Developing a moving target

The integration of on and offline worlds via mobile phones and tablets offers a wonderfully creative future for marketers, says Chris Davenport.

Brands are business assets. They have a value to their owners and should be protected. Like any asset, brands can generate more value if they’re well managed. For most businesses, their brand is actually the most enduring asset but this still surprises people. The brands that endure are the ones which adapt to change, or better still, drive it.

In this sense, a brand in the modern world should be defined as something living—something that can evolve when conditions demand, without losing its sense of identity. This is true even for traditional brands. If they don’t start new conversations with new customers, their days are numbered.

The rise of living, adaptive branding is the product of a highly dynamic environment. Adoption of platforms such as social networks tends to follow a normal distribution: by the time the late majority have settled in, the early adopters are starting to feel as though there might be a better bar round the corner. So the platforms themselves must re-invent or be left behind.