The ‘keep it simple’ maxim is just as valid for brands
THEY TEND TO LOSE THEIR WAY THE MOMENT CONSUMERS START LOOKING AT SMALL PRINT
Simplicity pays... and for Google and its video platform YouTube that is more than enough to retain their grip in the Middle East consumers’ mindset. For a third straight year, they have retained the top two spots favoured by regional respondents in the recent ‘brand simplicity index’ created by the consultancy Siegel+Gale.
The Top 10 had places for Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, Toyota and Yahoo, while the supermarket chains — Panda and Carrefour — also get a look in. But what of the social media giants who fail to make the cut in the Top 10 and of that other notable omission, Apple?
“Some of Apple’s newest features for their products either did not work or were restricted locally — for example, FaceTime, iMessage and Apple Pay,” said Ben Osborne, Insights Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Siegel+Gale. “Customers are having to read the small print carefully to navigate feature and continuity issues, and Apple could be doing much more to address friction here.
“The differences between iterations of products — for example iPhone 5/5s/5c — are not clear and dilute the premise. And updates to services/ features increase capability at the expense of simplicity and by cluttering the interface.
“The closed operating system meant customers couldn’t short cut complexities they faced. This meant Apple has slipped behind all Android tech companies on the GBSI (Global Brand Simplicity Index) in 2015 despite launching a new range of wearable tech.”
So, what have Google and YouTube been doing right in Siegel+Gale’s point of view? “They are perennially simple brands built upon single-minded, customer-centric experiences,” said Osborne. “There’s even a risk that they’re almost monopolising their respective categories and the lexicon surrounding it.”
The Siegel+Gale index is based on how a collection of brands impact an individual’s life. These brands cut across industries and scores are assigned based on how pleasant — or otherwise — the experience has been. The factors that influence a brand’s position relate to the “products, services, interactions and communications in relation to its industry peers,” said Osborne. “We first explore the participants’ attitudes towards 25 discrete industries. They rate each in terms of its overall contribution to making their life simpler or more complex.
“We then ask the participants to rate 125 actual brands in terms of how much more — or less — simple their typical experiences and communications appear compared to their industry peers. The final index score is a combination of the brand’s rating and its industry’s ratings.
“Owned social media would count as part of the branded experience that is evaluated, alongside earned social media mentions, such as review scores, which also influence perceptions. However, the score reflects more than the exposure — but the way the brands communicate and the contribution this exposure has on consumers’ lives.”
But doesn’t being simple often translate into less innovative, at least for some brands? “Simple can definitely be cool and cool can be simple,” said Osborne. “But simple is not a trend so much as a movement. In a world of rampant materialism and endless opportunities people across the board want ease.
“This is simpler experiences, more intuitive interactions, slimmed down choices and edited information to what they need there and then.
“We tend to find that younger people self-assess their lives as more complex than older people — reflecting the number of important life decisions, tests and challenges with unemployment they face. This means that brands that communicate directly, save them time, reduce stress and create ease will be rewarded more.
“Similarly, the more techsavvy and less loyal younger audiences are more likely to embrace disrupter brands over established offers. At the heart of these disruptive brands again is simplicity — the ability to break through complexity and be single-minded.”