TION’ EXPECTATIONS ON BRANDS TO ACT ON ISSUES RELATED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, TO PEOPLE AND PLANET ARE INCREASING TION INFLA Investors A LEADERS HAVE EXPERIENCED T WILD PENDULUM SWINGS 40% 41% 18% FROM ONE SET OF CONCERNS TO ANOTHER. Brand leaders 32% 53% 11% For a long time, it used to be that prioritising self over society was perfectly acceptable. Brands just had to focus on delivering a benefit to the individual, and make sure they did so profitably. CHAPTER 01: WE’RE LIVING IN THE ERA OF ‘EXPEC Then, societal needs swung into dominance. Brands started BRANDS ARE UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE TO MAXIMISE to focus on purpose above all else and everything from SHAREHOLDER VALUE mayonnaise to barista coffee had to play a world-enhancing role. (And profit would, the argument went, automatically flow Investors as a direct result of this dogoodery/virtue.) But when that didn’t work out, expectations shifted once again. 33% 46% 18% Brands are now expected to do both – and brand leaders are under increasing pressure to define a balance that allows them Brand leaders to deliver against serving both the individual and the societal. A pressure we see mirrored in investors’ expectations too. 36% 43% 12% 4 202 KEY Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disgree CITIZEN BRANDS REPORT Disagree Strongly disagree 09