Building a Better World One Brand at a Time
Marketing has come a long way over the years, thanks, in large part, to technology.
Analytics. CRMs. Search and platform-based algorithms. AI.
Marketing programs are able to operate now with greater speed, scale, and precision than ever before. The tools we have at our disposal have become so powerful and so alluring, in fact, it can be easy to forget what they were designed for in the first place.
With Power Comes Responsibility
The purpose of marketing isn’t just to get in front of people. It’s to get in front of the right people with the right message at the right time, allowing brands to create meaningful connections with audiences based on relevance, intent, and (sometimes) affinity.
Technology is a tool we use to match relevance with intent, although like any tool, it’s only as effective as the intention behind it. The moment we start focusing on the tool itself and all the cool things it can do for us, it’s very easy for marketing to turn into a numbers game that prioritizes short-term clicks over long-term value and engagement.
This can be disastrous for brands; although, unfortunately, its impact doesn’t stop there.
As we continue to spend more and more of our lives inside digital environments, we’re constantly being assaulted by content recommendations, ads, and, sometimes, outright scams. In this “attention economy,” where so much of our experience is controlled or influenced by brands, the way we think about marketing doesn’t just affect our bottom line, but our culture and the way we move through the world.
A Better World
At Green Gate, we got into this work because we believe in marketing’s potential to build meaningful connections between brands and audiences. Although to succeed in that, we must also acknowledge its ability to do the exact opposite.
That’s part of why, over the years, we’ve come to focus more and more on “brand development” as opposed to just marketing. Where marketing is about getting in front of people, brand development takes a more holistic approach, considering not only how we get in front of people, but also what we put there, why, and where we go next.
Because, in this age of algorithms and AI—where things continue to become more personalized but less personal—authentic brands have the potential to be a force for good, building stronger connections with audiences and, ultimately, serving them in deeper, more impactful ways.
For better or worse, brands have a major influence on the world we live in. So part of building a better world is building better brands.
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