Branding e-volution 2020

The research project 'Branding e-volution' is a collaboration between UPA and the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano born in 2019. The first edition was supported by a pool of key players (GFK, GroupM, Inmediato Mediaplus, Integral Ad Science, Kantar, LinkedIn, Nextplora, Rai Pubblicità, Sensemakers, Teads, WebAds ) and it aimed to offer to the market a concrete and innovative contribution to understanding critical issues and possible development opportunities of brands in the digital and social ecosystem.

The goals of the research, divided into two phases (qualitative and quantitative) are many:  

• investigate what the role of the brand is today, taking into account the changes that have affected the market and consumers;
• analyze the new ways of brand building, highlighting the role of advertising and, in particular, of digital communication;
• define the contribution of brand equity to marketing performance, building a measurement system more suitable to achieve branding objectives.

The results of the research have been presented for the first timein 2020, during two events: “The role of the brand and the future of advertising” and “Data and measurement tools as an asset for the Brand”.

In addition, in order to analyze the impacts of the Covid-19 sanitary emergency on investments and on the marketing and communication strategies of companies, an integrative survey was carried out. The survey involved many companies providing an evolutionary picture of the brand purpose phenomenon, in this disruptive moment we are living.

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Spin-off of the research project "Branding e-volution", "Branding and B2B companies" is a further research project resulting from the collaboration between UPA, the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, WebAds-digital adv sales house and exclusive Italian partner of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, and The LinkedIn B2B Institute, a think tank investigating the future of B2B marketing.

The research, carried out between December 2020 and January 2021, is the first in Italy aimed at exploring the role of the brand for the "business to business" sector and has analyzed the activation of initiatives related to the construction and promotion of the brand as a driver of value in B2B sectors.

An interesting picture emerged from the survey. In the face of still low numbers in terms of investment by B2B companies in communication activities both commercial and aimed at brand enhancement, there is a cultural orientation in favor of implementing Brand Building initiatives, including through digital. There is therefore strong potential for growth in the B2B communications market, to be achieved by bridging the gaps perceived by companies in these sectors, primarily those related to the need for dedicated training and reliable measurement tools.