The factors that will drive the growth or the demise of brands in the next twenty years. A critical view of how brands will evolve and devolve & what to do

1. P a g e 1
DRTHOMASBRAND
Brands at an inflection point
July 2021
“How-to” master business-unusual

2. P a g e 2
DRTHOMASBRAND
Bill Gates
…business will
change in the next
ten years more than it
has changed for the
last fifty years…

3. P a g e 3
DRTHOMASBRAND
The business environment shifts over the last ten years…
Consumer
power shift
Market
disruption
Technology/ AI
Brand
disintermediation
Volatile/
fast-paced
world
Consumer-
centricity
New business reality
New challenges

4. P a g e 4
DRTHOMASBRAND
CHANGES
=
DRIVE
VAUES
EQUITY
VALUE
Market dynamics
Differentiation
Team-integration
The right data
Driving ROI
How change impacts
marketing & the
business operations
T
O
P
I
C
S

5. P a g e 5
DRTHOMASBRAND
T
O
P
I
C
S
Martech and social media
strategy development
Brand
disintermediation
Consumer-centricity
Brand meaning
& language
Building
challenger brands
Integrating online & offline channels
Disruptor brands,
why they work
how companies
can leverage
that

6. P a g e 6
DRTHOMASBRAND
An inflection point is
when change is
inevitable,
when the very future
of something is
threatened – where
the natural course of
gravity is decline
= where only a major
disruption can
change the trajectory The convergence of fundamental factors will
determine, fast, whether brands will live or die
At this point, the possibility that they will die is
much higher than the possibility that they will live
Yet many people in business is oblivious to this
issue

7. P a g e 7
DRTHOMASBRAND
…and the only way to change is
outside the scope of most
companies: during the pandemic,
McKinsey surveyed a few thousand
CEO’s,
89% believed product and service
innovation is the only way through
it…
yet only 21% believed their people
could deliver that

8. P a g e 8
DRTHOMASBRAND
The role of a brand is and
always was to enable
decision-making
To make a consumer
decide whether one option
to satisfy their needs is a
better option than another
one
This is a most basic thing a
brand must do,
yet it is not enough
anymore

9. P a g e 9
DRTHOMASBRAND Whilst there is a
paradox in that
consumers are willing
to pay for superior
brands and
innovation,
it also means a lack
of innovation is more
evident
=
this is at the core of
the capability we
require
For years, brand differentiation has
declined
Brand parity is real
Brands are perceived similarly by
consumers
Brand comparisons are easy
The ranking of brand-types &
industry-types have shifted
Brands are disintermediated
Major online retailers increasingly
sell more of their own brands than
of the brands we know

10. P a g e 1 0
DRTHOMASBRAND
The way we work with
brands need to
change
Right now,
technology still seems
to work for brands,
increasingly they may
work against brands
Technology undermines brands as
much as they are built by them
The types of brands likely to be
most impacted, are fast-moving-
consumer household goods,
banks, airlines, retailers…
Brands cannot be controlled
Brand monologues move to brand
dialogues
Technology makes trial for new
brands easier and sticky-ness of
brands easier
The Amazon & Alibaba factor
The disruptors

11. P a g e 1 1
DRTHOMASBRAND
Constant change is
normal, yet it is a
weakness most
companies have = they
are not agile

12. P a g e 1 2
DRTHOMASBRAND
Consumers are
different, brands
cross-boundaries and
there are no
differences between
what is real and what
is not

13. P a g e 1 3
DRTHOMASBRAND
The major
drivers for
consumers
The best brand
experience = the
standard for all
brands Convergence and eco-systems

14. P a g e 1 4
DRTHOMASBRAND
Brand parity: increasingly
brand are similar in delivery:
inherently they are the same
Increasingly they are also
similar in perceptions
So, why pay more?

15. P a g e 1 5
DRTHOMASBRAND

16. P a g e 1 6
DRTHOMASBRAND
More the
same,
less different
This greatly
undermines
brands
Whilst this trend hold true for
many industries,
we have marketers to blame
for this.
Have we become so insular &
non-consumer centric that
we want consumers to see
the difference between
names that are marginally
different? What does words
like Max or Next mean?
Navel-gazing?
Names only have meaning in
the eyes of consumers; what
we as marketers call them are
irrelevant.
Not sure why I need to say
this in 2021?
Even the very differential axis
is so simplistic!
Then we want to know why
CEOs don’t rate marketing?

