Sunday, October 19, 2008

Semantics for Real

I recently listened to a presentation by Steven Pinker on language and the human brain. He is a neuroscientist who has specialized in the way people use and respond to language. There are some very interesting, innate behaviors associated with this that transect race, class and culture. I was there because I had a sneaky feeling that the subject would shed some light on the changes going on in the world of branding right now. My hunch was right and this is what I came away with.

People engage in different types of relationships and, for the purpose of linguistics, these are divided into 3 categories.

Dominant
Reciprocal
Communal

Dominant relationships are ones in which one person is clearly in control. It could be your boss or the maitre de at the restaurant you want to eat at. Reciprocal relationships are transactional; you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Buying a used car from a stranger or chatting with a store attendant would fit here. Finally there are communal relationships. This would be your spouse, family and friends.

So, not surprisingly, there are a completely different set of linguistic rules and norms at play in each of these categories. You wouldn't adopt the same conversational style with your brother as you would with a colleague or a server in a restaurant. In fact, we experience discomfort and unease in situations where the conversational style does not fit the relationship type. Have you ever been made to feel uncomfortable when somebody you had a reciprocal relationship with started talking to you about a personal problem? That conversation is out of place outside of a communal relationship and it makes you feel weird.

This starts to be relevant to consumer behavior and branding when we look at the history of marketing over the last 50 or so years. People used to look up to corporations and trust them. Corporations basically told people what to do and they did it. Marketing messages were directive and commanding. Buy Clorox! Drive a Chrysler! This is language that is associated with dominant relationships and worked at a time when people were comfortable being led by corporations. As consumers evolved they moved into reciprocal relationships with brands and the messages became more of an appeal than a command. It was a case of persuading the consumer to enter into an exchange. The language of branding moved into the category of the reciprocal language that we all innately use to communicate within this type of relationship. This is definitely simplistic but you get my drift…

Now this is where things get really interesting. I would suggest that what is underway right now is a transition towards communal type relationships with brands. We want to know who companies are, if they share our values, if they conform to our perspective on the world and so on. We are demanding relationships with companies and brands that go far beyond the transaction, and a level of engagement that is more akin to what we expect from our friends. We expect honesty and openness. Demand responsiveness and recognition of ourselves as individuals. We seek engagement through dialogue of some kind and a collaborative environment in which to explore our options. Basically we are looking for communal relationships with all the complexities involved.

In order to survive this shift, companies need to understand the semantic and linguistic rules that define communal relationships and employ them in the way that they speak to their customers. People are a long way from wanting to be told what to do and traditional, persuasive branding that has no relationship with the actual values and behavior of the company is wearing thin. Communal relationships will only be fostered by companies able to speak the language that engenders them and then ensure that they have an authentic and sustainable engagement with their customers. We, as humans, innately sense deception within communal relationships so they can't be faked. This is the reason for the growing emphasis on authenticity in branding. Nobody woke up and decided it was time to get real. Companies are unable to practice deception in the context of a communal relationship without coming across as insincere and tinny. The best thing about all of this is it's science. It's measurable and quantifiable and easily demonstrated by everyday examples to which we can all relate. It's also a great argument for the huge importance in continuing investment in marketing strategy during this time of transition. Mr. Pinker has written a couple of pretty popular books on the subject if its something you want to know more about.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Pick a Pole or Take a Stroll

Does the polarization of wealth in the US spell the demise of, not only the middle class, but the middle class brand?


We hear a lot about polarization in this lead up the the '08 election. It shows up nicely in politics because of the necessity of picking a side, and then voting towards a presidential outcome. But polarization in politics is simply the most obvious manifestation of a more pervasive phenomena that is impacting all aspects of our culture and economy and defining our behavior within in.

Polarization of wealth is an ever more apparent. Marx, in his capacity as an economist, rather than political theorist, was right about a lot of this stuff. The latest $700 billion bailout marks the latest and greatest march north of what used to be middle class tax payers money. According to the New York times, a mere $153 million would put you on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list in 1982. Today the number is $1.3 billion. It would appear that the future of the monetary north pole remains rosy while the actual North Pole melts into the sea.

Down at the south pole things are getting a little busy. A population explosion of unprecedented proportions is swelling the ranks of the poor poor, poor working class, poor middle class and all poor buggers in general. The chances are, if you were any where close to, or south of the financial equator a year or two ago, you are now migrating south towards the 'no disposable income zone'.



So the question becomes............ Who's left in the middle?

Well hardly anybody really. The middle class will remain intact from the standpoint of being an identifiable group, but what it means to be in that group is going to change drastically. It's going to be bitter medicine for a while until the absolute necessity of adopting a more sustainable model of consumption becomes de rigor. The epiphany that we should have had a decade or so ago, grew up and became a cataclysmic wipe out. Oops.

