The short wiki of the Business Design ACCORDING TO ME

Design is a widely used summary of almost everything, people from all industries have their take on what design is for them. Leading to it being quite an obstacle for the layman. However I have worked with design throughout my whole carrier and for the past +10 years I've been working, educating and businesses and students about the value of design and then not in terms of graphic design but rather Design Thinking as the basis for managing and innovating sustainable businesses. Despite that is have been made famous by the likes of HBR (Harvard Business Review) and other pretty successful companies such as Google and Apple there are still a majority of traditional business women and men who never have heard about it nor its tremendous benefits towards running their organisation better. Currently is choose the definition Business Design to be the most adequate of what I do in my profession.

 This is a re-start of my blog and what could be better suiting to start with rather than a short summary about the Business Area area and closely related ones. What is the unifying touch points and what differentiates them?

* Business Design is the method that incorporates Design Thinking and Service Design's basic principles and models, but also provides the tools and methods for developing and testing a business model. At the same time, the difference between a service that is merely a marketing measure and one that is - sustainable business.

* Design Thinking is a method for the practical, creative solution of problems with the strategies that designers use under a so-called " design process. It has also been developed as an approach to solving problems beyond professional design practices, for example in business and social contexts.

* Service Design, involves planning and organizing both people, infrastructure, communications and other components around a service to improve its respect. The purpose is to enhance the customer's experience of the service.

The design process is a red thread throughout these 3 disciplines. The process includes different steps, including: defining the problems, exploring different possibilities, further defining ideas, designing prototypes and finally testing. The steps can occur at the same time and repeat. All these different principles are used today in modern management and also in the public sector, especially care and care.

The field where this can be applied are many and are widely used within modern business management but also public sector, especially health care. Companies that successfully work on this type of approach are i.e. Google, IBM, AirBnB, Apple, Amazon, Citibank Group.

If you are interested to hear more either as a representative of a business organisation or as an organizer for larger events interested in a keynote - do not hesitate to contact me .

One "small" step for Customer Experience one giant leap for retail.

Or one could adress it one small step for Amazon one giant leap for Customers and the variations can go on... 

But back to the focal point, the Amazon Go concept that erupted on the Internet late 2016. numerous of reports and discussions has emerged since then. This is my first response or angle on it.

For some who are into retail this is expected however the implications of this entry and simliar will eventually change everything for everyone. 

And how is that?

Well, the retail business (parts of it however) has always been in the fore front of innovation and customer experience but the broad mass has always looked into what others do and never truly taken the a step except for Target.  Amazon on the other hand is constantly pioneering every aspect of it from a service vantage point.

The entry of Amazon Go marks an true change in the market. Reason for that being that they excelled, refined and pushed the limits of what the future Retail Customer Experience should be. This alongside other innovative strongholds such as Google, Apple, Facebook with wast insights based on their user base. They have already started transforming the market in comparison to their traditional successors and they are increasing their knowledge by the millisecond. Sure their are C-suite executives that are fully aware of this but probably lack the appropiate actions or way ahead to gradually transform their offering to suite the rules of the market. It is evident that the change of mindset is key to be a vital player. 

So what should a traditional Retail CEO look or rather re-focus on?

For now I will not dwell into the part of workforce and how AI gradually will replace traditional workforce (more in upcoming post shortly). But focus should first and foremost be a customer experience driven approach to business but also refine other aspects of the business suite the new market place. Amazon Go is not only a offering it is also one of the first true evidences to the era of Liquid Services (as established by Accenture). Services that forms itself around the specific Experience of each customer rather than a group and that emerges a business focus on:

• Growth of connected devices
• Connected sensors
• Networked connectivity
• The Cloud
• Data and analytics
• User Interfaces

Living Services will talk to us. They will know us. They will entertain us, assist us and protect us. They will respond by wrapping around us—constantly learning about our needs, intents and preferences, so they can flex and adapt to become more relevant, engaging and useful. 

 

This will be the pivotal battleground for organisations over the next couple of years. And also what be a focal point on the blog onwards.
 

New ROLE, NEw JOB

Finally some news on the horizon, it has been a rather quick process but as of friday I have quit my job at Creuna after 3 and a half years. 

My new employeer is Management consultant firm Centigo, where I will work as a Senior Business Consultant within Digital Transformation.

Very eager to get going and it feels great to have made the leap of faith taken this new opportunity.

