TwentyFirstCenturyBrand

"To act or not To act?" As we enter the final stretch of another unpredictable year, C-Suite brand leaders are going to be grappling with a thorny question: Do we take a stand or stay quiet in the face of escalating cultural volatility? From a high-stakes U.S. election to global conflict and politically charged social unrest in the UK and Europe, brands are once again caught in the crosshairs and we can't assume that neutrality will be perceived as neutral. To help navigate these high-stakes decisions, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand has developed the ‘4C’ framework—breaking down the risks and rewards through four key lenses: Customer, Company, Commercial, and Culture. Each brings its own set of challenges, and there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Every brand’s context is different and the stakes couldn’t be higher I'd value your input on this. What metrics or dimensions should C-suite leaders consider when deciding how to act in such turbulent times? How do you see this framework applying to your own brand’s challenges? You can read our full take 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/eewwjd_T

If you're leading a brand through the closing months of 2024, you're going to be asking yourself, "Do we take a stand or stay neutral?"—a lot. In 2024, the stakes are through the roof. The 2020s brought a reckoning: brands were pushed to confront systemic inequality. But 2023 flipped the script, with activist investors calling out actions they see as wasteful or even harmful, done in the name of inclusivity or climate activism. If you're trying to balance the needs of diverse customers, investors, and employees, the path likely isn’t clear. The data’s conflicting, the advice is all over the place. No easy answers here. So how do you choose wisely? We explored this tough question and developed a ‘4C’ framework focused on four critical elements: Customer, Company, Commercial, and Culture to help brand leaders navigate these tough decisions. Dive into the framework and research in the article below:

Last week I spent time at the Modern Affluence Summit with some of the world’s most iconic brands discussing the theme of ‘re-imaging affluence’. Although the focus was on luxury brands, here are some universally relevant takeaways that stood out to me: 1️⃣ Investing in cultural capital is no longer optional, it’s essential. Brands need to be deeply embedded in culture to create emotional connections with consumers and drive differentiation. Now, more than ever, they have the opportunity to actively shape cultural narratives. This can be by themselves or with collaborations; but it must be authentic and strategically aligned to an overall vision - not just jumping on a new TikTok trend. “Cultural capital, much like economic capital, needs to be accumulated, nurtured and grown… [it] has become the new frontier of competitive advantage.” – Mike Pickett, Cazenove Capital 2️⃣Community-building should be at the heart of any brand. But there are a lot of misconceptions about what community means and how to nurture them. Community doesn’t necessarily mean like-minded individuals, it can be a platform to allow for differences and bring people together. A community is a group of individuals united by a singular passion point. Community shouldn’t always be monetized, instead it can be a powerful word-of-mouth tool, a direct feedback loop with customers, or a way to enrich the experiences of customers and create lasting connections - like Rapha’s clubhouses. Luxury brands in particular offer a masterclass in leveraging events, clubs, and partnerships to build thriving communities of fans. “Community enables brands to receive direct feedback around their product or service which in turn ensures brands to stay authentic.” ~ Rob Lee, Chief Creative Officer, Rapha 3️⃣ Emotional connection is a never-ending trend.  Today's luxury consumers aren't just buying a product; they're buying into a brand world, a story, and a set of values. They crave connection and shared experiences that go beyond a simple transaction. This means all brands must go beyond traditional marketing and create meaningful connections that resonate deeply. Building a strong connection means aligning with the values and beliefs of your target audience. Consumers are increasingly drawn to brands that support causes they believe in, embody sustainability, and prioritise social impact. At times, it also means showing vulnerability to creating a sense of trust, transparency, and genuine engagement. “There’s power of vulnerability in human connection. Vulnerability is not a weakness— it is the key to building trust, fostering creativity, and redefining success in an age of disruption.” - Andrew Phillips Thanks to Ben Whattam Marcus Watson Victoria Archbold for organising a brilliant event. 

Over the past six years, working with some of the world’s most influential brands, we've had a front-row seat to what works, what doesn’t, and—most importantly—the difference between CMOs who stumble, those who survive, and the rare few who truly thrive. Driven by our mission to push leaders toward leaving a lasting cultural and commercial legacy, we brought together a panel of top CMOs, CFOs, and CEOs to share actionable insights, insider hacks, and tools to help brand leaders make the most of their critical first 12 months in a new role. Since launching three months ago, we’ve connected with hundreds of brand leaders at various stages—some stepping into new roles, others prepping for the leap, and many expanding their scope. They’ve found different sections of the CMO Thrive Guide game-changing: how to build key alliances, rally teams, create high-performance cultures, show up as their best selves, identify growth areas, and tackle the challenge of integrating performance with purpose. As we keep refining and adding more deep dives based on feedback, we’d love to hear what resonated with you the most and where you'd like us to dig deeper. (And if you haven’t yet, you can still download your free copy of our CMO Thrive Guide here: https://lnkd.in/gfbD_fDe)