17. P a g e 1 7
DRTHOMASBRAND
Brand(s) indicate a one-way value move
towards tech, also achieving value unseen to
date by any other brands
This happened fast
Unusual before (except for the odd McDonalds),
they also fast became industry generics (leaders
that set the rules). What took generations now
takes a few years
This means their dominance will remain for long,
if the history of first mover brands remain

18. P a g e 1 8
DRTHOMASBRAND

19. P a g e 1 9
DRTHOMASBRAND

20. P a g e 2 0
DRTHOMASBRAND

21. P a g e 2 1
DRTHOMASBRAND
The Amazon-effect:
1. A king/ queen of customer-
centricity with a deep database
2. The pivot for many products
and services
3. A central portal
4. An eco-system
5. Many downstream businesses
enabled

22. P a g e 2 2
DRTHOMASBRAND
The Amazon
factor:
AI core,
get-in,
dominate, know =
vertically &
horizontally
expand
Barrier-to entry
Just look how
fast they
dominate!

23. P a g e 2 3
DRTHOMASBRAND
CORE DEMO &
BEHAVIOURAL
DATA
Let us play a game: it all started with consumers buying books = now books alone tell us much,
not only who we are, where we live but also what we like
Operations built to
support that,
not operations to
support processes
only ,
no “retro-fitting”
A CONSUMER
UNIVERSE
BASIC DATA, YET CUSTOMER @thecore
BROADER
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
CLOUD
Amazon-
inside
THE LARGEST
BRAND
COMPARATIVE
SITE
CONTENT
PRIME = deep
data, customer
lifetime value
BANKING
CREDIT
CARDS
SERVICES, i.e.
treatments,
TaskRabbit
equivalents
CREDIT
INSURANCE
FRESH
TAKE-OUTS
LOGISTICS
LOGISTICS
ENABLING
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
AI
ROBOTICS
HUB =
expand
&
become
more
&
more
powerful
LOCAL
BUSINESSES
SATELLITES
CONSUMER-
CENTRIC &
AI BASED
SOFTWARE
CONNECT
COMMUNITIES
OWNED
BRANDS
FULLFILMENT
FULLFILMENT
HYPER-
PERSONALISATION
Amazon will compete with most retailers, services, telecoms, media, entertainment, banking, all content, Google,
logistics, AI, customer-centric data insight & management, software and software-as-service, any conceivable
large manufacturer, robotics, marketing services, UX-design, marketing sales channels like Salesforce = all
contained within opted-in customer data regulation
PHYSICAL
STORES
BROADER
ENTERTAINMENT

24. P a g e 2 4
DRTHOMASBRAND
Brand comparative sites =
where price and comparative
benefits drive decisions
Forget brand – buy the deal (I
changed gas and electricity supplier
twice in the last 18 months, household
content insurer once)

25. P a g e 2 5
DRTHOMASBRAND

26. P a g e 2 6
DRTHOMASBRAND

27. P a g e 2 7
DRTHOMASBRAND
Dis-intermediation can also be the other way-around
Retail price comparisons,
happens without me asking

28. P a g e 2 8
DRTHOMASBRAND
Brand
disintermediation =
this is totally related
to the above…

29. P a g e 2 9
DRTHOMASBRAND
Where I want to be, what I
want, compared to make
my decision easy and fast.
What brand? Brand recedes
very far as these brands
offer the same, price is
more relevant than brand

30. P a g e 3 0
DRTHOMASBRAND
Even offer me
related brands,
some not even
brands known to
me as they belong
to the retailer

31. P a g e 3 1
DRTHOMASBRAND
Feature
comparisons

32. P a g e 3 2
DRTHOMASBRAND
Digital does not equal dots or lines =
digital is a dialogue across dimensions of
breadth, depth, the dynamic within and
between component parts, the way they
cluster and move.
Digital is inherently dynamic with no exact
outcome = it is a language of meaning, not a
predictable matrix where 2X2 now is 3X3
Real digital is invasive, evasive and engaging

33. P a g e 3 3
DRTHOMASBRAND
Or lines?

34. P a g e 3 4
DRTHOMASBRAND
Do dots make something digital?

35. P a g e 3 5
DRTHOMASBRAND
Digital “how”?
Why does digital
matter?
It is not about digital -
it is about the sharing
of meaning in a
manner that creates
dialogue = where the
end-result is an open-
ended dialogue
In what way is the new
VW logo digital???? At
best a stylistically more
modern typeface
It is outdated before it
even starts

