Brand matters – How to stay ahead of the curve in 2024
Brand power has never been more important as companies need to harness all the resources they can to stay at the top of their game in 2024.
That’s why 4imprint commissioned new research into how businesses are placed to meet the demands of the year ahead and discover the marketing tools they are relying on.
Our survey spoke to over a hundred founders from businesses split into five categories: Baby, Toddler, Not-for-Profit, Teen and Boomer brands.
The aim was to garner how companies felt about the next 12 months and what resources they had available in a challenging economic landscape.
Brand building resources overview
It is a mixed bag of resources available to our respondents, reflecting what companies are experiencing nationwide.
There is good news for a third of businesses who have both budget and resources to invest in their brands, but 4 in 10 are counting every penny in their budget to make their marketing work.
More than half of those surveyed feel their brand identity needs enhancing, although it was good news in terms of having a solid skill set (60%) to achieve this. Almost half are confident of their business plan in the year ahead and 4 in 10 praise their workforce.
Companies are looking at growth in 2024, with nearly two-thirds saying that their business is scalable and the vast majority (over 1 in 8), have no plans to sell in the next 2 years.
Marketing tools for 2024
A third of companies will use social media with a quarter also spreading their marketing spend between paid for social, influencer marketing and customer tracking.
Public relations, market research and promotional products are also in the top ten marketing toolkit for 2024, with companies planning to use promotional merchandise to market themselves to both new and existing customers.
Where companies sit in the brand cycle also impacts their marketing priorities, with Boomer brands, the most established of those surveyed, the biggest users of brand tracking, probably as they have the budget and team in place.
Teen brands, those companies employing more than 10 people and looking to establish themselves in their marketplace, are the largest users of promotional products, with a third using merchandise to promote themselves.
Businesses just hitting their third year of trading, known as Toddler brands, mainly use social media (37%), with Not-for-Profit organisations the largest users of traditional public relations (40%).
And the smallest companies run by founders, dubbed Baby brands, are the most likely to use a range of marketing tools, across social media (38%), influencer marketing (13%) to experiential events (9%).
Why brand power has never been so important
The next 12 months are set to be challenging for businesses but there is good news too, with inflation halved, an Autumn budget that will help companies grow and the green shoots of recovery.
But what shines through our research is the resilience of British business, no matter how small or big, and how they are willing to take on whatever 2024 holds for them.
There is also no doubt that building their brand is still top of the business agenda!
