REPORT: Most Corporations' Workplace Is Two Generations Culturally Removed From The New Marketplace©

NEW YORK, June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- REFRAME: The [Brand]™ a business acceleration platform, released the marketing and communication industry's first "State of the Total Market Industry Vertical Report" at the inaugural REFRAME: The [Brand] (RTB) Master Class on May 6, 2017 in New York City. The Total Market topic is an innovative change management solution to help brands seize a $3.5T opportunity. Fortune 1000 companies ranging from Verizon (Technology), MillerCoors (Beverage), Publicis Media (Media) and FCB (Creative) participated.

Over 60 interviews, desk research and observations throughout 2016 contributed to the report findings. The conclusion? The workplace makeup (and practices) is two generations culturally behind the marketplace it seeks to appeal to, leaving a significant gap between the way companies operate and the way their consumers increasingly demand them to communicate and function.

Key findings from the report are captured within the areas of Structure, Segments, Strategy, Systems and Solutions (The 5S's):

• Structure: Within an organization it is everyone's responsibility to understand the wants, needs, attitudes and behavior of the total addressable audience, which sometimes requires targeted, nuanced efforts. This approach has to be embedded as an organizational competency versus executed within a separate functional group within the organization.
• Segments: The definition of multicultural as a consumer segment is now much broader and more complex than ever before. Every Fortune 1000 brand should mandate investment in custom research and oversample ethnic consumer segments within their segmentation.
• Strategy: The need to address the new marketplace and workplace is still misunderstood, underfunded, and not prioritized within large and midsize organizations because of legacy systems, the institutionalization of risk aversion and lack of data.
• Systems: Most large and midsize organizations have the capabilities to enable and accelerate new marketplace and workplace outcomes however, there is a lack of integration and collaboration across decision-makers in core functional areas such as marketing, finance, operations, HR, and corporate social responsibility.
• Solutions: Most vendors and partners competing for contracts from large and midsize brands embrace the idea of the Total Market industry vertical and the new marketplace and workplace approach. However, the approach has not been well-executed by brands, causing disruption to the procurement model whereby women/minority-owned firms are most impacted.

A sample of companies and brands assessed in the State of the Total Market Industry Vertical Report includes: Coca-Cola, Google, General Mills, Kimberly – Clark, McDonald's, P&G, PepsiCo, Target, Toyota, Verizon and Wal-Mart. The companies and brands were assessed using a proprietary, break-through Total Market Enterprise™ (TME) maturation scoring model. All were found with a varying degree of gaps between their workplace practices and the new marketplace. It presents a need for executive education and tangible tools for executives to act now and close the gap.

The Total Market topic is a disruptive approach to realizing and addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse marketplace. Since its reintroduction in 2010 the Total Market topic has been met with misunderstanding and apprehension. The State of Total Market Industry Vertical Report is designed to aid senior executives in better understanding the topic and how to approach modernizing their organizations from the inside out.  The report provides Total Market terminology, case studies, benchmarks and best practices for brands looking to modernize their marketing and workplace to meet the demands of the new marketplace.

"Leading global advertising and communications organizations requires the ability to drive innovation and integrated change at scale. I've watched Jeffrey and RTB experiment, iterate and grow into an integrated platform for large brands and agencies. His approach to workplace and marketplace transformation is deeply thoughtful and innovative and should be applied across our industry globally, for us to remain relevant to employees and our audiences – now and in the future," said Cynthia Augustine, global chief talent officer of FCB, an Interpublic Group agency.

"We've been on a journey in trying to future-proof our workplace for the future of the marketplace. We are not there yet but know we are on the right path of optimizing our internal ways of working to excel in a new marketplace that is even more diverse and more dynamic than ever before," said Ben Feeney, Director of Foresight and Design at MillerCoors."

"At Publicis Media, we believe that fostering an inclusive culture where all talent can thrive makes our company stronger and the work we do for our clients better. We also believe it enables a greater idea exchange that fuels innovation and best reflects diverse consumer experiences. We support RTB's Total Market Enterprise™ approach to workplace transformation because it is an innovative and scalable method for addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse marketplace," said Lisa Torres, President - Multicultural, Publicis Media.

"Given the new age of acceleration, it is important that brands unlock value within organizations through new marketplace and workplace executive education. The Millennial and Z generations will only accelerate change within the workplace and marketplace because of how diverse in thinking, demographically, attitudes and behaviors they are different from previous generations," said Jeffrey L. Bowman, author, President and CEO of REFRAME: The [Brand].

This fall RTB will continue its executive educational offering with a Master Class series in major cities throughout the country. More details here:  https://www.reframethebrand.com/the-events. RTB also offers advisory and consulting services while providing premium executive educational content that allow clients to understand their level of new marketplace readiness and engage and enable their staff to make changes within their organizations.

About REFRAME: The [Brand]

REFRAME: The [Brand] (www.reframethebrand.com) is a business acceleration platform that helps brands and businesses prepare their workplace for the new marketplace by providing consulting and a change management platform for Fortune 500 brands. Considered a pioneer of the Total Market approach for the marketplace and Total Market Enterprise™ (TME) approach for the workplace, they are the new industry leader in consulting, delivery, training and executive education about the RTB Total Market Approach (TMA) and RTB Total Market Enterprise™ (TME) approach.

Media contact:
REFRAME:  The [Brand]
Danielle Robinson Bell
(512) 466 – 6592
[email protected]

SOURCE REFRAME: The [Brand]