As Evaluation System in the brand field, the Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System evaluates the progress and achievements of brands in the transformation and construction as an Ecosystem Brand. The Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System is jointly developed by Kantar, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, and Harvard Business Review China. Brands from Haier Group were researched, and evaluation data of their Ecosystem Brand practice was collected for case study and pilot verification. It gives access to Ecosystem Brand evaluation to companies and brands around the world, encourages more companies to participate in Ecosystem Brand building, and promotes social economy to develop into a more valuable and meaningful direction.
1. Evaluation Model
In order to evaluate and measure the performance of a brand, the Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System evaluates brands from three perspectives: Co-evolution, Value Circulation and Brand Purpose.
Co-evolution: The symbiosis of all participants in the ecosystem is the necessary condition for the vigorous development of Ecosystem Brand. Co-evolution is manifested in the continuous interaction between the brand and the user and the collaborative co-creation with ecosystem partners. At the same time, during the Ecosystem Brand building, participants can interact and co-create more smoothly, and jointly promote the progress of the ecosystem;
Value Circulation: The continuous and cyclical growth of ecosystem value is the sufficient condition for the sustainable development of Ecosystem Brand. The brand continues to create, deliver, and share value for users and ecosystem partners, forming cycles;
Brand Purpose: The contribution to the promotion of sustainable development and the enhancement of the overall social value, is the ultimate mission of Ecosystem Brand. The core of the Brand Purpose is the “Maximising the Value of People”. While maximising the value of users, ecosystem partners and employees, the brand also contributes to the overall value of society.
Under these three perspectives, five core dimensions of the evaluation model are included:
2. Evaluation Method
In the evaluation process of Ecosystem Brand, the evaluating party will combine different dimensions and types of data to comprehensively evaluate the brand’s performance in the practice of Ecosystem Brand building. The entire evaluation process includes three evaluation methods:
3. Evaluation Results
Based on the performance index of participating brands, the final evaluation results are integrated and presented as “Ecosystem Brand Energy Map”.
Based on the point of trisection of the vertical and horizontal axis, the Ecosystem Brand Energy Map is divided into three areas with light to dark colours. The brands distributed in these three areas belong to “Climber”, “Contender” and “Leader”.
Climber - intends to transform to Ecosystem Brand and has taken actions.
Contender - has transformed to Ecosystem Brand rapidly with key breakthrough.
Leader - has outstanding achievements and remarkable impact in Ecosystem Brand building.
Through the Ecosystem Brand Energy Map, participating brands can clarify their own development maturity on the road to construct an Ecosystem Brand, and at the same time have an in-depth understanding of best practices of leading brands. Furthermore, the brand can continue to achieve breakthroughs in the transformation and construction of an Ecosystem Brand, from “Climber” to “Contender” and finally to “Leader” level.
4. Participation Condition and Value
The ecosystem is without boundaries. The evaluation of Ecosystem Brand on a global scale does not limit the industries and regions where the participating brands are located, however, the following three conditions must be met to ensure the feasibility of evaluation:
- Branded operation: Participants need to carry out branded operation, that is, have a brand name, logo, brand purpose and vision, etc., and carry out corresponding brand building activities;
- Brand transformation intention: Participants are already or are willing to transform into an Ecosystem Brand, such as by building a multi-win and symbiotic ecosystem, dynamically capturing user needs, and working with ecosystem partners to create customised products/services/solutions covering all scenarios for users;
- Case/data provision: Participants can provide brand cases and related data during the evaluation cycle as required.
Participating in Ecosystem Brand evaluation can bring multiple values to participating parties:
- Use the open and diversified Ecosystem Brand communication platform to communicate and discuss with Ecosystem Brand builders/experts to improve your own Ecosystem Brand building path
- Understand your own brand development maturity on the Ecosystem Brand building path and transform to a more mature stage of Ecosystem Brand through benchmarking research on “Leaders”
- Improve brand awareness and brand influence, and obtain more resources and opportunities
- Improve employee pride and attract more talents who agree with the development direction of the brand to join the company
5. Evaluation System Call to Action
Every concept needs to be verified in the extensive practice of society, and be further evolved and improved. A brand, an institution or an industry field alone cannot accomplish the exploration and research on its own of the Ecosystem Brand paradigm and the construction and development of the Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System. As a new and all-inclusive brand paradigm, Ecosystem Brand can have a long-term and far-reaching impact on all parties involved in the ecosystem, and even on the broader social level. Therefore, we hope to cross the boundaries of brands, industries, countries and regions, and allow brand builders, industry experts, research institutions, and many more to participate in the construction and evolution of the Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System to communicate, discuss, learn, and practice together – and truly benefit from it.
The Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System will officially open evaluation to global companies in 2022, and detailed participation procedures and time arrangements will be released at that time. As an open platform, the Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System will provide participants (including participating brands, experts and scholars, research institutions, etc.) with rights including but not limited to: understanding and participating in Ecosystem Brand evaluation, participating in the research and discussion of Ecosystem Brand concepts, learning Ecosystem Brand best practices, and exploring brand growth and development paths. We hope that participants from the world will join us in this platform, learning and benefiting from the platform, growing together and ultimately make the Ecosystem Brand paradigm prevailed worldwide.
We sincerely invite brands joining us in this platform, to transform and evolve your brands to win in this new era!
Fill out the form and download the introduction document
To participant in the Ecosystem Brand Evaluation, please contact ariel.cheng@kantar.com.
To obtain the introduction document of Ecosystem Brand Evaluation System, please fill in the form as below.