​Customer experience (CX) is being superseded by human experience (HX) and it is those companies who recognise this who will have an advantage.

When Kevin Keith first received the call asking him to become Orangetheory Fitness’s first chief brand officer at the start of 2017, he thought they were joking.

Toothpaste doesn’t immediately spring to mind when thinking of purpose-driven brands that aren’t afraid to take a stand. Yet Colgate-Palmolive Australia’s recent decision to withdraw its advertising from Sky News could be just that.

​Cadbury is the latest brand to take a stand for something positive, with the launch of a new initiative to fight racism and other forms of intolerance.

SiteMinder’s new chief marketing officer, Mark Renshaw, has always had a rather visceral reaction when people say ‘best practice’ marketing – and not in a good way.

Brands can be built on many different foundations – personality, quality, luxury, locality – the list is endless. But what should a brand do when that foundation is taken away?

​It is vital for brands to have an authentic purpose to compete for the attention of today's consumer.

An international study conducted by The Center for Generational Kinetics and commissioned by WP Engine reveals that Generation Z, born between 1996-2010, are willing to trade privacy for personalised experiences, prefer business to have both an online and physical presence, and that brands be socially accountable.

Consumers are increasingly demanding the brands they support contribute a positive impact on the society in which we all live, and stand for something. From HSBC to Schweppes, many big brands are leading the way to do just this successfully, or sometimes not so successfully, whilst also selling their wares.

Is Australia Day too tainted a concept for brands to be associating with? How important is taking a stance on the nation’s increasingly controversial day of national celebration in light of the wider need and desire for brands to take a purpose-led approach? And should more of our iconic local brands be taking a position on Australian identity?

​Gillette is the latest brand to decide it will stand for something and change societal narrative for the better, with its ‘Best men can be’ campaign, a play on its traditional tagline ‘the best a man can get’.

Utter the phrase ‘world record attempt’ in anything other than a sporting contest and the immediate connection is to Guinness World Records and the eponymous book that records them.

Ensuring a sense of brand purpose and value from the top down, respecting consumers and building an empowered enterprise are vital ingredients in surviving the onslaught of modern customer expectations, a panel of industry representative claims.

The decision by Nike to feature controversial American footballer, Colin Kaepernick, in a campaign to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘Just Do It’ took what might have been a strong but potentially forgettable creative and elevated it into the global dialogue. But would any Australian brand dare to do something similar?

Stanford Peace Innovation Lab co-director, Mark Nelson, is calling on CMOs to use technology, and particularly 'peace data', in order to bolster brand purpose while also making inroads and a positive impact towards achieving global peace.