By now you will have heard us reference the Brand Blueprint multiple times. Our foundational strategy framework was built to turn a company’s purpose into a catalyst for real commercial and cultural impact. It functions as the go-to reference for making sharper, faster decisions that keep the brand’s purpose at the center of everything. By blending business ambition, value proposition, and societal purpose into one streamlined model, it ensures that any strategic decision is bold, connected, and delivers commercially. Especially in today’s fast-changing world, every move should align with your ambitions and live up to your brand’s purpose. Too often, we’ve seen profit and brand being separated, treating elements like the purpose as being confined to a CSR department or a few feel-good initiatives. But when your brand strategy supports your growth agenda by defining clear strategic relationships between your market, community and product positioning, it becomes a flywheel that shows everyone, not just the marketing team, the commercial power of purpose and brand. We’d love to hear from you: What element of this model would you find the most difficult to define – the Market, Community, Product, Business Ambition or Purpose pillar?

We’d like to take a moment to highlight Chime, one of our brilliant clients and a financial technology company that believes basic banking services should be helpful, easy, and free for everyone. We had the pleasure of collaborating with Chris Britt, Ryan King, Vineet Mehra and the rest of the team to rewrite the company’s foundational brand strategy which would encapsulate their ambition to address the fundamental misalignment in the industry between what’s good for banks and what’s good for consumers. Driven by their new mission “to unite everyday people to unlock their financial progress” they are way underway to reimagine what banking can be and to empower millions of everyday people to take control of their finances, through disruptive product innovations like MyPay™ which is a new way to get paid between paydays. And let’s not forget the fantastic rebrand and powerful brand campaigns which are led by the wonderful people at AKQA and Jones Knowles Ritchie. We are inspired by every action you take to make your vision a reality and excited to see what you’ll achieve next!

VIRTUAL | Join Our Global Conversation: CMO Thrive Guide 🚀 Don't miss our next workshop, where marketing leaders will explore how to prove and enhance their role in driving growth. Led by experts Neil Barrie and Sara Tate from TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, this session will cover: 🔹 Building a business case for brand investment 🔹 Understanding the value of a strong brand 🔹 Defining business ambition for growth 🔹 Collaborating with peers to boost brand impact 📅 Date: Wednesday, 18 September 🕒 Time: 2pm - 3pm BST, 5pm - 6pm GST, 9pm - 10pm HKT/SGT, 9am - 10am ET 🔗 Book your spot now - https://lnkd.in/eh_f7MB9 In partnership with TwentyFirstCenturyBrand #CMOThrive #MarketingLeadership #BrandGrowth #BusinessStrategy #LeadershipWorkshop

On behalf of the team at TwentyFirstCenturyBrand - thanks so much for the shoutout Vineet Mehra! A strategy only has true impact when there is bold leadership, an incredibly capable team, strong partners, and collective conviction to do something amazing. We are so proud to see this work coming to life in such a powerful way and are looking forward to see how you will unite everyday people to unlock their financial progress!

Is the CMO role unnecessary? Thought-provoking article and data here from Paul Hiebert at ADWEEK, including a quote that proclaims "Certain jobs are mandatory. The CMO role isn't." Two reactions: 1. I strongly believe that the job of a CMO is mandatory in the sense that someone in the org needs to have a clear role as the ultimate decision-maker on anything related to marketing, brand, and community. However, the actual title of "CMO" is not mandatory. I've worked with thriving companies where this decision-maker has a different title whether it's a CEO with marketing focus, a highly strategic Chief Comms Officer, a versatile CRO or COO, and many other variations. Less important than the title is the value that this role brings in creating a singular focus on the customer and aligning the rest of the C-suite. 2. I was struck by the disparity in the data point that "84% of B2C Fortune 500 companies have a conventional CMO role, compared to 48% of B2B firms." Perhaps this can be attributed to B2B's greater reliance on sales vs. traditional marketing. But it also points to an untapped opportunity for B2B leaders to leverage the power of brand and marketing as key differentiators in a highly competitive landscape. We can debate whether the word "CMO" is right or not, but it's inarguable that the best marketing leaders and orgs are vital growth drivers, not cost centers! https://lnkd.in/g6BNVSHh

The #1 priority for any CMO is understanding what levers drive measurable growth. This isn’t news to anyone and has been confirmed by many brand leaders we’ve talked to, especially since we launched the CMO Thrive Guide in June. We know that at a company level, driving growth attributed to brand can be a challenge. Then there are the added hurdles for marketing to prove its role in said growth, which might even vary by type of business and the industry you operate in. We’ve proven that using a framework like the “Business Case for Brand” drives strategic business discussions with your CEO, CFO and other x-functional leads to identify the critical challenges they are facing that the brand can help address. This framework summarizes the critical external and internal dynamics influencing the company’s growth strategy, the key ‘jobs to be done’ that the brand will focus on to address those dynamics and the two horizon scorecard of KPIs to track progress. We’d love to hear which of the components might be the hardest one to define in your experience? A clear overarching business ambition? The critical dynamics influencing the company’s growth strategy? The role of brand to address these dynamics? The KPIs to track the progress? Which other roadblocks do you face in defining these elements in your industry?