OLIVER Growth Series

For the last four years, Kate Davies has been pivotal in leading the Guardian’s strategy for both brand affinity and commercial growth.Today, The Guardian is one of the most trusted news brands globally, regularly celebrated for its reader-funded approach, purpose-driven journalism, and digital maturity. This year, with Kate at the helm, the publication celebrates its 200th anniversary.

With race, diversity, environmental impact, sustainability, and workplace moral codes stirring tough conversations inside blue-chip businesses, Ranila Ravi-Burslem looks at the ways in which brands will be truly judged today. As an FTSE 100 female leader, Ranila shares her views on achieving personal and professional growth while in the vacuum of a recession, her criteria for true innovation, and her experience as a minority ethnic female in the financial services industry. Her aim? To explore how every business – from charities to banks – can achieve more growth, and more meaning for customers, in 2021.

High street retailers must follow where their customers go, and eCommerce is the high street, the supply chain, and the brand experience today. Customers now expect retailers to be able to interact with them in different ways; providing experiences that are accessible, personalized, and helpful.

Insurance brands have an important role to play in our lives – and yet this brand truth isn’t necessarily felt by consumers. The Association of British Insurers recently said that building trust must become the finance and insurance industry’s number one job for 2021. But how do large legacy brands, like AXA, do that in an economic downturn?