HUMAN BRANDS

The search for more human brands

Relevant stats
76% of consumers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations
Salesforce

84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to
winning their business. Salesforce

55% believe brands actually have a more important role than governments when it comes to
creating a better future (Havas, February 2019).

Why does the Human Brands mega-trend emerge?

Increasingly aware that personality, purpose and profit can be compatible, consumers seek
brand relationships that go beyond the superficial and transactional. They will embrace
brands with meaning and character; that are open, honest, sympathetic, and, most
importantly, stand for something.

Why now?
- Consumers live in a world characterized by constant change and fluidity. Yet many
businesses remain stuck in their ways, acting as they always have rather than moving
with the market. The gap between the sanitized corporate world and mature consumers
who want genuine experiences, has never been bigger.
- The digital revolution made the world more transparent. Information about brand
practices, processes and procedures is accessible in just a few taps or swipes. One
result? Consumers will call out inappropriate, bland or opaque brand behavior and share
it with their peers.
- Increasingly sceptical of short-lived marketing initiatives, consumers seek brands that
embed HUMAN values at the very heart of their strategy and respond to real issues with
meaningful action that goes beyond a PR stunt. Just remember: if your ‘human’
branding jars with how consumers really experience your brand, the whole exercise is
meaningless – if not actively damaging

In the SCA panorama

South & Central American citizens are known for their passionate dispositions, welcoming
nature and strong inclusive bonds with others. Brands that flaunt their personalities and
celebrate their distinct character – for better or worse – will feel more like a close friend or
family member and be immediately favored by locals.

Smartphones, crowdsourcing, social networks and other efficient tools for accessing and
sharing information created a better-informed population. Consumers are no longer in the
dark as to how they’ve been mistreated by businesses and institutions over time. Fight to
maintain secrecy and you will lose ground to those that embrace transparency.

Relevant recent examples

Customers invited to offset their guilt with donation to marine charity
A campaign in August 2019 asked people in the UK to donate GBP 3 to the UK-based Marine
Conservation Society each time they left their home without a reusable bag, cup, or water
bottle. Aiming to reduce the incidence of single-use plastic, Donate your Guilt asks culprits
to text their donation to the marine charity. A partnership with digital out of home media
owner Ocean Outdoor, accompanying adverts featured on billboards in London,
Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh, and across social media.

Transport app turns tips into donations for education in Brazil

July 2019 saw Cabify partner with Brazil-based education nonprofit Ayrton Senna Institute
for one month to turn driver tips and app registrations into donations. Cabify matches the
amount São Paulo’s users tip its drivers along with BRL 10 (USD 2.50) for each new user on
its platform and donates the sum to the Institute. When a driver is rated five stars by a user,
Cabify gives the driver a bonus and donates an additional amount to the Institute.

Twitter rolls out tool to combat misinformation about vaccines

In May 2019, Twitter released a tool in partnership with the US Department of Health &
Human Services to flag authoritative, trustworthy public health resources to users who are
searching with keywords associated with vaccines. The prompt is available on iOS, Android,
and mobile.twitter.com in the US, Canada, the UK, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Singapore, and in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. The tool is already in use
when individuals search for terms associated with suicide and self-harm as part of Twitter’s
#Thereishelp initiative.

Consumer goods brand in campaign to close the gender pay gap in soccer
In July 2019, US-based multinational consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, a
sponsor of the US women’s national soccer team, announced a donation of USD 529,000 to
the team in order to help close the gender pay gap. USD 23,000 was donated to each of the
23 players on the US team that won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Procter & Gamble
took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to encourage the US Soccer Federation to
lead the way in ending gender pay gap inequality.

Consumer complaints body creates AI-driven app to interpret legal jargon

July 2019 saw Brazil-based consumer protection company Reclame Aqui launch an app to
help consumers understand confusing legal terminology in contracts. Contract Translator is
an AI-driven tool that interprets legal jargon and translates it into everyday language.
Consumers upload an image, a file or manually type text into the app and it interprets the
legal language into more colloquial terms, as well as alerting users of any fines or long-term
commitments in the contract. Contract Translator is available as an iOS or Android app.

Football shirts turned into hospital gowns

June 2019 saw Argentina-based soccer club Arsenal de Sarandí join the global campaign Las
Batas Más Fuertes, which works to turn old and used soccer team jerseys into children’s
hospital gowns. The idea was the brainchild of Spain-based magazine Panenka and is aimed
at replacing traditional green hospital gowns with the upcycled soccer club jerseys to help
inspire sick kids to fight their biggest battle.