I will try to up the blogging this autumn and hopefully share some of the new insights and knowledge I've gained over the the last couple of months but also new and improved.

See you!

All work no play? Geeh, we really need some play from time to time.

Business is serious, however we need to remind ourselves that fun is a vital component to sucess. This video embodies that in a witty and smart way - enjoy !

Project: Gamechangers-crowdfunding Real CHange

Alongside my everyday job at Creuna I have other engagements one being Human Terrain. An new type of company working in the intersection of business and social impact. We have different projects going and on initiative that we have created is Gamechangers.

It is a crowdfunding platform where we Human Terrain identify social causes and map that together with partners who have products or services that possibly could help solving or easing the problem. But because change is a two-way street we have also added the crowdfunding layer to it. And the first project we launched in the end of 2014 exceeded our goals more than two-fold. The funders (people and organisations and companies funded the supplies of PeePoole bags and clean water to over 1045 children in the Kibera slum of Keynas capitol Nairobi. Read the first report here and experience real change where it has happen - people to people power.
 

Disruption OR TRANSFORMATION is no longer an if

Disruption and transformation is all around us these days, prominent key note speakers at large summits bombarding us, large organisations that want to associate their brand with it and start-ups doing it each and every day as part of their everyday operations. 

But the broad mass of organisations mainly consume insights, upcoming trends and do not act and nervously laugh along with colleagues and partners at summits and conferences across the globe. Defending their actions with: "Well this is not for us", "That is not part of our core offering.", "Inspiring but that would n e v e r apply to our industry"

"Inspiring but that would n e v e r ever apply to our industry"

Can they really afford neglecting it any longer? 

What happens if one miss the first crucial opportunity and need to play a double catch-up race with at least twice the cost to begin with. If you are in business of any kind today, everything is questionable, ready to be disrupted or transformed from the core - really it is.

A good example to exemplify this, is what is currently happening in the field of traditional financial services and banking. A recent study shows that 1/3 of all bank jobs will be gone in a nearby future. That threat (or rather opportunity) is real. The disruption is digitalised advisory that is sharper, more accurate than its predecessors. User and customers are growing tired of constantly being mistreated with the bombardment of news relating to large financial institutions being part of organised tax planning and huge profits at their expense. The shift is real and one cannot lean against regulation and legislation forever.

Another evident example. I passed the EY head office in the central parts of Stockholm yesterday, on a small billboard it said:

 "EY - Swedens best firm of accountants 2015."

No surprises there. But 20 meters further down the street where and ad-agency earlier was based something is going on:

It is the future head office of Dooer

Dooer is a start-up company with focus on "Future of accounting". Target groups being both business owners both surprisingly also accountant firms. Beeing inclusive not exclusive is a key learning here.

 The service automises accounting and eventually it will become and a AI (artificial intelligence) that will evolve over time making razor sharp tax deductions/planning etc in real time. Quicker and more efficient than its human predecessors. Opening its headquarters on the same street as EY might be coincidental (I think not) but a clear example of how disruption suddenly have landed on ones doorstep and there is very little to do about it other than embracing it and possibly be more innovative. Of course one could pull the traditional trick of acquiring the potential threat. I would advocate acquisition with open mindedness. 

Be mindful, treat it as an possibility to transform your organisation by adding a innovative layer and continue to develop it by investing in the organisation, new processes and evidently the numerous of new customer needs that you will and can meet from here on out and you will never be done. Your business idea may need to transform but that's a reality for everyone nowadays.

Ever evolving will be your new mantra just as long you have identified a relevant direction for your company in correlation to the consumer and their needs.

Extra ordinary times calls for extra ordinary…fluent strategies?

The ongoing digital transformation is fast paced, with no intention of slowing down, Rather the opposite. 

This creates difficulties for organisations to predict and keep up with what the needs of their customers, partners and employees with a horizon normally kept at a five year scenario. But with immense threats to organisations but also endless possibilities to change and disrupt ones business model, products or services.

From at strategy standpoint this means that companies need to adapt their strategy processes to become more iterative and flexible or fluent. 

Long-term planning needs to become more adaptive for change and experimentation.

More and more companies put more emphasis an business ambition on their work with digital strategy - a first call to action. The digital possibilities to quickly launch and follow up new services are substantially more important than ever. Risk is depending on what side of the coin you flip but. Success and failure is almost instantaneous but if the organisation itself has changed it mindset it has even greater potential to redo och refocus and monitor the outcome in real time. Disruptors prevail, low ambitioners fail.

