The Human Brand

September 12, 2011 Leave a comment

So, this is essentially a re-blog of an idea I threw up on a now defunct Tumblr about something I’ve been thing about for some time.  Namely, that the primary obstacle that prevents brands from connecting more effectively with people is that they don’t allow themselves to exhibit uniquely human characteristics.  I’m recycling this post, because 14 months later I find myself returning to the same notion, with more evidence that it might actually be useful.  Please share your thoughts, as this is far from complete.

I feel more strongly than ever that brands must serve as a sort of living, breathing companion to the individual.  But, it’s not enough to simply display humanistic tendencies, brands must use them as the basis for growth and innovation.

By human tendencies I mean the development of an opinion or point of view, the desire to form new bonds and to assist in the connection of likeminded individuals, the capacity to listen and empathize and entertain, all while creating something of value.

With all of this laid out, I found myself more lost than when I began, so I set out to simplify and organize the key human tendencies that might apply to brand evolution.  What followed was a preliminary model based on the key characteristics possessed not just by average people, but highly functioning people. It is by no means comprehensive at this point, but represents what I think is a very solid first draft.

Three main tendencies make up our ideal human (or brand): growth, connection and production.

Growth

Characterized by the natural desire to learn new information and skills, develop behaviors that indicate greater social responsibility and heightened consciousness, as well as a desire to seek out new experiences and cultivate of an increasingly more evolved point of view and unique identity.

Connection

Demonstrated by the tendency to share knowledge and opinions, form new bonds and strengthen existing ones, engage in two-way dialogue, and connect other like-minded entities.

Production

Exhibited as the will to create for the sake of self expression and the unwavering belief in a better tomorrow.

All three components are of equal importance for the human brand and are mutually dependent on one another.  For example, the development of a more complex point of view is meaningless if it is not shared with others and used to create something new.  Similarly, seeking out and engaging in new experiences lacks significance if it doesn’t serve as a means for connection with other likeminded individuals.

The model isn’t worth anything if it isn’t applied as a means for growth, in this case to ask the right questions that will lead to the formulation of intelligent strategies.  For example, if a sports apparel brand realized that it wasn’t connecting with high school youth, it could use this framework to pinpoint areas of potential weakness like a lack of a formulated identity that resonated with young people, or a failure to share their years of accumulated knowledge about sport performance.  The next step would then be to reverse these statements to become questions, like how can we more effectively share our vast body of knowledge about performance to create a devoted following?

With this preliminary model in place, we can begin to develop strategies that are more in line with the needs of today’s consumer.

Filed under Brands, Marketing, Strategy

The Dissemination of Pop Culture

July 9, 2011 Leave a comment

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin (who isn’t) and a subscriber to the email updates coming from his Domino Project, which, in a word, is trying to change how books are published, distributed and consumed by the public.  His weekly newsletter posed this question: Does pop culture change top down or do people always get what they deserve?

I love this question because I think it’s central to so many industries, and I don’t see as much discussion directly about this topic as I would like.  The answer, before I go any further is both.  In a capitalist society, needs will eventually be met by someone, because where there are unmet needs there is an opportunity to profit.  However, you’re insane if you don’t think that everyday new “needs” are invented by brands and their marketing machines that you didn’t even know you had.  GPS is a good example.  iPads are an even better one (they sold 10 million in 2010).

The process typically goes like this: a company puts big bucks into hyping and developing a story around a new product, thus creating a perceived need.  Media jumps in and starts propagating this story.  A small (but vital) percentage of the population hears about this because they’re listening carefully.  Some call these people early adopters.  They buy-in and eventually the rest of the population, who consumes what they see everyone else consuming follows and voila, you have the SUV craze.

This model was pretty cut and dry, but more and more lately we’re seeing it operate in different ways, meaning that how you get to widespread adoption is less clearly defined. In other words, there’s no set path.  Instead, and unless you’re Apple, innovators should focus on what they’re bringing into the marketplace.  Is there a real need or just the opportunity to develop a perceived one?  Is this relevant to a large number of people?  Can the purpose of this product, service or idea be easily understood?

Once these questions are answered, get your product on the radars of that small portion of attentive humans, because you can always count on them to tell you (and maybe others) exactly what they think.

Filed under Brands, Business, Culture, Marketing

Percolate: Making Content Creation Even Easier

July 7, 2011 2 Comments

Upon arriving at my desk today, I found my Twitter feed ablaze with talk about Noah Brier’s latest startup, Percolate.  The startup, is essentially a microblogging platform that feeds you select content from Twitter and your Google Reader, and allows you to easily share your thoughts on that content with friends.

