• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, August 4, 2016

According to a study by Edelman entitled “The Earned Brand,” presented by Marketing Charts, brands are failing consumers’ expectations when it comes to purpose and engagement.

The study built a Brand Relationship Index based on consumers’ involvement with their favorite brands across 7 dimensions. To arrive at its Relationship Index, Edelman surveyed 13,000 consumers across 13 countries. Respondents rated their favorite brand, selecting 3 random categories out of 18 potential ones, stipulating that the brand be one they currently own, use or make purchases from.

The composite score across the 7 dimensions was 38, though it differed by country, says the report. Consumers in China (53) and India (52) appear to have the most involved relationships with brands, while those in the Netherlands (30) are the least involved. Respondents in the US were slightly above average, with a composite score of 40.

The company types that consumers have the most involved relationships with across those 7 dimensions were social media (43), automobile (43) and fashion (42), with utilities (33) and OTC medicines (33) at the bottom of the groupings, says the report.

Consumers that are the most involved with brands (higher composite scores) are the most likely to engage with brands via owned and earned (social, reviews) media than through paid advertising. Generally, though, less committed consumers engage with brands more through paid media.

Consumer ratings of brands were lowest for the “purpose” dimension, says the report. A study from Forbes Insights and EY, entitled “Deriving Value From Purpose,” examines this topic and the essential role that the CMO plays in brand purpose. Based on a global survey of executives, the study indicates that only 29% of companies say that purpose is of primary importance to their companies, though that figure rises to 40% among CMOs surveyed.

CMOs tend to see the value of “purpose” in intangible terms, unlike CEOs. The most common of these sources of value include enhancing the brand, promoting trust in the company, and creating a clearer sense of shared purpose.

While the CEO was most commonly identified by respondents as being a key decision-maker or strong influencer of the development and articulation of purpose, the CMO was close behind, with 89% of respondents citing the CMO as having one of those roles. 45% of executives believe that purpose is the top priority for CMOs, and 42% of CMOs agree. “… articulating and activating purpose is now a critical component of the CMO’s responsibilities…” says the report analysis.

As such, a majority of the executives surveyed for the report believe that CMOs should take the lead in maintaining consistency in external communications (68%) and driving consistency across customer experience (55%).

There’s also a strong sentiment that CMOs should collaborate in the continuous evaluation and improvement of purpose (60%); goal setting, performance metrics and reward systems (54%); ongoing measurement of the value of purpose (52%); and training across all functions, such as production and finance (51%). Executives believe that CMOs should collaborate and/or lead activities that go beyond purely marketing.

Further displaying that cross-functional collaboration, the survey results show that a majority of executives believe that CMOs should exert at least some influence on:

• Directing core business strategy as it relates to purpose (82%)
• Advising business on core choices such as diversity, ingredients and sourcing (77%)
• Evaluating new and existing products for “fit” with purpose (80%)

Concluding, the report suggests that, with brands seemingly not meeting consumers’ expectations with regards to their purpose, CMOs have their work cut out for them.

To read the complete report, with charts and graphs, please visit here.