New Report Finds Being Meaningful Is Good for Business

A staggering 77% of brands could disappear and no-one would care, reveal new results from Havas’ global Meaningful Brands 2019. Not only is this the highest percentage since Meaningful Brands research began in 2008, this is a major three-point hike on the Meaningful Brands 2017 results.

Bucking this figure, brands who are meaningful and viewed as making the world a better place are: outperforming the stock market by 134%; and seeing their share of wallet multiply by nine. These brands also lock-in greater returns on KPIs, like 24 points more for purchase intent and 39 points for advocacy.

These are key findings from Meaningful Brands 2019, a far-reaching, global study created by Havas Group of 1800 brands, in 31 countries, with 350,000 respondents, and which links brand performance to our quality of life and wellbeing.

Buying today is a political act

Amid political turmoil, consumers are using their buying power to make a stand. 55% of consumers believe brands actually have a more important role than our governments to create a better future. Buying today is a political act, and the power of consumers to impact change is greater than ever.  

“There is no doubt about it. Being meaningful is good for business! Our findings show that consumers will reward brands who want to make the world a better place and who reflect their values. A massive 77% of consumers prefer to buy from companies who share their values. Brand activism will become a crucial part of a brand’s strategy,” underlines Maria Garrido, chief insights officer, Havas Group and SVP brand marketing, Vivendi.

Yannick Bolloré, chairman and CEO Havas Group comments: “Meaningful Brands 2019 reveals that meaningful brands outperform the stock market by 134%. Brands really need to meaningfully engage with their audience to drive business.”

2019 Meaningful Brands results

This year’s top ten performing Meaningful Brands are: Google, PayPal, Mercedes-Benz, WhatsApp, YouTube, Johnson & Johnson, Gillette, BMW, Microsoft and Danone.

Retail, electronics and food are the top three most meaningful industries for Western Europe. Compared to food, automotive and transport for Eastern Europe and consumer goods, food and entertainment for North America.

Over half the content from brands fails to deliver

Content is falling massively short of consumer expectations. While 90% of consumers expect brands to provide content, more than half the content from brands is not meaningful to consumers, drowned out by content noise, including 473 000 tweets sent and 4m videos watched on YouTube, every minute.

Tracking the relationship between a brand’s performance, its meaningfulness and the content it produces, Meaningful Brands 2019 shows brands urgently need to ramp up the effectiveness of their content to engage with people and boost business returns.  

“Brands are missing out on real opportunities to create content that cuts through the clutter and connects to better engage with audiences through entertainment, events and other content-led activations. 58% of content created by the world’s leading 1800 brands is poor, irrelevant and fails to deliver. It’s simply not meaningful to consumers,” warns Barbara Marx, global director of meaningful insights, Vivendi Brand Marketing.

Yet meaningful definitely delivers. Meaningful Brands 2019 reveals a 72% correlation between content effectiveness and a brand’s impact on personal wellbeing. The greater the impact on making us happier, the more meaningful a brand becomes - being meaningful is definitely good for business.