Progress is personal: How brands can play their part in an uncertain environment

This article was originally published by WARC.

In a marketing environment increasingly shaped by emerging technology and AI, marketing must remain rooted in humanness. People aren’t just a collection of needs or pain points; we’re holistic humans who thrive through adaptability and creativity. Throughout evolution, when faced with challenges like extreme weather or resource scarcity, humans adapted and progressed. This ability to adapt is what drives us today.

Progress is empowering. It feeds our internal narrative, reinforcing our sense of identity as individuals who adapt and move forward. Even small wins provide a dopamine hit, creating positive feedback loops that confirm we’re succeeding. We need to feel we’re making progress consistently – not just with the significant milestones, but also in small, personal, everyday achievements. And we’re drawn to brands that reflect this as well.

Whether it’s the major milestones of progress or small wins, people’s sense of progress doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For our latest major research study at TRA, we asked Australians and New Zealanders how they perceived their nation’s progress. Only about 2 in 10 think their country has made progress in the past two years, while over 4 in 10 feel it has regressed. Yet, amid this lack of optimism, humans continue to push forward. Despite challenging circumstances, individuals are forging their own paths to progress.

This is evident in our data. Thirty-seven per cent of people say they are making more progress than they were two years ago, and 44% expect to make even more progress in the coming year. Those under 34 are particularly optimistic, with 60% anticipating more progress.

So, if national progress isn't aligning with individual ambitions, where are people turning for support? Eight out of ten Australians believe brands can play a role in helping people progress. They also informed us what this looks like.

The AI progress gap

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. At the beginning of this article, I mentioned AI. As part of our research, we aimed to understand how people perceive this in the context of progress. What we found is that most individuals do not feel that companies are leveraging technology, particularly AI, to assist them in making personal progress. Half of the survey respondents believe that AI is aiding companies in their advancement, but not their customers.

This means the jury is still out on how a company’s use of AI may assist customers in making progress in their lives. While approximately one third believes it will enable brands to understand customers and enhance engagement, another third disagrees, and the remaining are undecided. The same ratio applies to how companies will employ AI to innovate and support people in making progress.

Six ways to move forwards

So, if future technology isn’t where the opportunity lies, how can brands help people move forward? Here are six key themes we identified during the analysis:

1. Celebrate the big and small

People recognise progress in small ways. According to the survey, we keep our stories of progress and success close – we’re more likely to share them with a family member, a close friend, or thank someone than to post about it on social media. Brands can acknowledge this by celebrating personal success. A great example of leveraging this is Cadbury’s Made to Share campaign, which taps into the idea of ‘thanking someone’ by celebrating everyday acts of generosity.

2. Create a community

Making progress often feels easier when undertaken together. For instance, The Warehouse Group’s Every Little Bit Helps initiative encouraged customers to make positive environmental choices, such as purchasing eco-friendly products. It fostered a sense of community by enabling participants to share their progress on social media, inspire one another, and receive rewards for their efforts.

3. Incorporate personal development

Incorporating elements of personal growth into products or services creates positive feedback loops that reinforce behaviour, making people feel good about their progress. For instance, the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria’s (RACV) Better Driving, Better Lives initiative combined road safety with personal development to encourage customers to enhance their driving skills, while fostering a sense of accomplishment.

4. Encourage through storytelling and inspiration

Witnessing others progress can motivate us to follow suit. Bendon, for example, utilised its platform to showcase personal growth stories of women from various backgrounds in the Celebrate Your Progress campaign. By emphasising body positivity, self-confidence, and health, the brand resonated with the concept of progress as a personal narrative of development and growth.

5. Provide clear, actionable tools and resources

Providing people with the tools they need to succeed helps them feel in control. Brands need not work alone; they can partner with organisations to offer resources. For instance, Woolworths teamed up with the Heart Foundation to promote healthy eating through their Healthy Heart Check products, employing in-store signage and online tools to steer customers towards healthier choices.

6. Offer incentives for small steps

People need recognition for even the smallest steps forward. Telstra’s Telstra Plus program rewards customers with points for everyday actions like paying bills on time, reinforcing the idea that small progress deserves acknowledgement.

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Ultimately, brands that focus on taking actions and approaches that specifically support and help people make progress will create an emotional connection. In turn, this will build trust and, therefore, differentiation in a competitive market by unlocking the positive feedback loops that encourage loyalty. While technology offers exciting possibilities for marketing, the most successful brands will be those that remember the importance of human connection, by acknowledging our internal desire to make progress.

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