One who actually did it is the American retail giant Target that over the last couple of years have made this trip within a highly saturated business, where no one really stood out.

A couple of years ago they among many other big retailer with a huge network of stores in a market that was dominated online by the likes of Amazon and other e-commerce strongholds.

Images from Target.

Target detected the imminent threat of the e-commerce giants and stated that change was needed and that the only way to stay relevant in the eyes of the consumer was to leverage their core strengths, such as the plain knowledge of retail, leverage the value of the retail network and the in-store experience together with relevant digital services and flawless logistics. The initiative was formed from the C-suite and orchestrated among  employees of the organisation. In this process they have pioneered what we today call Omni-channel. And a brilliant example of adaption and reaction to new times and potential threats. That at a first glimpse looked insuperable..

It requires new processes and established digital maturity on a general level of the organisation, but executed correctly and facilitated within the organisation it could potentially create great opportunities if it succeeds. 

A successful iterative strategy process and how to work fluently with it may be a change maker for the entire company and its culture. 

The “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” saying applies here!

PR-done proper

I've always been a believer in PR in relation to traditional commercial and ad agency ways of working. It all boils down to a neatly orchestrated plan and activities that rarely happend by chance. Naturally the PR-business have evolved over time as have traditional marketing but PR still comes out on top. Might be the diversity o the field and the endless possibilties of creative thinking alongside strong planning. Sure bad PR is bad PR but when done proper and with heart and mind it is really strong and Saucony is a good evidence of making a strong comeback from a strong 1980's via a silent mid 90's until recently, tagging along the ever rising interest in the sneaker community.

Good PR is: 

- Neatly planned

- Perfectly timed

- Thouroghly planned sets of events that accentuates the a customer journey

- With empathy in mind but done with the heart

 - The occasional gut feeling adds the unexpected

“We aim to inspire and change their lives in some way.””

Strong PR when its founded on thorough planning and insights from a customer perspective it is strong really strong as displayed in the Saucony case here. It never happend by chance. 

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE - DONE PROPER

Many companies excel in individual interactions with customers, but they fail to pay adequate attention to the customer’s complete experience on the way to purchase and after and the continues relation after that.

Customer Journeys have during the last decade been one of the most useful tools to monitor, recreate and optimising customer relations and adjust offers of products and services. The use of single customer journeys is tactical and have served certain organisations well. But you could use this to achieve even more sustainable change. 

Where it comes to shifting organisational processes, culture, and mind-sets to a journey orientation is strategic and transformational.

Journey-based transformations are not easy, and they may take years to perfect. 

Despite that, there is a definitive upside to it, if done proper;

* Higher customer and employee satisfaction and engagement. (By involving and rewarding stakeholders on either side, the output will be twice as strong.)
* Increased revenues (happy clients prolong the relation hence spend more money.)
* Lower costs (putting effort where effort is needed, not where you always have been doing it and also see to continuously measure the outcome and make adjustments)
* Increased differentiation compared to stagnated competitors. 

Delivering successful journeys brings about an operational and cultural shift that engages the organisation across functions and from top to bottom, generating excitement, innovation, and a focus on continuous improvement. 

It creates a culture that’s hard to build otherwise, and a true competitive advantage goes to companies that get it right. Companies that develop their own architecture will find it breaks down organisational silos, addresses the diversity of customers and their needs, and produces unique and compelling experiences.

Remember the wise words of Peter Drucker:
 

"Culture will eat strategy for breakfast"

Doing enough is not and option any longer, done proper and truly be deeply rooted in your business culture - it will eventually make your organisation successful and differentiate you among competitors.

You better start swimmin'

Nothing is consistent, the force of evolution will eventually make everything change. Nowadays things are moving more rapidly than ever and new business come and business go in a rapid manner. However that is maybe not for the majority of the companies today but for a small fraction of them. Even if he nowadays is a multi-million dollar business man, Dylan wrote this lyrics back in the 1960's. With no intention of being quoted in a business blog.

“If your time to you Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.”

— Bob Dylan, Times a-changin'

However it fit the modern times of how I see things moving around in business and should act as a heads-up for traditional business owners out there. "...start swimmin'" reflects action "...sink like a stone..." reflects consequence of action not taken.

So many business leaders in traditional organisations  have not taken action/started swimmin' and are already sinking as a consequence. Primarily because they have missed out on an even more pro-active action - how have new businesses transformed their domains forever.

The challengers of traditional business...

