The power of brands lie in cultivating trust and leading with creativity

Storytelling, the foundational interaction between brands and consumers, remains ever-present as a tool to make a difference.

Editor of The Growth Agenda, Kate Racovolis

As one of the smartest minds in the industry, first with NRMA and now Telstra, chief marketing officer Brent Smart has proven once again he is able to identify consumers’ need to feel safe and secure in the face of uncertainty.

It’s a message other marketers, and the business leaders they report to, would do well to hear. In a year when the average household is worrying about the cost of living, Telstra’s campaign (albeit about cyber threats) demonstrates the power of brands to generate trust and soothe nerves.

Marketers and agencies may be feeling the pressure to deliver on numbers, but in good times and bad, storytelling remains the critical glue that connects people to each other and to brands.

As Telstra’s new security campaign demonstrates, bold national campaigns clearly still retain the power to make a difference. At the same time, the many platforms that businesses can use to connect with people, means that great ideas don’t always need massive scale. As Mr Smart said, it’s all about how brands make people feel. That requires creativity – a tool that businesses of all sizes and budgets can leverage for growth. Therein lies its power and potential.

The Growth Agenda will continue to investigate how creative firms, marketers and corporate leaders are applying creativity not only to major above-the-line campaigns, but to the many touchpoints that consumers, employees and stakeholders engage with every day. The ways that brands interact continues to develop at pace, perhaps only beaten by the seemingly endless fragmentation of audiences who have more and more niche interests to identify with.

As executives navigate multiple challenges from digital transformation to quietly quitting workforces, the need for creativity at every level within businesses has never been more pronounced.