Demystifying purpose. Customers know what their values are, do you? As customers align with businesses that share their values, companies that act with purpose are more positioned for success. They are able to respond more quickly in times of uncertainty. They can turn tough decisions into simple choices because they know how to invest, how to engage their employees and how to meet the needs of stakeholders.

Changing the playbook. The current environment has tested business models in unprecedented ways and made clear that agility is a crucial, cultural mindset for organizations. Digital technologies can empower organizations to respond more nimbly when rapid changes in customer expectations and market needs collide. It is now more important than ever to accelerate— rather than throttle—investments in those technologies.

A two-way street. Customers are interacting with brands more than ever before, from a simple product review to co-creating content. With engagement now a two-way street, companies are thinking about customers strategically, as brand ambassadors, influencers, collaborators, and innovators in their engagement strategies. Companies are tapping into this passion to broaden their focus for more collaborative engagement with customers.

Know thyself. As our world becomes more enabled by technology, people are easily reduced to an email address, a social media interaction or an order shipped in a box. By deepening their understanding of their customers, employees, and stakeholders, companies can create tools, solutions and devices that make peoples’ lives better, not just always on.

The new ecosystem. Organizations can better help the people they serve by creating innovative experiences through cross-industry partnerships. Fusion represents the art of bringing together new business partnerships, customer insights, and digital platforms to create ecosystems that more holistically address human needs. TALENT

The promises we keep—or don’t. Trust takes years to build, yet only seconds to destroy. Trust is built on a brand’s promise and the delivery of their product or service. Even in the most turbulent of times, when delivery meets expectations, brands build trust. When the gap between messaging and delivery widens, trust breaks down and reputation suffers.

Marketers disrupted. As the pandemic shifted ways of working and impacted budgets and even headcount, marketing organizations have focused on ways to make their most valuable asset, their talent, a strategic force. Technologies like AI liberate marketers from mundane, tactical execution freeing them to innovate and generate the big, creative ideas.