Context and its Role

Context provides the connection for a brand's relevance in specific cultural or economic situations. There are three stages of brand contextual maturity:

• Stage one: Reflects. The brand mimics the social and economic environment. (dependent)
  
• Stage two: Adapts. The brand actively changes in relation to the environment. (independent)
  
• Stage three: Projects. The brand creates new social constructs or economic rules for other to mimic or adapt to over time. (interdependent)
  

Brands in stage one that reflect merely imitate the competition - they live for the day with little regard for the future. Brands that adapt earn the right to survive over time. Brands that project themselves earn a position to thrives by changing the rules and the fitness landscape for everyone else.