Trends Report 2012: What’s Your Value?
Leading brands are increasingly making a shift from touting features and benefits to demonstrating the deeper value of their products, services and company as a whole – especially through customer experience. This means that messages about exceptional products/service, quality and price are no longer enough. These traditional standards of the marketing mix are merely cost of entry today. In the Idea Economy, companies must find ways to create deeper value in order to thrive.
This month, we’re sharing the trends in branding and marketing that are related to value design. See our full article: What’s Your Value? Leveraging 2012 Marketing Trends: Increasing Perceived Value Through Brand Experience.
What’s clear is that the overarching shift to value design (giving the customer a deeper experience) is not only here to stay but also extremely relevant for all businesses. What’s more is that marketing communications based on the old paradigm will only continue to put companies smack in the middle of the competitive pool, struggling to find their difference or, worse, discounting their price.
The key to understanding the relevance and reasons to take action on the new value-based marketing trends is twofold:
- Recognize how closely value design is connected to creating exceptional customer relationships – something the business community has long recognized as essential to success.
- Determine the intrinsic benefits to the company of creating deeper perceived value for the customer.
Additionally, there are two key questions that must be answered for value design to truly make sense as a marketing strategy:
- In an economy that has forced cut back after cut back, how can companies give their customers more? Or, more simply, what does “more” mean?
- How does enhanced value relate to the tactical aspects of marketing such as brand identity, content marketing, websites and other strategic and tactical tools?
For our list of the critical value design branding and marketing trends for 2012, as well as the answer to these questions, read the full article: What’s Your Value? Leveraging 2012 Marketing Trends: Increasing Perceived Value Through Brand Experience.
Launched
Substance151 Develops Creative for the USGBC Maryland Annual Awards
Once again Substance151 is helping USGBC Maryland with its annual Wintergreen Awards. Now in its 7th year, Wintergreen Awards is a signature event that celebrates excellence in green building and honors outstanding accomplishments in sustainable design and construction in Maryland.
Substance151 Develops Creative for the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council (CRTC) TechAwards 2012
TechAwards is one of CRTC's annual signature events that honors the region's rising tech companies, outstanding innovators and regional tech leaders, with the awards ceremony drawing close to 400 technology executives in the Annapolis–Washington–Baltimore triangle. This year's theme, Vision 2032+/20 Years in Tech, and the event's brand identity is based on the premise that when it comes to technology twenty years from now, it's simply unimaginable – we can only speculate that it will be incredibly exciting, exceedingly forward-looking and innovative beyond what we can imagine today.
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Kicking the Year Off With Speaking Engagements
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CRTC Green Markets Forum
On January 31, 2012, Ida Cheinman will be teaming up with Dana Lynch, Partner at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, presenting at the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council (CRTC) Green Markets Forum on the importance of green certification in adding credibility to a company's sustainability claims and avoiding greenwash. The event will kick off the new CRTC Green Markets Forum "Boardroom Series." Click for more information and to register.
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"Sustainability As a Competitive Advantage"
On February 3, Ida Cheinman will be presenting to Balfour Beatty Construction on "Sustainability As a Competitive Advantage" to help its internal teams learn the best ways of communicating Balfour Beatty Construction's sustainability mission to differentiate the company from its competition. By invitation only – if you'd like to attend, please contact Ida Cheinman.
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SMPS Maryland Education
On March 7, Ida Cheinman will return to the SMPS Maryland Education Programs with the topic of "The Role of In-House Marketers in a Rebrand." Register here. |