{"id":1426,"date":"2012-01-18T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T13:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/corevalues.com\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2012-01-18T06:00:51","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T13:00:51","slug":"50-fastest-growing-companies-focus-on-building-great-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/2012\/01\/18\/50-fastest-growing-companies-focus-on-building-great-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Fastest Growing Companies Focus On Building Great Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Based on 10 years of empirical research involving 50,000 brands, Millward Brown<\/a> and Jim Stengel <\/a>developed the list of the world\u2019s 50 fastest growing brands. These\u00a0companies\u00a0built the deepest relationships with customers and achieved the greatest financial growth from 2001-2011.<\/p>\n

The study, which forms the backbone of the new book, GROW: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World\u2019s Greatest Companies<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>(Crown Business; December 27, 2011), establishes a cause and effect relationship between a brand\u2019s ability to serve a higher purpose and its financial performance. For example, investment in these companies \u2013 a list is provided below \u2013 over the past decade would have been 400% more profitable than an investment in the S&P 500.<\/p>\n

According to Jim Stengal, <\/strong>former global marketing officer of P&G and author of GROW<\/em><\/strong>, great brands are build on improving the lives of the people they serve. It was his mission to prove that maximum profit and high ideals aren\u2019t incompatible but, in fact, inseparable. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Selecting the branding firm, Millward Brown Optimor as partner in the study, the collaboration’s mission was\u00a0to uncover which brands grew the most over the past decade, both in terms of customer bonding and shareholder value.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we identified these brands, our burning question was what, if any, were the common principles that sparked and sustained their growth,\u201d said Millward Brown Optimor VP, Benoit Garbe.<\/p>\n

To arrive at the list of\u00a050<\/em>, Millward Brown Optimor valued thousands of brands across 30+ countries. The list included both B2B and B2C businesses in 28 categories ranging in size from $100 million in revenues to well over $100 billion:<\/p>\n

Findings:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The study\u2019s findings uncovered that each brand was built on an ideal of improving lives in some way, irrespective of size and category.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe define ideal<\/em> as the higher-order benefit a brand or a business gives to the world,\u201d said Stengel. \u201cSome companies are very explicit about their ideals, like Zappos \u2013 their ideal of delivering happiness <\/em>is on their boxes, all over their offices, even on t-shirts employees wear. Other brands, like Louis Vuitton, are more implicit about it. But all their actions \u2013 throughout their products, stores and communications \u2013 amplify their ideal to luxuriously accentuate the journey of life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Added Garbe, \u201cWe found that this ideal is both a source of inspiration externally among customers, as well as a compass for internal decision making. So whether it\u2019s Red Bull which seeks to Uplift Mind and Body <\/em>or <\/em>Pampers which is all about Caring for Happy Healthy Development of Babies<\/em> , an ideal influences all facets of the business from HR and Marketing to R&D and Finance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through case studies, <\/em>GROW<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>demonstrates how brand ideals aren\u2019t simply about altruism or corporate social responsibility but a fundamental human value that is authentic to the brand and ultimately a driver for extraordinary growth. In fact, Millward Brown Optimor\u2019s analysis discovered that those who centered their businesses on ideals had a growth rate triple that of competitors in their categories.<\/p>\n

How Ideals Impact the Consumer Mind<\/strong><\/p>\n

To further explore if and how ideals impact consumer attitudes, Millward Brown\u2019s Neuroscience team devised a method to uncover the implicit associations that people make between brands and ideals. This custom research provided insights into the types of associations activated in people\u2019s minds by the Stengel 50<\/em> brands and their competitors. The research uncovered the extent to which these high-growth brands touch on the five fields of fundamental human values identified in GROW<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n

Eliciting Joy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

To further explore if and how ideals impact consumer attitudes, Millward Brown\u2019s Neuroscience team devised a method to uncover the implicit associations that people make between brands and ideals. This custom research provided insights into the types of associations activated in people\u2019s minds by the Stengel 50<\/em> brands and their competitors. The research uncovered the extent to which these high-growth brands touch on the five fields of fundamental human values identified in GROW<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n