Creating Meaningful Brands with Thought Leadership | Emmanuel Probst | 355

Every day, we are berated with advertising for products and services trying to convince us to switch to their brand. What makes us take pause and pay attention is no longer the fear of missing out. Audiences want to find meaning in the products they buy and activities they take part in. So, how can you convey to your customer that your brand has meaning?

Our guest today is Emmanuel Probst, Global Lead of Brand Thought Leadership at Ipsos, where they are passionately curious about society, markets, and providing a game changing understanding of the world to help clients make faster, smarter and bolder decisions. He is also the author of Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Consumer Quest for Meaning. In this book, Emmanuel shows us how to use simple hacks to create and grow brands that deliver meaning — even with a limited budget.

We ask Emmanuel, "What is the quest for meaning in branding? Why do people care about some brands and almost instantly forget others?" and his answers deliver! Emmanuel helps us understand why customers are seeking meaning and why companies need to focus on creating long term strategies that incorporate feelings of nostalgia, joy, and empathy. That's what makes people want to come back year after year.

Next, we move to discuss how thought leadership connects to branding and how the thought leader needs to inject a level of self into their work regardless of where it can be found. We study how academics and practitioners often have a large gap between each other, when in fact they can learn a lot from each other. Emmanuel teaches us to bridge that gap and bring complex ideas to customers in simple, intuitive, and relevant ways.

We round out the conversation with Emmanuel's thoughts on why thought leadership works at Ipsos, and how true leadership involves listening to what the market wants to learn, hear, and monetize. From there, they help the customer answer the questions of "So What?" and "What Now?" by giving them ideas that are relevant and actionable to the market.

This is a great episode for everyone interested in brand-building. Listen in!

Three Key Takeaways:

• Thought Leaders need to help clients create a brand that has meaning, in order to create customer loyalty.
• The fear of missing out brings short term results, but creating a positive emotional connection with a brand will make consumers invest for the long term.
• Great thought leadership ideas shouldn't be complex! Find ways to make your concepts quick and easy to understand.