Connection is a verb.

How do we build messages, communities, and experiences that don’t just talk at people but truly connect with them?

Real connection isn’t about talking. It’s about action. Brands that solve real life problems can earn belief, trust, and awards.

This is especially pertinent in a world where government debt means cracks in society are growing ever wider, as what’s left behind is the opportunity for brands to be genuinely useful (and therefore meaningful) by solving genuine problems.

This isn’t just a nice idea. Connecting with audiences by fixing problems is a route to make great work - just look at the number of Cannes Lions winners over the last couple of years who have solved real problems.

‘Daisy’ , the AI grandma from O2, became a scammer’s worst nightmare and prevented thousands of scammer hours from being spent on real people. Axa Insurance included domestic violence as a risk within its home insurance policies and solved a genuine problem for women at risk, delivering a 9% increase in new contracts.

As fake news and digital platforms destroy our trust in what we’re told, people increasingly need to see something working in the real world to believe it.

Building connection means acknowledging that we need to ‘see it, to believe it.’

There are various ways that brands can connect to customers and show that they have listened, and invested in what those customers care about:

• By developing products or services in response to lived needs

• By showing up locally, when it matters

• By investing in real‑world communities

• By tackling societal problems, aligned to business reality

Brands like M&S and Nike showed they were listening when they created adaptive clothing ranges. And when after Hurricane Katrina, Walmart got food and water into the region before the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency did, and turned stores and car parks into community hubs, they earned huge amounts of goodwill. Or we can look to the Bored of Dating Apps platform who have grown in response to changing needs from UK singles by committing to real life, hosted community events.

So if you’re a brand and you want to build connection with your audience, where should you start?

• Look for the things in your audience’s lives that they struggle with, and explore how you could help.

• Ask on the ground staff what marketing can do to help solve issues they see day in and out.

• Get to know the organisations who are already solving problems for communities close to your brand.

• Be humble, and listen.

Then commit to investing in action that will be felt on the ground, and over time, because connection lives in what we do.