Latest news with #JessicaWong
Forbes
01-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Brands Should Focus On Purpose In Times Of Economic Uncertainty
Jessica Wong is the Founder and CEO of nationally recognized marketing and PR firm Valux Digital. Reading economic headlines has been like a roller coaster these past few months. News of a shakeup of public sector jobs was quickly followed by talk about tariffs on U.S. exports and imports. The result has been a noticeable degree of uncertainty among businesses of all sizes. One of the best ways for small businesses to manage uncertainty is to double down on their branding efforts with a special focus on the company's purpose, which can keep your organization aligned with its true mission. Purpose-Driven Branding: What Is It? Purpose-driven branding is a strategic approach to branding that transcends profit. Utilizing branding for purpose means aligning your company's operations, communications and culture around a core mission that runs deeper than simple business growth. In many cases, organizations' missions address societal, environmental or ethical issues in this context. Once defined, your company's purpose will guide every decision from product development to marketing. Purpose-driven branding is a long-term strategy that is most efficient when it is deeply linked with your company's identity. The goal of purpose-driven branding is not (only) to grow sales and increase conversions. Instead, brand teams employing this technique plan to create genuine, deep connections with their audiences that transcend short-term sales goals and build loyalty and trust. Key Elements Of Purpose-Driven Branding Successful purpose-driven brands may differ in detail, but they have four elements in common: an authentic mission, clear operational alignment, long-term commitment and stakeholder engagement. Authentic missions are genuine and integrated into the company's founding principles. These missions are more than marketing-driven statements. They run through every business practice from the beginning of the company's supply chain to employee policies and to the handling of profits. True purpose-driven branding may not show dramatic results immediately, but if you allow it to permeate your entire marketing strategy as opposed to focusing on it for specific campaigns only, you'll soon see its continued impact. Perhaps most importantly, purpose-driven brands benefit from high levels of employee engagement and support. According to World Economic Forum data cited by KPMG, "Employees are likely to stay 1.4 times more engaged and three times more likely to continue working with" purpose-driven organizations. These companies also benefit from high levels of trust from clients and partners. Measuring Purpose-Driven Branding Through Emotional ROI Emotional ROI is the value your brand gains from creating strong, emotional connections with your internal and external audiences. While traditional ROI is measured in financial returns, emotional ROI captures more intangible benefits. Customer loyalty and retention, brand advocacy such as word-of-mouth recommendations, greater employee engagement and a high perceived brand value are all indicators of your brand's growing emotional ROI. Emotional ROI is so important because humans regularly make purchase decisions—including those at work— based on emotions rather than logic. In fact, Gallup's research found that about 70% of decisions are based on emotional factors. In practice, both elements play a role, but brands that have forged emotional bonds can often command premium prices and repeat purchases. Returning customers making repeat purchases are especially beneficial during times of economic uncertainty, when there may be no budget to acquire new clients. How To Implement Purpose-Driven Branding In Practice Businesses differ in their interpretation and implementation of purpose-driven branding. Still, some brands have put this concept at the core of everything they do, from daily decision-making to long-term strategic planning. Consider the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia. Their founder, Yvon Chouinard, was a rock climber before becoming what the New York Times has called 'a reluctant billionaire' owner of the outdoor apparel maker. In 2022, Chouinard, together with his wife and adult children, decided to transfer their company ownership to a trust and a nonprofit designed to ensure that all of the company's profits would be used to protect undeveloped land and combat climate change. This, among other factors, is why the company is widely known for its brand loyalty. Airbnb also used purpose-driven branding to respond to accusations of discrimination after customers were refused accommodation in 2016. The company audited all of its services and spoke with several stakeholders, including hosts and guests who report discrimination on their platform. They then implemented several policy and process changes. Importantly, the Airbnb team also ensured that its efforts were shared with its internal and external audiences and released follow-up audits both three and six years after the incident. How To Measure The Success Of Purpose-Driving Branding Traditional ROI may be easier to measure than emotional ROI, but several internal and external metrics allow you to assess the effectiveness of this approach. Internally, employee engagement surveys are an early indicator of the effectiveness of your strategy within the company. Put simply, engaged employees become brand ambassadors that help your business grow through each customer interaction as well as their representation of the brand outside of working hours. Externally, your brand team can assess customer satisfaction through reviews and surveys. Measuring repeat purchases and retention rates is also an excellent way of assessing how purpose-driven branding contributes to your organization's value. Calculating your organization's Net Promoter Score (NPS) is also a great way of measuring customer and employee engagement. This metric asks audiences to confirm how likely they