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This year has reminded companies and brands that the job of being a constant source of value never ends. To help customers redefine their offerings and relationships for lasting value, we discovered ten things that can help you do the same.

1. Acknowledge what you are not. This is the downside of “St.onend for something. “It's just as important to quote what you never want to become. In the early years, Google had signs on the walls that said, Don't be angry. (They meant not to be like a big, anonymous IBM.) Apple was for the rest of us a computer. Explain your place in the universe.

2. Find a niche audience instead of mass markets. Products made in mass damage markets and in ecology. Check out the mass dumping of fashion products every season. We waste a third of the food we produce. Look around and you will see a handful of smaller businesses selling clothing, cheese, bikes, beauty products, and even media. If you find these niches are harder to connect to, it may be because they don't want to.

3. Create your own bubble, own your audience. Apple long ago pioneered this "walled garden" model: own the community of fans and advocates that surround you. Water them and help them grow. It's okay to be on FB and IG (in many cases, it's a necessity), but email and other content tactics can get more people straight to you.

4. It is not a media plan, but a media ecosystem. Share content on social, digital, and traditional media networks to create an expanded media choir. Sync content engagements with advocates to fuel their zeal and build positive word of mouth. At a time when the public believes that all the company has to say as a lie (over 80% believe you will attract them) your responsibility now is to give them the facts. So when trolls and haters show up, your zealots define and defend you. Brand affinity and advocacy (word of mouth) are free.

5. You are not a brand, you are a belief system. People are drawn to others who believe in the same things they do. This "just like me" constellation of parts builds audiences, fans and ecosystems. Belief systems work from seven data points: each has a creation story, a creed, symbols, rituals, an encyclopedia, unbelievers, and a guide. This systematic approach is the easiest and safest way to build a brand around people, places and things – your products and services.

6. Be great online. Build your own team of content creators – and solicit others to help you create more content. People are ready to include you in their lives if you provide the information, entertainment, and neighborhoods you want. (Example: people who like artisanal cheese, including artisan bread, wine, travel, photography (and other arts), music, and more.) Think of other companies you can work with.

7. Be amazing offline. Optimize your user experience so that it is friendly, smooth, and awesome. Great online experiences can be hampered by terrible delivery or other reasons specific to your category. Since customers may not be able to see you in person, it is advisable to single out other possible experiences. Some beauty companies throw free samples in their boxes. Grocers throw in free food samples. What can you do?

8. Don't get lost in FOMO. Every day we can get lost in the chatter of bullshit metrics, AI, VR, AR, B2B2C, chatbots, brand security, virtual assistants, growth marketers, rankings, updates and much more. Stick to your brand. We tend to mimic – assume that what was right for another company will work for us. Lemming love. The folly of paying Instagrammers for their thousands of followers – just to get a mention – has proven to be a quick fix to replace the millions of viewers lost to massive TV exposure. Forget the possible scam, it was a fraudulent strategy. Make your own audience, make your own numbers.

The year 2021 takes us two decades into the new century. Legendary brands based on the needs of the 20th century are in a precarious position and should take a second and third look at their methods and motives if they want to remain relevant, resonant and desirable.

9. Search the metrics for new markets and new strategies. Make Google your friend for life. Their analytics can help you find out what customers are looking for – before and after they look for you. (Many consumers under 35 are looking for new businesses, new products to match their own ideals. Be aware.) Working out old models is a shortcut to extinction (e.g. Sears, Kmart, Kodak, Payless, who next?).

10. Marketing by heart is over. Traditional companies have never been so fragile. The opportunity for digital-first companies has never been greater than it is today.

The pandemic will be with us for at least the next 18 to 24 months. But listen, the plague of the Middle Ages was followed by the great rebirth known as the Renaissance. We hope that with the help of the above concepts you will redefine the value of your brand for a prosperous future.

Contribution to the Branding Strategy Insider by: Patrick Hanlon, author of Primal Branding

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