As a key part of my 'Leverage & Build’ Strategy process I run a number of different workshops - mainly online these days.

If you have worked with me or are one of my clients you will have been through one of them, in particular the one about internally aligning the brand position.

I do this mainly because most companies who are losing customers, stagnating, or at worse in terminal decline have lost sight of 'why' people are choosing to spend their hard earned cash with them and are now going elsewhere.

Having worked with many companies to see how best to stem the problem for decline or stagnation it becomes extremely obvious that there is a huge gap between the internal perception of the brand/company to that of the external perception by the consumer or client.

History without relevancy doesn’t create value. Too often, companies are prisoners of their own heritage and worship it internally while missing the mark with their customers.

Early warning signs are ignored because “we have always done it this way” mentalities rule these companies.

If you consider the investment made by online retailers into their eCommerce websites over the years I see the same mentality that was exhibited with their physical counterparts - which is based around 'legacy' thinking, which in plain language means "we have invested in building this so this is where we spend our time and resource".

So the whole business is functionally aligned to getting consumers through the funnel. 

eCommerce has been with us since the mid 90's and has evolved from a technical viewpoint over time. The reality is it's still very much a 'transactional' led experience for the consumer, yet today there are over 60% of the world's population on one social platform or another and they still see it as a place to interrupt them with adverts. offers, and promos.

With the moment of truth moving from the physical to the digital space, digital mastery is simply not optional anymore. 

It is the only way to grow in the metaverse: a world we are already living in. With Gen Zers spending 7 to 9 hours a day on average on digital devices according to the CDC, the metaverse is not the future. It’s now.

And technologies are getting increasingly immersive at an accelerated rate. Anyone who has tried a game, a meeting, or a social hangout on a Meta Quest VR headset or similar virtual reality device reports the same experience: it’s the next best thing to being there, in some cases even better. It’s immersive, engaging, inspiring, and captivating. It’s a space where emotions are forged. 

And retail is very much an emotionally inspired mindset.  

An emotional response happens when something excites us — it’s as simple as this.

Whatever you think is 'great innovation' coming out the big western companies like Facebook (Meta), Instagram, Amazon, Google is being dwarfed and copied with what was once called the sleeping giant in the east - China.

In my opinion Weibo and WeChat make Zucks business look an early stage start-up.

Brands and companies that connect on an emotional level tend to create more meaningful relationships and a 'funnel' isn't the way to evoke emotions unless your funnel is crap.

Most Luxury brands are great at doing this which is why they can command greater loyalty and the obvious premium when it comes to pricing.

If a brand loses the ability to innovate and inspire, it cannot excite. And then it becomes irrelevant, loses its cultural importance, and starts to decline.

What we see is that the brands who tell stories and draw the consumer towards them tend to better understand the 'emotional triggers' that can help a consumer choose to shop with them over a competitor - after all a watch is just a watch isn't it?