1.

The apex of trust building involves a connection at the core. To support brands in creating the deepest possible relationships, we facilitate the process of uncovering purpose. Purpose answers the question, “Why are we here?” Brands that have clarity and alignment on their purpose seem to have more engaged team members who make decisions more efficiently and are more energized by their work. They seem to have happier customers, have a positive impact on society, consistently outperform their competitors and have more prosperous shareholders.

2.

In the Consumer Era, building trust is seen as a mechanism to sell more. That type of trust is fairly easy to support. However, building trust as a goal separate from influencing transactions – a key philosophy associated with the Relationship Era – truly requires organizational commitment.

Business leaders typically have significant obstacles such as the following to overcome:

• Corporate culture (fueled by capital structure) that solely prizes short-term financial performance and views dialogue about nonfinancial objectives as “fluffy” or extraneous
• Organization structure and career paths where mid-level managers quickly rotate, leading to a focus on big, immediate results rather than thoughtful action with both short-term and long-range benefits
• Marketing partners who talk about new approaches but have a vested interest in protecting the legacy talent and infrastructure that they have built
• Confusion, as the words associated with innovation within the Consumer Era (i.e., trust, relationships, measurement, targeting, insights) can be the same as those used to talk about the move to the Relationship Era

The brands that excel in the Relationship Era, we believe, are those that skillfully align leaders and organizational systems to support sustainable
relationships.

3.

The brands that win in the Relationship Era are committed to connecting with authenticity.

In our lives, one could argue, we are either building or diminishing trust – credibility, care, congruency – with every interaction we have with another person. When we do things like follow through on a commitment, try to understand others’ perspectives or authentically demonstrate our values, trust increases. When we fail to deliver, think just about ourselves or fail to demonstrate our expected values, trust decreases.

Just as in our personal lives, every interaction between a brand and a person either increases or decreases trust. The brands that win in the Relationship Era consistently connect with authenticity, building trust in each interaction.

Whereas trust was one-way in the Consumer Era, with brands working to elicit trust, now trust becomes mutual with brands both demonstrating and earning trust.

4.

In the Consumer Era, there is a sense of superiority. It’s as if brands know more than people, so they must benevolently (or, in some cases, maybe malevolently?) convince consumers to take the action that they want. Language commonly used in advertising reflects this perspective. For example, marketers often talk about target audiences. A target is something that is shot, and an audience passively listens – neither of these concepts has a role in the Relationship Era. At imc², we are working to change the language we use and more importantly evolve the mind-set associated with the connection between brands and people.

In the Relationship Era, brands consider customers to be partners – smart people who are capable of making good choices. They care and they communicate, not to manipulate but rather to deepen understanding.

5.

Many marketers and agencies talk about an integrated approach to marketing – using a variety of tools to reach consumers. In the Relationship Era, that idea of tapping into multiple communication vehicles holds, but the orientation of these tools is subtly – and meaningfully – different.

Marketers who win in the Relationship Era skills employ a variety of vehicles, including social, mobile, direct and mass marketing, all with an orientation of creating interaction that improves relationships. They seek opportunities to engage.