Be Distinctive. Everywhere.

By 2025, it’s forecasted that

 $4.7 trillion*

will be invested in marketing every year.

Forrester. (2022). Global Marketing Forecast.

That’s a big wedge of cash — and it makes you ask big questions.

Questions like:

How much of it really leads to effective brand building?

How much of it is wasted on work that goes misattributed or unnoticed?

We wanted to find out.

Where does it all go?

This report is brought to you by Ipsos — a multinational market research and consulting firm — and Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR), a global branding business at the forefront of distinctive brand building. Together, we bring 80 years of expertise in understanding, analysing and creating great brands. But above all, we share a belief in the power of distinctiveness as a weapon for growth.

What is distinctiveness ?

what is distinctiveness ?

It’s a quality or characteristic that sets your brand apart from others of its kind. But it goes far beyond difference. It’s strategic substance with signature style. A prominent mental cue — or asset — that helps consumers build associations with your brand.   

And the greater the quantity and quality of those assets, the more your brand will be noticed, recognised and chosen.

The Report

What this is

A crash course in building distinctive brands for brand owners, strategists and creatives alike. It’s also a source of inspiration, filled with enviable work from brands and other agencies, history lessons, pop culture references, and many of our own creations too. We must practice what we preach, after all.

What this isn’t

A silver bullet for distinctiveness. Sadly, there’s no such thing (although let us know if you find it). Instead, this report shines a light on what’s most important in branding and why. Think of it as the knowledge that gives you the power to make the right decisions for your business.

We’ve focused this report around five key assets — logos, slogans, mascots, colour, and product.

Why these five? Because they’re the key weapons most brands already have in their arsenal. Within this report, we analyse how they came to be so important; how to make the most of them today; and how they might evolve in the future.

How we did it

Ipsos conducted research with thousands of respondents globally, testing their perceptions of a diverse mix of brands and their assets across a multitude of categories. Based on that data, they categorised the assets into three levels of distinctiveness.

26,000

Respondents

523

Brands

5046

Assets