In a Fast Company interview about the project, Noah talks about the difficulty of facing the blank box every time you sit down to blog.  It’s daunting, I agree, and the relative isolation of our individual blogs can make figuring out what to write about somewhat difficult.  According to Noah, Twitter revolutionized the game, by shrinking the box.  Now, Percolate aims to get rid of it altogether, by providing you with pieces of content to write about.  Equal parts Tumblr, Twitter and News Reader, Percolate is divided up into a content feed, dubbed the “Filter” and your follower feeds (what people are saying) called the “Brew”.

At first glance this seems to be a worthwhile step forward in helping to make content creation a more accessible and social process, something that Tumblr made strides in but ultimately fell short of.  And isn’t that what all this is about?  Tearing down all the walls preventing us from becoming more informed and inspired human beings?  Kudos to Noah!

By the way, Percolate is still in its double secret alpha phase, so head to Noah’s blog and grab up one of the 30 invites he’s offering up.

Filed under Business, Ideas, Marketing, Media

Johnnie Walker Plays Big in China

June 27, 2011 Leave a comment

If you follow the spirits industry, then you know that whiskey is hitting a high point, not just domestically, but in developing nations like China.  As consumers in the east have increasing amounts of disposable income, high-end spirits from the western hemisphere have increasing appeal.  The Scotch category is growing at 8% value with Diageo’s own Scotch portfolio sales increasing at twice that rate.

Diageo, whose portfolio includes the likes of Johnnie Walker is striking while the iron is hot with some serious marketing to the Chinese consumer with the luxury mindset.  About a month ago, they launched The Johnnie Walker House, a four-story mansion in Shanghai that allows invited guests to sample product under the guise of some of the brands most trusted experts.  The space will also be used to host lectures, dinners, masterclasses, trade events and more.

But, JW didn’t stop there, they created 1,000 bottles of a custom blend, called The 1910 Edition, sold within the house for a mere $2,000 each.  The rare prize is meant to commemorate the original journey taken by Johnnie Walker by boat from Scotland to China in 1910, a perilous journey at the time, all the way around Africa and up through the Indian Ocean.

Read more of this post

Filed under Brands, Culture, Design, Marketing, Strategy

Fan-Fueled Content

June 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Image courtesy of Inn at the Crossroads

Last night I watched the season finale of Game of Thrones.  There’s no question that HBO has found the secret recipe for great storytelling.  And, yes, there is definitely some blood, sex and violence in that recipe, but it’s more than that.  Sometimes, it’s immersing a show in a web of historical anecdotes, as they did with Boardwalk Empire, sometimes, as in the case of Game of Thrones, it’s about withholding just enough information to keep you coming back for more.

But, what really got me excited yesterday, was stumbling upon the Inn At The Crossroads blog, via Jason Kottke. It’s a blog dedicated to recreating the dishes written about in George R.R. Martin’s, Song of Ice and Fire series from which Game of Thrones was based on.

This kind of fan created content sums up the creative beauty and potential that the web has to offer.  In this case, taking excerpts from the book, recreating the recipes from these passages to painstaking levels of detail and then sharing the experience with other quasi-medieval foodies.  It’s amazing.

When brands (and their agencies) figure out how to inspire and grow this sort of fan activity, organically, then we’ll have arrived.

 

Filed under Culture, Marketing, Media

How To Build Your Own A-Team

April 25, 2011 Leave a comment

Working with others is a skill that makes its way into our education at a very early age.  Right off the bat, grade school children are asked to read, write and learn in group settings. Yet, adults in the workforce, struggle as much as anyone to be maximally effective in groups.  And who can blame them, given that group dynamics change with each new challenge, team member, environmental constraint, etc.  It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it takes to put together a team of individuals that can approach problems in creative ways and reach valuable solutions amidst a flurry of limitations.  Personally, my value as an employee at my agency hinges on me being able to play well with others.  But, not only play well, bring out the best in them (and myself).  Below are six things that I think every team needs to consider.

  1. Diversity - The best teams have perspectives that grow out of different disciplines, social sciences, physical sciences, literature, fine arts, all build individuals that interpret and create meaning in the world in different and valuable ways.  The more variation in these perspectives, the more likely a team will be to reach novel solutions.
  2. Common Ground - Team members can’t be so deeply entrenched to their mode of thinking that they’re unable to relate to others.  Another way to look at this is teams must share some a common ground, or purpose.  With my team, that purpose is creating edgy marketing strategies and ideas that we’re proud of.  Our interests vary from neuroscience and quantitative analysis to star wars and fine arts, but we’re all trying to create the same thing, which we take time to explicitly discuss.  Which brings me to my next point…
  3. Clear Goals - Team members need to know what they’re trying to accomplish on any particular project.  This should be stated out right and it should be a mix of loftier (less tangible) thoughts (an idea we’re proud of) to the stuff that will keep you grounded and focused (deepening engagement with customers through social media, etc.)  Keep the goals where everyone can access them.  Return to them frequently to see how you’re strategies, ideas and actions are stacking up.
  4. Structure -  Too much structure stifles creativity, innovation and self-expression.   To be successful on a project you need just enough structure to ensure that action steps are being completed.  Beyond that, shake it up.  Try to do things differently each time.  You’ll find that solutions follow process.
  5. Leadership - Every team needs a leader, someone to turn to when things become unclear.  However, an authoritative leader is the death of a team.  Instead, while there will usually be a clear leader, this individual should float in and out of the position to allow other individuals to jump into the role.
  6. Conflict Resolution -  People disagree.  It’s inevitable.  What matters is that conflicts are brought into the open and discussed.  This is still very challenging for the hegemonic business world, where feelings are irrelevant and problems swept under the rug.  Hash out your problems and disagreements, not to prove someone right or wrong, but to strengthen your team.  Left un-addressed, small disagreements can grow into deep rifts.

