomorrow’s consumer, the answer is clear. Modern Creativity creates culture, it doesn’t borrow culture. It changes society, accelerating growth from good, it doesn’t simply raise awareness. It invents the future, using technology to change behaviour.

We see this come to life through campaigns with Heinz Beanz where we are shining a light on child hunger and breaking the boundaries of traditional banking advertising with Co-op to help customers make more ethical choices about where they put their money.    

With brands facing unprecedented pressures, coupled with a new generation of consumers, it is critical businesses seek to understand and deliver true value to society. Business leaders need to look at the very existence of their company based on the needs of people and society and move away from linear business models towards more sustainable, circular and equitable ones. Now, more than ever, society is asking for this and businesses success and existence in the future is dependent on it.

I encourage you to explore the insights and thought leadership from our people across dentsu EMEA focused on areas such as customer centricity, modern creativity, experience, and media trends to better navigate the disruption and create real opportunity.