UBER - The world's largest taxi company, owns no vehicles.
Facebook - The world's most popular media owner, creates no content.
Alibaba - The most valuable retailer, has no inventory
Airbnb - The world's largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.

A brand that captures Your mind gains behaviour. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment

Scott Talgo, Brand Strategist 

Saying is one thing but actually doing IS APPARENTLY another - WHY is that?

In a recent study with 400 CEO:s in the Nordic region. The question was about their view on digitisation and whether they saw it as a possibility rather than a threat.

An demonstrative majority (95%) considered this as an possibility. 
So this would make any politician quite happy, the innovation and future ambition of our industry leaders are future proofed or at least very hopeful.

But there is a downside to this also. The same study also showed of the 400 CEO:s only 42% considered their organisation to be prepared to take advantage of these possibilities. 

One could draw many conclusions from this, but from a hi-level perspective it is evident that the leaders of these organisations naturally want to claim their digital approach but when it really comes to their own transformation, it is not in place. Why is that?

To be provocative, it is basically easier to just say that you are a believer but when it comes to really transforming your business into this the truth is quite the opposite. So why is it still so hard? From my own experience I would say the most obvious reason for this is that manangement in 8 out of 10 cases view digital as a separate initiative not necessarily as a part of their overall business approach. It is basically a hygien factor to have a up-to-date informational web page that is dressed with the logotype and more or less content. It is also traditionally driven from the marketing department in some form. A traditional webpage , acting as the communicative channel, putting out the occasional campaign, recruitment ads and the annual report. Or base ones engagement in social media on, "Everyone else is there so why shouldn't we". People will "like" us!?

The obvious question, isn't that enough?

Maybe if you have a unique business, a truly differentiated market or/and product and no competitors. Hesitation towards what Internet was back in the late 90's or the early 00's could possibly have granted this type of behaviour but if we look what the wast majority of companies have done (start-up scene excluded) there is really not that much has happen. Sure things are going fast, really fast now days but they will only move faster, markets become more saturated and customers even more disloyal. So where to begin?

Some input to start with:

• Re-adjust so your overall strategy fits the new possibilities of digitisation. The digital aspect of your company needs to be mended, mended as well as the other parts of your business, because it is part of your business not a separate initiative.
• Create and organisation where digital is as important as any other division or even better integrate them to your traditional divisions - adress ownership from the boardroom down to R&D.
• Don't wait for competitors to take the first step, look into other businesses and be influenced by them instead. Your first steps towards transformation will possibly be inspired by companies or people outside your industry.
• Use digital platforms as a way of helping your clients doing business with you. 
• Build the relation on behaviours rather than products.
• Offer context to content.
• Could digital platforms possibly offer the possibility of new services within your business?
• Measure, digital platforms offers unprecedented ways of monitoring performance and ways of more rapidly adress measures if performance is poor. (NPS etc)
• Know that failing is not the end but only the a part of an even greater success.
• Remember there is just business and digitisation is a part of that...
• Let innovation be evident in all your channels, departments.

Last but not least we finish off this with some wise words.

Listen to Angela Ahrendts and her view on this. This was when she was at Burberry. Her work there granted her a top position at Apple which she currently holds.

Remember, if you don't take that leap of faith chances are that you possibly do not have any business plan to mend in five years time.

 

"Marketing used to be about creating a myth and telling it. Now it is about finding a truth and sharing it".

Marc Mathieu Global SVP Unilever

Branding is simple

Tom Asacker a man of great insights and ideas when it comes to the field of branding stated this in a recent blogpost. Swift and smart and the fundamental thing is, that branding is very simple when done right. Hard part beeing, just getting to that point.

Perhaps you’re hoping to grow an existing one.

Either way, you’ll be immersed in branding.

Branding is a verb.It’s a continuous, progressive process.

One that answers some very simple questions.

Who?

Who informs everything you’ll do.

Your perspective and intention.

Your look, feel, thoughts and behaviors.

Your vision of the future.

Who is your karma.

Because who you choose to focus on, will ultimately define who you become.

What?

What is your laser focus.

Your passion.

Your unique point of view and expertise.

It’s your daring, meaningful and believable value proposition.

The one that attracts your who.

What is your why.

It gets you up in the morning.

How?

How communicates your what, your passionate point of view.

How is the motivating language, stories and experiences you create and share.

How is your art and your voice.

It sets you apart from others who say they do what you do.

Successful branding is simple.

