To thrive in the digital-based New Economy, companies need to be fast and fluid enough to deal with the constant change and demand for new products, services, and experiences. Brands possessing these two qualities are known as “Dynamo Brands” – brands that have the Energy to move quickly, and the Direction to move with purpose.
Based on Dentsu’s Global Dynamo Brand Index 2019, created in partnership with Digimind, these brands emerged from both the world’s established leaders and up-and-coming players, to become a coveted Dynamo Brand in 2019:
In the finale of our three-part Dynamo Brands series, we take a look at how Samsung balanced Energy and Direction to build a Dynamo Brand in 2019, and how brands can propel themselves to similar heights through social media listening.
Case Study: How Samsung Put Customers First and Came Out #1 Dynamo Brand in 4 Countries
Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate that comprises numerous affiliated businesses ranging from smartphones to home electronics. It is also one of the world’s largest producers of electronic devices.
Samsung’s Dynamo Brand status shone through during one of its most trying times in 2016, when the global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 threatened its brand status, and also wiped out $5.3 billion off its bottom line. The brand realized the importance of changing its strategy to a customer-first focus, and reacted quickly.
While rivals like Apple focused on growing their ecosystem of products and services, Samsung deployed strategies that could help enrich and improve people’s lives. These included:
- Creating hardware combining innovative products and connectivity
- Rolling out 5G networks building on its work in Korea and the USA, with trials in Europe and Asia
- Investing in artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, in its quest to create connected homes
On top of that, Samsung successfully evolved its brand positioning with the tagline, ‘Do What You Can’t’ to reinforce its position not just as a $211 billion electronics company, but as an innovative leader that is reshaping the future for consumers.
By shifting to a consumer-centric focus, Samsung displayed its commitment to understanding consumers’ pain points, and taking a human-centric approach to solve those issues.
With this shift in focus, comes a potential for brands like Samsung to deploy social media listening tools to monitor their own and competitors’ product launches and business strategies. The company can also use real-time data obtained from social media listening to quickly tweak marketing campaigns in response to competitors’ techniques, as well as other emerging trends.
Let’s take a look at how social media listening can help you build a Dynamo Brand that drives both Energy and Direction!
What is Social Media Listening?
The name itself is deceiving. Social media listening refers to the gathering of insights, trends, and conversations in real-time across different social media and online platforms.
Social media listening platforms like Digimind Social help brands gather data about what consumers are discussing around them, as well as their sentiments towards themselves, their competitors, and even their industry, among others.
All this data enables companies to understand brand perception and real-time market and consumer trends. By gaining such insights in real time, brands have the newfound agility to fine-tune their offerings to consumers, and stay relevant to changing market demands. Additionally, marketers can also use this information to formulate the best appropriate marketing strategy, and improve on their ongoing campaigns and activities.
How Does Social Media Listening Work for Brands in the New Economy?
With the New Economy based on technology and the need to create products and services at an unprecedented rate, once dominant players are now finding themselves faced with digital disruption.
Consumers are also changing. Gone are the days of “push” marketing. Millennials, who represent $2.5 trillion in spending power, are the generation most concerned with ideas, and how they respond emotionally to a brand or event.
Today’s consumers are seeking brands whose socio-political views resonate with their own. In fact, research by Accenture showed 63% of surveyed global consumers prefer to purchase products and services from companies that stand for a purpose that reflects their own values and beliefs.
Understanding consumers can go a long way in helping companies stay informed about their industry, and prepare for changes to the New Economy. By deploying a sound social media listening strategy and constantly monitoring what is being said on the ground, brands can be hyper aware of market trends, and remain relevant and dominant in their respective industries.
How Social Media Listening Can Help You Drive Energy
According to Dentsu’s Dynamo Brand Index, Energy is fuelled by two attributes: kaizen and freeform.
- Kaizen refers to the Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement of all functions. Brands need to constantly improve – or risk elimination.
- Freeform is defined as brands constantly innovating and evolving as they are bound to their values and not their form.
Brands can use a social media listening tool like Digimind Social to spot opportunities and consumer trends to leverage in three areas:
- Product development
- Competitive intelligence
- Marketing and communications strategies
By constantly listening to consumers, companies can continuously innovate and improve their offerings in the market. Read more about driving Energy in our blog.
How Social Media Listening Can Help You Create Direction
Direction constitutes two attributes: Clarity and Trust.
- Business clarity is important for companies to move businesses and people in the changing economy.
- Companies also have to earn consumers’ trust, both in their products and services, as well as their overall brand.
To build trust, companies first have to listen. Brands need to understand consumers’ wants, needs, and pain points. Only then can you start to meet their expectations, by delivering their desired goods and experiences. Furthermore, by curating content and marketing strategies to each specific target audience, brands can create further clarity on their business positioning across different consumer groups.
Obtain, analyze, and act upon insights gathered via social media listening through the following steps:
- Optimize brand offerings and communications
- Evaluate and fine-tune your purchase journey
- Measure the impact of your marketing campaigns
Read more about these steps in our blog about creating Direction.
The simple act of listening to consumers’ perceptions and other market trends can go a long way in building a successful Dynamo Brand.
Read more about Dynamo Brands here, or find out how you can deploy a social media listening tool like Digimind Social, and transform data into useful insights!
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