Inspiration is at the heart of everything we do at Wunderman Thompson - Midwest and at the core of our global mission of ‘Inspiring Growth for Ambitious Brands.’

To help brands face the immense challenge of growing in an ever-changing we’re excited to announce the launch of our latest global initiative: WT Inspire. A first-of-its-kind study that reveals why brands need to be inspirational, how inspiration drives growth and what brands can do to inspire their customers.

Some key insights from this report include:

  • A brand's category has a strong effect on inspiration, with technology brands performing extremely well and financials under-represented.
  • Brands have been most successful at being Motivating, helping them "discover new things" and "bring new ideas/suggestions."
  • Between categories, brands inspire in different ways. Technology brands tend to inspire by broadening horizons. Retail brands score relatively high on helping people discover new things, while personal care brands do well in creating inspirational experiences.
  • Mission and brand behavior are important sources of inspiration.

This three-phased study involved utilizing academic research, our BrandZ™ data set studying over 33,000 brands in 183 categories across 45 markets over the past six years and a survey of 4,000 respondents, to identify the qualities a brand must embody, the stories it should tell and the experiences it can design in order to inspire people.

Download the Inspiring Growth Paper

Inspire ident film FINAL

The study finds that while brands may be inspiring, they are not doing enough. Customers want brands to be inspirational (72%), but only 53% experience brand inspiration, presenting a significant “inspiration gap” that offers major growth opportunities for brands.

The study reveals two ways in which inspiration can drive brand growth; growing market share faster and charging a premium for products and services. Inspiration predicts 63% of a brand’s ability to drive demand, 52% of a brand’s ability to command higher prices, and 48% of a brand’s ability to convert customers at the point of purchase.

Growth is not just determined by whether people think of brands or their value, but also by what they think of them. While awareness is always an important goal, the study proves that inspiration is a far better predictor of growth and ultimately, the next stage of the marketing evolution.

As part of the study, we developed a proprietary diagnostic tool, the Inspire Score, that ranks the top 100 inspiring brands in the world today, as well as the top brands in more than 45 markets globally.

Each year this ranking will be updated to track an analyze the brands that are best at inspiring their customers. This year, Amazon leads, motivating millions of people across the world to think differently as they discover and experience new products and services. Followed by Samsung and Apple respectively, both successful at connecting people to new things and elevating people’s lives to be better.

The Inspire Score has proven to be an excellent predictor of growth and while small brands have a lot to gain from growing theirs, big brands have a lot to lose from letting theirs fall. The study proves that brands can ignite change, making people see new possibilities and compelling them to act on new ideas and perspectives, creating experiences that resonate with a person’s values and motivating people to reach their personal goals.

Richard Dunn

Chief Strategy Officer and co-creator of Inspiring Growth, Wunderman Thompson

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