Who, what and how.

Yes, it requires nuance and subtlety.

But it’s simple nonetheless.

What’s hard is the focus, discipline and unwavering belief necessary to pull it off.

Brilliant!

His blog 

Beeing an innovative brand in a saturated market

What makes a brand tick, how do you define it,  what could it possible be worth to your organisation? You probably get as much answers to these questions as the consultants you ask. 

We need to turn to metrics and analysis. According to Brand Orientation Index, (A Swedish research project which purpose is to identify the link between brand orientation and profitability), states that a company who actively work with their brand is more profitable. That is one aspect. Another study shows that companies with a vision-lead culture significally outperforms those without . (A Harvard Business School global study by John Cotter). 

Now we are on to something, but is a brand and a vision enough?

Well you can obviously get ahead of some of your competition, but todays market place is competitive. 

The expression "business never sleeps" has been around for years. But the expression "brand never sleeps" is equally important. Brands today have to be innovative as well, branding is a daily struggle against competitors and the race for consumers is constantly ongoing, if you fail to deliver upon their expectations they will take their business elsewhere.

Still with me?

So how do you do it, well we could probably start with how not to do it - by being traditional in your approach.
The usual pitfalls:

Human resource takes care of business and employee culture.Marketing takes care of brand platform.

MGMT consultants make the business strategy.

All good initiatives but to many times handled and developed in separate silos with no coherence between. This have to be a top prioritisation for the organisation. Work across departments, align initiatives, engage people within the organisation they are and possibly could be your biggest asset.

But also try to have the outside inside perspective, how to people outside the organisation look upon your organisation. Is your business as clear to them as it might be for you? Metrics and valid KPI's are fundamental, constantly measure peoples relation towards your brand. How you approach them, how do they react to that and adjust if performance is poor.

Differentiate vs. category benefits
Tap into the start-up aspect of business, how do they stay relevant, do they have a masterplan from the start? Atleast they have a product or service that clearly differentiates them from the opposition.

Instead of talking category benefits, talk differentiation. 

Imagine this , if we where to launch a new brand, product, or service, would people support our cause if we were to put it out on Kickstarter? LEGO did it and turned crowd-sourcing into their next winning platform with LEGO Ideas. Everyone can contribute, builds relations even stronger  with the product and brings real brand equity back to LEGO.

Another example, If you have a bank and want to challenge the traditional banks out there chances are that you probably will not stand a chance in competing in the same category. You simply don't have the organisation nor the money to disrupt the category. But when if you neglect the traditional category. Take your traditional business but add the innovative force of e.g digital with the toolset of design processes or/and innovation you might tap into new fields that none of the old banks have the chance to compete with. If your're doing your strategy well you can find yourselves in a whole new segment that is on safe distance from the traditional competition but will close access to the consumers that probably are more eager to save their money in a new type of disruptive bank with promises of taking care of their business with no overhead fees, just making them use the bank in the way they want it the most. Top that off with a service offer based upon customer needs and deliver upon that, then you have the business of tomorrow. 

Screenshot from simple.com

Simple Bank - "We've re-imagined the banking basics."

Create customer experiences that surprise the visitor. Länsförsäkringar shop in Stockholm

Länsförsäkringar -Swedish insurance company - Increased competitiveness and reduced costs with has offices open 7 days a week serving clients with insurances and normal bank services. They have profoundly disrupted the Swedish bank scene by making insurance and bank services a shopping experience.

It would be odd not to mention Uber when discussing disruptive brands. Then american based company have caused the traditonal taxi organisations in Europe to strike, demonstrate and try to legislate against the new kid on the block. 

Customer loves it, the traditional taxi business hates it. The latter unwilling to change. Things are already in motion and by creating a brand that is more simple and more passionate about the customers Uber will forever change the business by doing everything else other then the expected.

Remember, it never stops, so keep on developing, questioning status quo and your brand will flourish. 

Sagmeister is sceptical...about storytelling

It came to my knowledge that one of my favourite designers Stefan Sagmeister recently made an outcry about storytelling and how it has become so misused. 

That sounded way to interesting for me not to investigate. Click the image above to view the original video. Movie by FITC Toronto Conference in April of 2014

So did he add something new and fresh insights or ideas to the debat? well not really. He stated that the term storyteller/storytelling now is used to widely and by people that are not storytellers. Neither did he conclude any other solutions to use instead. 

