The human touch that changes brand history

The poet and translator Anne Carson has the habit of saying that the most difficult human task is touch. Touch is based on proximity and affection. It is often true that it promotes resistance, but this is also an important indicator. Touching and being touched is an exercise in expectations, limits and permissions between individuals and their desires. I think the same thing happens between brands, their offerings and their consumers. There is a delicate relationship between these worlds and a latent imbalance in this relationship today: the touch of brands now seems far from representing and helping the personal growth of their consumers.

Our research carried out with 470 Brazilians between 18 and 54 years old reveals that people expect support from brands in the development of their family relationships and the growth of women in society. It also points out that technologies play a fundamental role in their futures. The counterpart is the interviewees’ inability to name the brands that could represent them, followed by disbelief about the effects of technological advances on their lives in the coming years. Numbers help you understand.

While 40% of the women interviewed revealed little or no optimism about their futures, 86% of all respondents recognized that brands play an important or very important role in female development. When asked which brand supports women the most, Natura (23%) comes first, followed very closely by “I don’t know/none” (20%).

The same happens in themes related to family. The research identified that 63% of people believe that brands have the ability to minimize any family absence with their value propositions and offers. Asked to identify which brand represents the Brazilian family, 26% were unable to identify an organization that represents them in this category. Only Coca-Cola (20%) appears in second place, followed by Sadia and Natura, with 10% each.

In technology, 41% of respondents believe that new technological resources will reduce job opportunities and 53% understand that digital will help increase the occurrence of mental illnesses. Brands such as TikTok, Tinder, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) are identified as those that cause the most distrust among their users.

The ability for brands to truly touch people exists. But it is out of step with the construction of futures that speak to the realities and needs of different people. There is something beyond the numbers that indicate where and how consumption occurs, stimulated by performance marketing and its metrics that expand the role of users and reduce human importance. The former are left with binary solutions – this or that product, conditioned on shelves or online shopping baskets. The second installment operates in a system of complexities connected with historical, cumulative needs that seek recognition and care that are not obvious.

Consolidated brands must carry out an unrestricted review of their trajectories with this perspective in mind, recognizing that business is part of social life. This deep consideration expands the understanding that there are sensitive themes and controversial issues that need to be addressed and that demand new positions for a new world, with continuous and cumulative demands.

New brands need to keep an eye on current and future movements and understand how it is possible to change an environment with so many needs with offers that are more suitable for people. It is necessary to understand the demands of your audiences and define the desired impact for the organization from a perspective less of quantification, but more of human evolution.

The principle for this true brand therapy to occur lies in the company’s cultural commitments. A genuine culture is born from listening and is consolidated through care for the historical demands that exist in society. When launching a new product or service, it is necessary to ask yourself whether the new offer actually serves the people who trust the brand and whether it will stimulate changes in the ecosystem in which the business operates. All products or services must be designed in accordance with these principles, making them more authentic and distinct in relation to the competition.

It is also necessary to think about the access that the public will have to this product or service and its pricing policy and, then, build a sales policy associated with its goals and results.

A difficult expression for today’s business reality, the type of affection described by Anne Carson reveals the human search for fair and broad exchange. Brands that wish to establish themselves in time and in History also need to establish their operations within this limit: that their offers represent a true impact on the reality and futures of millions of people. It is necessary to recognize a route review message in the touch of those who consume and need representation.

This is the beginning of new futures, inspired by humanity and its entire history. The demand exists. People ask. They just don’t yet recognize the protagonists of this journey.

*Ivan Scarpelli is a founding partner of Bloomers, an innovation and knowledge consultancy that expands the role of brands and creative professionals in redesigning and developing strategies, experiences and solutions connected to the best futures for people, communities and businesses.