36. P a g e 3 6
DRTHOMASBRAND
Who made the rules that brands
must look the same? It is
astonishing, still today,
that brands are designed within
a limited template

37. P a g e 3 7
DRTHOMASBRAND
Somewhere, someone made a rule that toothpaste needs to be red, white or blue. Or curry powder brown
or yellow. Or butter green, white or yellow. Or crumbed chicken, red, white and black

38. P a g e 3 8
DRTHOMASBRAND THE BIG BLUE BLURR

39. P a g e 3 9
DRTHOMASBRAND THE BIG RED BLURR

40. P a g e 4 0
DRTHOMASBRAND
After 150 years, we still design
brands the same way = 2X2.
This started with print media,
today a tiny part of media…
yet brand design has not
moved on

41. P a g e 4 1
DRTHOMASBRAND
Brand influencers – as though
we are not dictated to by
friends on social media and
through native content,
experts also tell us what to
buy

42. P a g e 4 2
DRTHOMASBRAND

43. P a g e 4 3
DRTHOMASBRAND
There are brands and people that
create languages of meaning –
semiotic analysis will show this:
THIS, in my view, is the dynamic
brands need to move to remain
relevant and dynamic today

44. P a g e 4 4
DRTHOMASBRAND
A BRAND is a language of meaning.
It must enable dialogue and engagement.
Whilst Google remains Google and they are lucky as they are in a closed
system, they did create a dynamic engagement with their customers

45. P a g e 4 5
DRTHOMASBRAND
In a very different way, actuality and response to news events made
Nando’s this way

46. P a g e 4 6
DRTHOMASBRAND
Tim Burton created a style, despite the vastly different movies he designed.
I know the brand of Tim Burton even if it changes every minute

47. P a g e 4 7
DRTHOMASBRAND
The New Yorker = a language
of meaning is created
through its component parts
– yet it also sets its degrees
of freedom. Yet, you know
when things jarr
The language of The New Yorker is identifiable yet
dynamic – it engages its intellectual audience

48. P a g e 4 8
DRTHOMASBRAND
Deflecting the
inflection point,
some simple
pointers
INNOVATE
BRAND VS TECH VS BRANDS VS TECH
STAY AHEAD, THINK DIFFERENT, ERASE BOUNDARIES
PUT CUSTOMERS AT THE CORE
FOCUS ON NEEDS, NOT INDUSTRIES
CREATE COLLABORATIVE ECOSYSTEMS
LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY, IN ITS OWN RIGHT IT IS NOT A
SOLUTION
CREATIVITY MATTERS
VALUE TO CONSUMERS MATTER
FOLLOW-THE-CONSUMER AS HE/ SHE NAVIGATES THE
PURCHASING LANDSCAPE
RELEVANCE GETS REDEFINED IN DIALOGUE
BE HONEST, HAVE INTEGRITY
STAY IN TOUCH WITH EARLY WARNER MARKETS
RETAIN VS GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS

49. P a g e 4 9
DRTHOMASBRAND
Thank
you for
your time
For further information,
please feel free to contact me directly:
t) +44 (0) 779 8693 753
e) thomas@drthomasbrand.com
linkedin.com/in/drthomasbrand
thomasoosthuizen
www.drthomasbrand.com
P a g e 4 9
DRTHOMASBRAND

50. P a g e 5 0
DRTHOMASBRAND
A little about me…
Ph.D, Unisa
Diploma in Design Thinking, MIT (distinction)
MDP, University of the Witwatersrand
Digital Marketing, General Academy (top student)
External examiner, 23 Masters’ & Ph.D’s
Projects in 29+ countries
Global multinationals & start-ups
Global Consulting Director, Acceleration, WPP
(London)
Colgate-Palmolive, FCB
Own agency with alternative business model
Marketer, agency strategist & consultant
Trained 850 marketers for the largest telco in AME
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can
change the world are the ones who do.”
– Steve Jobs
Dr. Thomas
Henry
Oosthuiizen
Published a book, “How to build a profitable brand”
Published a monograph on brands
Edited three Academic books on Marketing
Edited articles & judged awards in the US, SA, UK,
Australia, UAE
Produced the most popular TV commercial in SA
(as measured by Kantar in their 35 years of
measurement)
Advertising Man of the Year, SA, 2001
Extra-Ordinary Professor in Business Management,
University of Johannesburg (UJ)
Board member of the Luthuli Museum,
dedicated to the first African Nobel Prize winner