Let me know what you think.  Did I miss something?  Is this as applicable to all occupations as it is for mine?

Filed under Business, Marketing

The Strategist’s Dilemma

March 31, 2011 Leave a comment

Filed under Brands, Marketing, Strategy

Jim Beam’s ‘Bold Choice’ Campaign Commercial is Nearly Perfect and Here’s Why…

February 16, 2011 Leave a comment

This very introspective commercial, starring Willem Dafoe is fantastic.  On the surface, Jim Beam explores the importance of the choices we make throughout our lives, urging us to side with ones that lead us down the road less traveled.  But, this piece is about much more than choices.  It’s about becoming the most complete version of ourselves, a notion that no doubt resonates strongly with their (I’m guessing) 23-40, male target.  You can run the car company or you can work for it.  You can be the showman or you can clean up after him.

The spot also plays well on the cultural notions associated, at this point in time, with American Whiskey, namely as being refined and experienced.  But, unlike scotch, not pretentious and showy.  Whiskey drinkers have been places, they have dirt under their fingernails, but they’re careful, namely, with their choices in life.

American Whiskey is enjoying a fantastic period of growth right now, due in small part to it’s integral role in popular culture (i.e. Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men).  But, it’s success is much bigger than that.  I personally think, it’s tied somehow to patriotism.  But, not the sort of “gun-toting, foreigner-hating” patriotism we often think of.  This is deeper than that.  Perhaps the only spirit that is uniquely ours, American whiskey is in our DNA.  And men who choose to drink it, are able to portray themselves as a refined American, that embodies uniqueness, as it’s not currently seen as a common choice.

Finally, to those who feel that I’ve read way too deeply into this, I say, do not underestimate the importance that a man places on his choice of libations.  At a bar, he knows his drink says a lot about who he is.  His drink, if chosen correctly, is a mimicked conversation piece that proves he is a bold individual.

Congrats to Strawberry Frog for their great work.

Filed under Brands, Culture, Marketing, Strategy

Is Advertising a Science?

February 15, 2011 1 Comment

This quote comes from Scientific Advertising, a highly-acclaimed book written by the famous Lord & Thomas copywriter, Claude Hopkins in 1923, reissued in the fifties with an introduction by David Ogilvy.  I’m not sure what I love most, the fact that this was written in 1923 or that it was penned by a copywriter.  Either way, ponder the question for a while.  The more you think about it, the more nebulous it will become.

 

Filed under Brands, Marketing

The Agency Challenge (from The Planning Lab)

February 6, 2011 Leave a comment

The purpose of this blog is not to be an echo chamber for the rest of the web.  I repeat: the purpose of this blog is not to be an echo chamber for the rest of the web.  With that in mind, I’d like to re-post this piece written by Leon at his blog The Planning Lab.

Nov. 29, 2010

Today’s agency challenge isn’t digital thinking or innovation but a reality check.

Why?

Because too many agencies (i.e. offices with people that have advertising background and sell creative services to companies that want to sell more stuff and/or build their brand) see themselves as more than just advertising agencies. Which is fair when it comes to marketing yourself as the new hot shit. But a bit problematic, given the fact that zero advertising people throughout history have managed to come up with anything really innovative. Like the computer on the picture. Or even the cable that attaches to it. If advertising people could invent iPhones or come up with new search engine logarithms and be rich as f**ks, trust me they would.

An important reality check for us all.  However, that’s not to say that we shouldn’t be trying to innovative, experiment, explore and make things.  In fact, I think it’s essential to being any good at this business at all, and not simply trying to mimic or improve on the last cool thing you saw.  The question I find myself asking is, “When?”, considering all unused brain power goes towards trying to keep up with what everyone else is currently doing, because, on some level, I deem it as being relevant.  The thing is, all those RSS feeds will never be as useful as real experience.  BBH Labs offers an interesting perspective in a post entitled, Think While You Make, Make While You Think and Mark Pollard makes a great argument for Why Strategists Should Make Stuff.  These posts ought to provide us with all the reasoning and motivation to get off our computers and do something.

Filed under Marketing, Strategy

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