Make a bigger impact in this big, beautiful world.
What is Brand Citizenry?
Brand citizenry is conscientious and meaningful contribution to the Greater Good.
It's a passion, a choice, a commitment, a behavior and a responsibility.
BRANDS
Generally, brands exist to label and then market a service or product, build differentiation, and drive margin & revenue growth for the benefit of key stakeholders.
GREAT BRANDS
Great brands have broken out of the pack by demonstrating A+ behaviors like superiority in service/product design & performance, customer experience, and branded communications. Great brands have the ability to connect with and inspire us, and make us feel (really) good. For their behaviors, great brands are held in the highest esteem locally and globally, and are rewarded with lasting customer loyalty, continual sales growth and for many, admirable market caps.
CITIZENRY
Citizenry, another A+ behavior of great brands and an expression of a brand’s inherent greatness, is when a brand – a fellow character on the world stage – shows us their character by standing for, and doing, something more. At Marquee, we define ‘something more’ as making a meaningful contribution to the Greater Good by having a genuine and conscientious impact on society, the planet, and / or the living things that inhabit it.
Marquee exists because the world needs more great brands ... and their greatness.
Why does citizenry matter?
Because it's the right thing to do.
And because citizenry provides a significant basis of competitive advantage.
Humans are fundamentally virtuous, and have a natural disposition - despite the vices of self-interest and excess - to be expressions of love and behave in the right manner. Because of this, humans are automatically drawn to virtue, or human ideal, in others. Quite simply, virtuousness feels good. In fact, when a person behaves altruistically, or witnesses another person, or character, behave altruistically, the brain is activated in the areas of pleasure and reward – the same regions activated when a person eats chocolate!
As fellow characters on the world stage, brands that do good through virtuous citizenry create a higher level of customer value. As a result, they are able to attract the right investor dollars, the most talented employees and passionately loyal customers – at a price premium. Why? Because being a part of a virtuous brand’s story, actively or passively, feels (really) good ... good as the pleasure of a decadent chocolate brownie.
CITIZENRY INCREASES CUSTOMER VALUE
Former P&G CMO, Jim Stengel, proved competitive advantage through Brand Citizenry via a study that tracked the financial outperformance of 50 ideal-driven brands vs. the S&P 500 over a 10-year period.
Brand Citizenry is good for business.
How do you ‘do’ brand citizenry?
At Marquee, we help leaders define and activate their brand’s role in the Greater Good through one or more levels of action: Positivity, Purpose and Activism.
POSITIVITY
Positivity is the easiest form of brand citizenry, and is rooted in how a brand communicates. Social beings, we humans are naturally influenced by the attitudes and expressions of those around us. When a brand or its representatives – all characters with influence – communicate negatively in person, on the phone, in advertising or in social media content, it affects us negatively. When a brand or its representatives communicate positively, it affects us positively. Negativity and positivity have the same ripple effect. Therefore, brands can easily contribute to the Greater Good by striking a respectful, positive-spectrum tone in voice & imagery in all communications at of all a brand’s touchpoints.
Is your brand creating positivity?
PURPOSE
The way consumers connect with brands has changed. Today, a brand’s WHY of existence is just as important as the benefits it offers. Modern consumers want brands to not only make their lives in some way better, or easier, they also want to feel more connected to brands. Purpose – the next level of citizenry – enables this connection. Purpose helps consumers understand a brand’s point of view, and participate in something beyond the transaction ... an ideal that touches the human heart and activates the brain’s reward center. Brands with a clear purpose – those that exist to be, say, or do something meaningful – gives consumers a motivation and stronger reason to transact. Brands that operate with purpose – especially one we share – win our hearts, and our dollars.
Why does your brand exist?
ACTIVISM
As the world’s population grows, and the pressures on environmental resources and government budgets continue to mount, brands are gradually being expected to grow their top and bottom lines while also participating – actively – in contributing to the Greater Good. Advocate CEOs are leading a mindset change that giving back and filling the gap are no longer nice-to-dos, but are a business's responsibility. This call for brand activism will only magnify as consumer values shift and technological advances hurtle us collectively into the future.
Altruism is a social instinct that helping and cooperation promote the survival of a species.
Activism is citizenry that benefits a community who may or may not be the brand’s customers, and also solves important problems in the world – problems that we all care about, but that we can’t solve on our own.
Activism: What’s yours to do?
WE BELIEVE in the power of brands to solve important problems,
inspire us moment by moment, lead us into the future, and make the world a better place.
What is your brand’s role in the Greater Good?
Maybe your brand is meant to change the global attitude? Stand up for something? Maybe your brand is meant to help relieve resource pressure? Or maybe it’s meant to stimulate economic opportunity? Maybe your brand is meant to change an opinion or behavior for the better? Or maybe it’s meant to inspire, or unite?
There are unlimited ways that brands do, and can, contribute to the Greater Good. Whatever role your brand is meant to play, our goal is to help you discover and actualize it for the benefit of your business, your employees and our broader, beautiful world.
Ready to begin?
Our Citizenry Services:
Identifying Your Brand’s Citizenry Role
Citizenry Planning & Actualization
Citizenry Communications
Socially Conscious Innovation
3-Dimensional Citizenry Experiences