are to recommend a business to a friend or colleague. The higher your score, the greater the support from your audiences. Even before counting conversions and repeat purchases, your brand team can analyze the sentiment of comments and other interactions on social media. Social media has the added benefit of allowing direct customer contact and giving brands the option to counteract negative sentiments immediately. Conclusion Companies with a clear and authentic purpose can navigate downturns more effectively by maintaining trust and loyalty among consumers. Putting purpose at the heart of all the company's actions and communications allows businesses to form bonds with existing and prospective customers that transcend purchase decisions and profits and turn customers and employees into advocates. An organization that achieves this can rely on those bonds to help its survival through economic uncertainties and even downturns. Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
Forbes
14-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Creating A Cohesive Brand Experience Across All Touchpoints
Jessica Wong is the Founder and CEO of nationally recognized marketing and PR firm Valux Digital. Mention branding and many non-marketers immediately think about the company's logo—but branding extends further. Branding involves every interaction your customers have with your company. Your products and services, website, social media, customer service, packaging and everything else contribute to the overall brand experience. Follow these strategies to ensure consistency across all channels and discover actionable tips for maintaining a cohesive brand presence as your business evolves. A recognizable logo is vital for any successful brand, but to become truly memorable, your brand relies on a combination of visual elements, consistent messaging, tone, brand values and firsthand user experience at every touchpoint. Creating a unified brand experience across all branding elements and communication channels builds trust, reinforces brand recognition, enhances customer satisfaction and, ultimately, drives loyalty and customer advocacy. It's the key to turning customers into ambassadors. Start by identifying key touchpoints between your brand and your audience. Touchpoints are all points of interaction between a customer and the company, both online and offline. Every social media post, every customer support chat, your email newsletter and your product packaging are all brand touchpoints. If that sounds overwhelming, map your customer journey visually to identify every interaction between customers and your brand. This will prevent missing interactions and highlight areas of improvement. It may not be possible to address every touchpoint immediately. Distinguish between your most impactful primary touchpoints and secondary ones and address your primary points first. A clear mission, vision and set of values are the foundation of your brand experience. Those principles need to guide every brand decision your team makes. To support your team, consider creating a brand style guide to help maintain consistency. Brand style guides usually include rules on logo usage, typography, color palettes, voice and tone, images, and core messages. Everyone involved in your branding, from your marketing team to designers and customer support staff, needs access to your brand manual. You may even want to arrange internal training sessions when you first introduce your style guide. Aside from mission, vision and values, visual and verbal brand elements are critical parts of your branding. With both, consistent use across all platforms is critical for success. Cohesive visuals and messaging reduce confusion and reinforce your brand identity across social posts, emails, product descriptions and even customer service chats. Granted, you will need to adapt your messaging and visuals for different platforms, but those are slight shifts that don't change the core personality of the brand. For many businesses, digital marketing has become the core of their marketing activity, but offline customer experiences matter just as much for successful, memorable branding and consumer trust. The key to creating a successful brand is aligning your digital and physical presence. Your visual and verbal brand guidelines should be consistently reflected on your website, mobile app and social media channels, as well as packaging, physical store interiors and signage. Your offline experience should mirror any promises made online. Don't underestimate the potential to connect your digital and physical touchpoints. A QR code on your packaging can lead to a video tutorial that strengthens brand cohesion and continuity and might inspire your customers to share content on social media. Your team members are your brand guardians and your initial brand ambassadors. Include them in the process of growing your brand by educating them about the importance and ease of use of brand guidelines. Simplify collaboration between marketers, designers, product teams and customer service representatives to improve consistent brand communication. Set up feedback sessions and reviews to identify inconsistencies and refine your brand expressions over time. As markets and customer expectations change, your brand needs to evolve while still maintaining your core principles. Subtle changes in your visual and verbal appearance, such as Apple's move from a colorful logo to a monochrome version, help keep the brand experience fresh and relevant. Test new approaches on a small scale before committing to a full rollout and measure customer reactions regularly. Remember that any changes still need to feel authentic to your brand and its original values. Both qualitative and quantitative metrics help you understand the impact a cohesive brand experience has. Consider brand awareness surveys, customer feedback and social sentiment to gauge impact. Increases in engagement rates and conversions might indicate growing customer confidence. Consistent branding inspires long-term customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth, both of which support long-term growth. Starbucks successfully integrated its digital and in-store experiences through a mobile app allowing customers to make payments, customize orders and earn rewards. Baristas receive the order directly, minimizing confusion at the counter. Online eyewear retailer Warby Parker went from being a digital-only brand to adding physical stores because some of its customers valued the in-store experience. Both brands took care to align their digital and physical appearances and messaging to avoid confusing their audiences. Internal communications are critical to successful online and offline branding. Make sure your team members understand the importance of cohesion and consistency. Don't underestimate the power of verbal brand elements. Messaging, tone and customer service also shape consumer perceptions. When you start updating visual and verbal elements, be sure to update all platforms at the same time to avoid disjointed impressions. A strong brand experience is the result of carefully orchestrating every interaction a customer has with the brand. Use visuals, voice and values consistently, make sure your teams are engaged with the brand, and adapt your approach regularly to ensure your brand stands out and fosters trust. Look beyond your logo to create a genuinely cohesive brand environment that speaks to customers and reinforces brand loyalty over time. Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
Arab News
13-02-2025
- Business
- Arab News
PIF-backed ewpartners leads $48m investment in Valuable Capital to propel fintech expansion
RIYADH: A $48 million investment in Valuable Capital, led by Public Investment Fund-backed ewpartners, will soon expand the Saudi fintech sector, revealed a top official from the funding firm. Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the PIF Private Sector Forum taking place from Feb. 12-13 in Riyadh, co-founder and Managing Partner of ewpartners Jessica Wong explained that the amount would be utilized in the company's initial public offering route. The investment aligns with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 goals of advancing fintech development and economic diversification, with the industry expected to contribute 4.4 percent to the Kingdom's gross domestic product, according to a statement. Valuable Capital Financial Co., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based financial institution Valuable Capital Group Ltd, received a license in 2022 from Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority to provide custody, advice, and dealing services in the Kingdom. 'We invested in this company three and half years ago, and this time, we continue. We launch a new product, targeting $1 billion, and we continue to invest in this company and kick off their IPO procedure,' Wong said. 'It will be in the company's IPO route to support the company, not just kick off the IPO procedure in the target market, but also for further expansion in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region,' she added. The co-founder explained the importance of PIF's support in enabling their role in the local market, citing how their initial partnership laid the foundation for future investments. 'The reason we will be able to play a significant role and also to focus on the most critical sectors here in the local market is because, you know, five years ago, PIF is playing the role as our anchor LP (limited partner) of our first regional focus, a fund here in the GCC with a $400 million and through the fund, we invest a portfolio company like a Valuable Capital,' Wong said. 'Because our performance is to exceed our expectation, we will be able to launch our second fund, which is also targeting $1 billion,' she added. During the interview, the managing partner also tackled the rise of fintech in the Kingdom. 'Seven years ago, when we first launched this platform to serve the local growth and expansion, actually we identify ourselves as the co-builder of the local ecosystem, and we have invested across different sectors like digital infrastructure, digital enablement and also cross-border service and beyond,' Wong said. 'Fintech, in our eyes, is one of the most important sectors to support the local ecosystem growth in a more sustainable and more healthy way,' she added. 'This is one of the perfect examples how, as a one of the PIF portfolio, we invest in a particular sector, double the commitment and support its fast growth and also leveraging more FDI (foreign direct investment) and more know-how to support the company, play a bigger role in the global market and build themselves as another successful story,' Wong said. The managing director used the interview to shed light on some updates regarding the KSA-Sino Logistics Special Economic Zone. 'This is one of the projects we have been working on for more than five years. Last October, we were able to sign the MOU (memorandum of understanding) together with our strategic partner, which is King Salman International Airport. So, through this framework of our cooperation, we are working very closely with KSIA, the company itself, to make sure that we will be able to build a platform not just for ewpartners portfolio but also for all the ecosystem players, those who are looking to enter Saudi market as a hub or for their global expansion,' she said. 'The pressure is to come from (a) different angle. One of the biggest motivations for us to continue our work and put together our effort is because there is a huge demand here in the market,' the managing partner added. Wong also said: 'So, our project inside the new expansion of the airport will be one of their top choices, and we've already received a lot of requests to further discuss when we can launch and upper running service them, and hopefully, we will start the construction this year.' Now in its third year, the forum — which united more than 90 PIF-backed companies — aims to strengthen supply chains, boost local manufacturing, and accelerate economic diversification under Vision 2030.
