Hern?n S?nchez Neira is the chief executive officer of Havas Media Intelligence, a network of Havas Media which develops and implements advanced solutions in the field of business and consumer insights, strategic planning and accountability. Within this role, he oversees global business units such as The Havas Media Labs, Catalyst, Marketing Technology and the group’s research and modelling divisions. In 2010, he was declared a ?Media Maven? by Adage for being the brain behind Havas Media’s global research Brand Sustainable Futures. In an interview with Payal Khandelwal of FE, Neira talks about the challenges faced by companies while communicating sustainability to consumers and how sustainability is on top of mind for consumers in fast growing markets like India. Edited excerpts:
How challenging is it for companies to communicate sustainability to its consumers?
We believe that the challenge for companies goes further than just communicating sustainability. For us, it is about creating a brand that brings more meaning to people’s lives as well as a sustainable future. We call these types of brands ‘meaningful brands’. They are built on the ability of a brand to create a sort of deep seated value that produces positive outcomes for people and societies. To build this value, these brands deploy what we call ‘meaningful communications’. The challenge, therefore, is about being able to bring a greater sense of well-being to people by creating business models and communication strategies that generate positive emotions and a sense of engagement.
To rise to this challenge, brands need to build communications strategies that allow them to talk to their customers through mass channels. They also need to develop ‘think’ channels that allow brands to build a dialogue with their communities through websites, stores, sales force and call centres, amongst others. Finally, they must listen and participate in what we call the ‘trust’ channels, particularly those in the social media space, where others say things about brands. Alongside this, the digitalisation of media and convergence of technology has created a new and constantly changing media landscape that also presents us with new challenges, and opportunities.
Are the concerns of consumers in developing world different from those in the developed world?
We have invested for three years in a row in the largest research based framework approach so that we can understand exactly how people relate to brands. The analysis now takes into account the views of 50,000 people spanning 14 countries which now include India, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, US, China, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, Chilli and Japan.
Over the years, we have seen that consumers in the fast growing markets such as India, China and emerging markets such as Brazil are more concerned about factors that include corporate social responsibility. The levels of concerns for environmental issues, global warming and climate change are year-on-year significantly higher than the global average and almost double of those seen in the UK and the US.
Further more, consumers in these regions are more active. Consumers in China, India, Brazil and Mexico are most likely to reward or punish a company based on their sustainable profile by choosing to buy or not buy their products respectively. If you combine this level of concern with the almost immeasurable potential for consumer engagement, for example, the fast adoption rates for mobile and social media platforms in India, you can see why we know that these countries show the greatest potential for change and the subsequent growth of this new way of thinking.
You mentioned that in some cases, brands are not meaningful to consumers at all. Can you give some examples?
The new socially conscious and community minded consumer is in control, and the traditional ways of looking at the role of brands needs to change. For example, rather than just selling shoes, Nike with its Nike Run programme helps people become better runners and puts them in touch with their running communities. Other meaningful brands in the Indian market are Danone, State Bank of India and Tata, among others.
According to you, the logic on which marketing communication was built is now disappearing. Can you elaborate on this?
Traditionally, branding theory has been built in Anglo-Saxon markets with the understanding that consumers’ demand for products would never stop growing. Marketing and advertising’s role was to isolate consumer ?segments? and focus on hitting these ?targets?. Another basic way to build awareness was to apply ?carpet bombing? techniques that enabled the brands to have a huge impact on a consumer whose attention was totally captured by mass media.
At Havas Media, we know that this linear model is showing significant decreasing returns for brands. In this new era, we have to re-write our approach to and our definition of success. Our road map that will enable companies to react to this change goes back to many of the points I have raised in this interview. The ability of brands to use insight such as our ‘Meaningful Brands’ approach and its ability to fully utilise and leverage Talk, Think and Trust channels is essential to their survival.