More human brands, for humans, by humans.

Our society is changing. The focus was in the wrong place. Most companies and brands focused on technology, in almost all its variants: smartphone, computer, tablet, social networks, apps, etc. until they realised that they were confusing the means with the end. And they began to focus on the customer/consumer. It was time to humanise the brand and connect human to human.
Then they learned that the internal customer was important. They broadened the scope to focus on the user, and the new frontier is to focus on life.
For many years we talked about customer-centric, even in books like HumanOffOn we already outlined human-centric (not only the person in his role as a consumer, but in all his facets).
But now we go a step further and talk about life-centrism.
Neither B2B, nor B2C, nor B2B2C, nor DoBeDobeDo, but H2H. Human to human.

Companies pursued a product-centric approach focused on performance. They then shifted to a customer-centric strategy aimed at prioritising the experience.
But now, the dynamics are even more complicated and at the same time more interesting.
Until companies stop oversimplifying their customers (they are not data!) and start accepting that they are multi-dimensional and constantly changing people, they will find themselves trapped in their own maze.
Brands must, once again, understand people. We already shared it in BrandOffOn: they need a more psychological, sociological and anthropological approach to people. They need to understand the different trends that shape customers’ lives. And they need to provide solutions that customers find relevant to their lives.

Can they reduce complexity and simplify things? We live in a very complex era and brands need to oversimplify their inputs.
The evolution from techno-centric to life-centric is an approach that broadens the human-centred (social) to also include consideration of environmental and sustainable implications.
We will have moved beyond the concept of “customer-consumer-user” to human: “customer-consumer-user, non-customer-consumer-user, local and global communities, ecosystems”.
This is probably the most holistic approach conceivable and the most complex.
In this way brands address more approaches than those that were only product or user/customer/consumer focused.
The way forward is to take a dynamic view of who customers are and what motivates their behaviour, and treat them as more than just buyers or data. Understand that relationships are more relevant than transactions.
Knowing and understanding them provides deeper insights that underpin behaviour and the ability to drive new values and new relationships.
Ultimately, companies should abandon the idea of one-size-fits-all and focus on flexible options. Every person is different.
Thus adding more encompassing implications, such as sustainability, corporate social responsibility, equity, diversity and inclusion, to name a few.

After BrandOffOn and HumanOffOn I published TOTEM, brands working consciously for a better world.
Brands playing a new role for a new dynamic. A more committed, meaningful, sustainable and human-centred role for the betterment of society and the world.
The key to all three books hinges on a central theme: human behaviour.
Companies are people, brands are people, customers and consumers are people, employees and shareholders are people, and to understand brands, business and society, you have to understand people.
The new generations put more emphasis on quality of life than on monetary rewards. They mention that the way we live can be improved and that we need to mobilise to better protect the environment.
No one can deny that we live in an increasingly complex, more connected global system, where seemingly simple events affect the whole world.
And from the macro to the micro it is the same. I have shared a lot about how the customer’s experience with the brand can change, positively or negatively, behavioural patterns.
The human-centric, if thought systemically, ultimately leads to a consideration of questions of purpose and values, a long-term sustainable commitment, which includes life on the planet and humanity, with all its diversity.
We live under the pressure of uncertainty, anxiety and the chaos of everyday life. What most people (employees/consumers/customers/users/citizens) ultimately need is simplicity from brands.
They will be attracted to brands that help them cut through the noise and make their decision making and lives easier.
Brands that want to be relevant need to implement ways to clear the way for consumers to walk easily.

Over time, companies have evolved from a product-centric approach to a customer-centric strategy aimed at prioritising the experience. Today’s society is more complicated. Companies must accept their customers as complex and constantly changing individuals, affected by unpredictable and uncertain external forces, and embrace a life-centred approach.
The good thing about companies that have understood the value of being life-centric is that they are deeply attuned to the lives of their customers, and know how to interact, decode and value technology, entertainment, health, work and culture.
By linking the interaction between life forces and your customers’ everyday decisions they become more powerful and useful. And they become relevant by evolving their products, services, marketing, sales and experiences as life continues to change. Sometimes by adapting to change and sometimes by being part of it.
As employees, customers, people in general try to navigate these turbulent waters. The best positioned are brands that take a life-centred approach, that share values, that contribute to meeting customers’ ever-changing priorities, and that deliver on their promises.
And it is important to apply human-centred design that is about empathy. It’s finding a solution that is financially viable, technically feasible, while still appealing to the people in your brand community.
Good design is not just about a pretty picture, it’s not just about a product or experience that creates impact; it’s about how you make people feel. When we can achieve this, you know you have a brand that will be sustainable and future-proof.
And by applying a human-centred approach, you get a more human brand, for humans, by humans.
In this way, they will be better placed to face the future, including the new challenges around the corner. Because the only thing that is certain is that everything will continue to change, except the essentials.