Everyone is entitled to ones opinion but I think he makes one fundamental mistake and that by trying to define storytelling as something exclusive. I interpret what he calls the ones doing it right as the only one entitled to express their stories/or expressions. It has never been and will never be exclusive to a specific category of people. It is an artform so old is almost impossible to track. People have told their stories since the beginning of mankind. More or less interesting of course. But still stories and that will never change.

"...no fuckhead you are not a storyteller."

If you put this into a corporate context it is a completely other issue. There is Stefan's standpoint more valid. Many brands tend to claim the storytelling aspect and force that into our normal lives. There we have the actual problem.

Brands are not storytellers by birth but they as well as anyone can achieve, innovate, develop something and align that into their DNA.

Brands that construct something that is not necessarily aligned with either their history, future, products or services or/and then applied with a authentic story will eventually fall and that is what I consider to be a false or non existing storytelling. You as well as me can probably refer to hundreds maybe thousands of ads, tv-commercials that tried to be/tell something that you did not associate with the product or service at all or just made the brand more delusional. 

So stay authentic to the core of your business or the truly amazing aspects of your service or product and you can tell almost which story you feel like.

Be authentic: Clear connection with you business ambitions and true to what you are really do. What is the purpose of what you want to express.
Be simple: Do not complicate things to much.
Be passionate: Make something that triggers stakeholders both outside and inside the your business. 

Story is not dead, just used in less flattering manners across all fields, but when used correctly is one of the most powerful expressions for your brand out there.

In conclusion, storytelling or story is non claimable, however one could criticise the context and the quality it is used in. And how it is constantly evolving.

Last but not least lets end with a Seth Godin smartness from the past.

Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.

Designing customer experiences requires considerations of all factors: time, place, environments, emotions, economics and social context.

The Future Brand Index?

Futurebrand recently released their top Future brands of the year. Link to study here

While it may be any big surprises it still is evident that it is still a valid benchmark of how and what the global competition is like among the biggest, baddest and strongest brands. How come Google is the new one? Here's my thoughts.

Google have over the years developed a multi-path approach, meaning that they are moving into new segments that drives new business and new engagement. With everything from search (its core) to innovations such as wearables: Google Glass and new endeavours like Google Design. All initiatives is with the motto: "Focus on the user and everyone else will follow".

That is the bottom-line of their success (now also visible in the ranking on this list)  

Above they have listed their own key findings. A couple of things stand out and is worth emphasising. Brand Awareness is not enough to drive strong perception, which basically means that just to be known is not a good enough factor any longer. A successful brand of today needs to be more than just recognised it has to be known to contribute and get the recognition from something.

Financial value has less impact on the result that one might think, which is good. That tells that the survey have given value (other than financial) a bigger impact for recognition. Might be initiatives in emerging markets, like P&G. 

Chinese brands are still missing out, I would say maybe for yet another 5 years. Then we will see a rather different list either by mergers or by buying in to the other companies. Another thing you could see through this is that these brands have yet to fulfil the needs of the consumers for quality and experience that would grant them a better spot on the list.

One last finding is that the list is dominated by tech companies and consumer related brands. One thing that I see is that the industrial sector is missing out. B2B seem to be somewhat weaker there. Expected but yet frustrating. The reason to that might be that they have a more traditional approach of how they approach their B2B customers. The B2B is shifting to a more B2C like approach when it comes to reaching to their customers and hopefully this will penetrate this list also in a few years time. One would not be left behind in the old fashioned way of branding themselves. 

Are there any brands that I miss on on the top positions?

Of course, I would like to see our swedish flagships IKEA and H&M up there. They have their financials right, they have strengthen their initiatives when it comes to responsibility (or social impact) in the last few years to become really good at this.

I also miss out NIKE, which I regard to be a top 5 competitor for this list. One my references there is this study, which amplifies my thoughts that NIKE probably is one of the most innovative and progressive brands out there. I would stress that they are equally as innovative as Google and even smarter in their processes and how to transcend into new business areas. 

So does this toplist have a huge impact? Well both yes and no.
I see this as a a adequate benchmark for organisations, big or small, to see how they aligned to the top. Hence a reminder that is still plenty of things to do to excel certain business areas, where results are less impressive. It is never to late to get influenced by best practice.

The race is always on, to be in the front you need to work hard each and every day. The initiative of putting brand work on top of your agenda will benefit both short and long-term and avoiding costly and huge strategy work every 5th year.

Brand in beta, work is never done.

Agree!

Image from Dejoost.com