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You’d think that the biggest brands are monoliths in their industry. Instead, those brands are notoriously difficult to contain and can become multiverses of meaning. Understanding diverse user groups and unexpected interpretations is becoming a core competency for those working to maintain a brand’s image, while instigating a broad range of conversations that matter.
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Traditionally, the perceptions of a brand have been influenced by what it does and what it says it does. In our interconnected world, what has also become important to analyse is how people use the brand and what they say about it. These factors don’t always match one another and in fact, sometimes completely unexpected activities become attached to a brand’s name. This has led us to question… who does a brand belong to?
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When reports such as those cited above came out, they captured the attention of the global media. Outlets, of the likes of Time Magazine , The New York Times and NPR provided commentaries that dug deep into the global housing crisis stalking the world’s richest cities.
At us, we have been lucky enough to build subject matter expertise in housing, homelessness and municipal analysis through our work with MRI Social Housing. The unintended social purpose of one of the world’s biggest brands begs the question: who does a brand or a business belong to and what do those roles say about its culture, staff and customers? More than this – how do these relationships interact with one another?
As we watched the first wave of coronavirus flow across Europe, Britain announced ‘Stay at Home’ measures, hitting rough sleepers hard as shelters and services closed. In those first days and weeks, many in the UK’s capital found shelter in Heathrow Airport until Robert Jenrick announced the ‘Everybody In’ policy, housing those in need in defunct hotels. A measure not repeated for the winter lockdown in 2021.
One of the most striking parts of the McRefugee story is the dual community built out of acceptance, tolerance and empathy. According to Gallup, ‘genuine expressions’ of kindness within a service setting can cement brand loyalty and drive engagement with the organisation.
British coffee and lunch chain, Pret A Manger have made a great success of tying their brand’s perception with social good. (In normal times) as theatres have gobbled the crowds in off the street in London’s West End, people seeking some sustenance near St Martin’s in the Field can be seen with Pret’s leftover sandwiches, juice and salads. This is linked to Pret A Manger’s official organisational policy of ‘random acts of kindness’, which gives each employee a daily budget of free food and drink that they can give away to whoever they think needs it.
Frontline workers are the facilitators of these kindnesses; the reputation of a brand reverberates up the ranks – and for those in leadership, recognising that role can bolster a business’ sustainability and directly impact its image.
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