Branding is no longer just about finding an idea for everything in a company to revolve around. It is now also about ensuring that the habits, rituals and behaviours a company has internally and externally are made cohesive to support a shared goal/vision/promise. Too many companies stop once they’ve formulated that promise and have given it a visual expression. Not enough hold themselves, each and every employee, responsible for interpreting that goal in an interesting and helpful way to make it happen. As consultancies, we need to become as good at making ideas real as we are at having ideas in the first place.

As a society, we are slowly shifting our mindset towards resource maximisation as we become more and more wary of the anthropogenic nature of climate change. It is slowly becoming less about owning, but using things as we need them. Products that have always been ‘owned’, will be gradually replaced by services that provide these goods temporarily, renting, or other. I think one of the first pioneers will be (and already is with car-sharing), mobility brands. Car manufacturers will develop a more service-oriented business, where cars will be less likely to be owned, but rented, contributing to a more sustainable, circular economy. Tech, sportswear, and many other industries might follow!

Companies who build their brand experience around saving their audience’s time, internally and externally, will be the new Midas. Maybe soon there’ll be a ‘Time-Market’, where the wealthy will be able to buy time-off from others. 

We are already seeing some companies putting the value of time at the centre when creating and communicating their work from home policies or exploring a 4 day working week.

As started by the likes of General Electric and Johnson & Johnson, we will see a tsunami going through the world of large corporations that will be breaking up their businesses into different entities. Surely, this will call for value-added value propositions and new identities.

The pandemic brought about new ways of working but also a re-evaluation of values and priorities for employees. We’ve seen the impact of this in a cross-industry talent exodus in 2021. Organisations have been responding by looking within and enabling hybrid or flexible working conditions, re-evaluating diversity, equality and inclusion, among others.

With this, there will be a need to gain internal alignment and be able to clearly communicate what employers offer to current and future talent. The role of HR and Marketing will be more important and integrated than ever. 2022 will bring more emphasis in employer branding that goes beyond work policies but also speak of values.

After Christiano Ronaldo’s famous Coca Cola snub at this summer’s European championships, brands should start thinking more strategically and imaginatively about the sponsorship opportunities they pursue in 2022. Plastering their logo and product all over major events may have worked in the past, but it’s increasingly making brands look tone deaf if the partnership is at odds with their positioning, actions and values.

Companies need to now more than ever find sponsors that share the same values with them in order to create an authentic image. I’m hoping we’ll see a much smarter and more subtle approach at events like the Qatar World Cup towards the end of 2022.

Given the clamp down on third-party cookies, the increase in nefarious user data collection and a rise in popularity of documentaries like the Social Dilemma, consumers are more aware of what private information is being watched and tracked online. 

Brands now have the opportunity to engage with users in a new way. Instead of one-way harvesting, it is up to brands to open up transparent dialogues – demonstrating how data adds value to the user experience. Willingness to share data will be seen as a new metric of brand loyalty.  

Concurrently, we suspect that new digital brands and products will enter the market to solve this consumer need for privacy.We may see the likes of You.com really start to compete against big players like Google by providing ad-free internet browsing. 

Brands who chose to ignore this key consumer need for privacy will soon be left behind.

2022 is set to be another volatile year. Whilst we cannot predict anything with total certainty, it is clear that opportunities are often born from disruption. By using brand as a northstar to navigate the way ahead, organisations can ensure they are prepared for the future.