• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 17, 2013

According to a new study from Edelman, brands are failing to perform in the areas consumers consider most important to building and maintaining connections with them. The researchers surveyed 11,000 online consumers, in 8 countries, who participated in a minimum of one brand engaging activity in the previous year. The study found that 90% of people want marketers to more effectively share their brands. Yet on average, only 10% of people think any given brand does it well.

Shared dialog is the first step toward brand sharing with people of all ages. On average, 40% of people want the selected brand to engage in more meaningful conversations with them. By age group, share preference is as follows:

• Age 18-29   33%
• 30-44   38%
• 45-64   44%
• 65+   41%

Marketing Charts, in reporting on the study, says that the biggest gap between importance and performance came in the area of “communicating openly and transparently about how products are sourced and made.” While 54% of respondents considered that an important area (Top 2 of 5) for brands to build and maintain connections with them, just 12% believed that the statement applied to the brands in question.

That 42% point gap was the largest, but not by much, said their report. Consumers feel that brands underperform in asking them about their needs, with 51% seeing this as important and only 10% feeling that brands are doing this well, for a 41% point gap. Other major gaps included:

• Listens and responds thoughtfully (39% point gap)
• Gives back to community (37% point gap)
• Openly offers information on how the brand performs against competitors (37% point gap)
• Conducts business in ways that align with people’s values (36% point gap)

brandshare measured six dimensions of sharing, shared dialog, shared experience, shared goals, shared values, shared product and shared history, and found a link between effective brand sharing and business value; the greatest business value coming from shared product and shared values.

The brandshare study found that sharing a product is one of the most significant factors impacting purchase decision. 91% of respondents said they want to have a hand in the design and development process, with that desire being equal among those in both developed and emerging markets. People also want complete openness about product performance with nine out of 10 wanting to know how they are made and how they should perform against competitors.

Shared values has the highest unmet demand among people. 92% of respondents across the eight countries surveyed want to do business with brands that share their beliefs. In addition, 47% of the respondents want brands to be more transparent about how products are sourced and manufactured, 43% want brands to do more to give back to their communities.

91% of the people surveyed want brands to enable their personal goals. The report says that people would rather be asked what they need before being told how to get there. This is true in product categories where people lack confidence in their knowledge and expertise, such as financial services and technology. 

The key to successfully sharing a brand experience with people is to make sure the experience is as much about people’s interests as it is about the products. Shared brand experiences are in high demand among both emerging market (87%) and developed market (82%) respondents. Yet, a much larger percentage of emerging markets respondents (60%) believe that shared experience is more important in the relationship between consumer and brand than their developed market counterparts (18%) do.

Alan VanderMolen, president and CEO, global practices, Edelman, says “… marketers must evolve from a traditional linear model of focus groups that ends with the consumer… to one that involves people at every stage… brands must… redesign current engagement channels to incorporate higher-value sharing… ”

More information from Edelman can be found here, and PPT data slides here.