Basically the middle class is no longer a screeching gannet with an insatiable appetite for garbage. The brands that have been selling average quality goods to Joe Average (six pack), based on his very average expectations are taking a hit. Business Week's report on the top 10 best, and worst performing brands lists The Gap and Ford in the losers column. (The other three are banks). The real tell here is Gap. Friend to middle America for so long and now abandoned. What did they do wrong.

I would suggest that they failed to pick a pole. They are neither the cheapest or the best and they offer no compelling experience or point of emotional engagement for their customers. Every body just kind of wandered off and decided to spend more (or nothing at all) and hang out on the sofas at Anthropology.

So what is the future of the middle class brand and what adjustments must they make to remain in business as their customer base redefines value in the way they spend their limited cash?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Brand Personification


Brands are becoming more like people every day. I am not talking about Jack and Ronald and I did not 'Talk to Chuck' about any of this. Brand personification has moved beyond those cardboard cutouts controlled by the companies that create them. The internet with its search engines and social networking has changed that forever. Brands, like us, have no meaningful existence outside of the constantly changing perceptions, interactions and relationships that they share with others. They must learn to see themselves this way. Through the eyes of their virtual community.

Brands are going to have good and bad days. Plug the name of your favorite company into any search engine and see how it is doing right now. You will likely find yourself perusing the shared perspective of multiple individuals and entities, including that of the company itself if it's smart, on wikipedia.com or some such site. This fluidity of what constitues the brand has given it a living quality that is more akin to our own existence and this should give us some insight into what to do about it.

Brands are going to get sick, get better, get hangovers and get punished or rewarded according to their behavior, as percieved by everyone and anyone. There will be times when they get away with it, and times that they get blamed unfairly. Every day will be different, so brands need to learn how to roll with the punches and then stand up and defend themselves. They must grow and adapt, learn and engage, relate and respond. All the things that we do to navigate through our own lives.

Translating this into a coherent strategy is more complicated but the foundation of that strategy is simple. If your brand was a person, what kind of person would you want it to be?

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Invisible Consumer


Q - How many MBA, statistical marketing pros does it take to find me, and everyone out there like me, in current consumer data?

A - None. I'm not there!

Not so funny when it's your marketing budget is it?

So who am I?

I am a professional, educated, fairly sophisticated and informed woman in my mid 30's. I am socially liberal, fiscally moderate and tuned in to current global and national affairs in that order. All my friends are fascinating and unique individuals who happen to be just like me and, it occurs to me that we are incredibly low profile in terms of our activity as consumers.

We don't watch much
TV and turn our noses up at advertising. We actually pride ourselves on being brand resistant, and don't think of shopping as a recreational activity. Actually, we are just as likely to buy our clothes in consignment and vintage stores and we pluck custom gems off eBay when they show up through our pre-programmed searches. We don't like being sold to and believe we have transcended the need for gaudy and obvious symbols of our status and wealth such as labels and luxury cars. It's actually almost impossible to pick us out of a crowd because we don't try to differentiate ourselves based on our appearance.

My friends spend money on things like flying lessons and pick up free t-shirts at museum openings and opera fundraisers. They spend on travel but are just as likely to be found hitching a ride across Malta as they are ensconced, in the spa, at the Four Seasons, Anywhere. Their focus in on value and quality but that could mean anything from finding the best burrito in town to spending thousands on top quality
surround sound or the latest electronics. It's just so hard to nail them down.

The bottom line is they don't create
recognizable consumer patterns and they are effectively invisible to statistical marketers. When companies ask you to quantify these guys because they represent a new breed of consumer, your going to have a tough time doing it, unless I am missing something. What they are is savvy, affluent, and about to come into a lot of money courtesy of their baby boomer parents. They represent an increasingly important segment to marketers because they're where all the money went. You know, the money that the mainstream, middle class used to spend at the gap and upgrading to HDTV at BestBuy before they went broke.

So how do you sell to folks like us. The answer is you don't. We spend a little bit of time getting to know each other and then embark on a relationship in which you, the company, meets my lofty ideals and I, the people, reward you by consuming within the shared value space you have created for me.

Simplistic and vaguely silly to be sure but not totally off the mark..... Pitch in and help me out.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Talk The Walk






Why a strong values messaging strategy is critical to the performance and profitability of your business.

So let me be absolutely clear on what I am saying here. If a company:

a) identifies its core values - who it is and what it represents,
b) articulates those values as clear, compelling, positive messages and,
c) integrates those messages into the sales, customer service, human resources, operations and all the other functions of the business.......

The people and practices that constitute the business will realign to conform to the core values as defined in the messaging strategy.

Hence Talk the Walk. By saying it's true well enough, often enough and consistently enough in your business, the values that you want to project and the practices that support them become true. Or, at least, more true. They become your business.

This is a pretty well accepted idea in the human behavior department. It's called Fake it till you make it by the cynics, and Create your own reality by the mystics. It's most easily verifiable in studies that have been done with school children and the establishment of high expectations in a "You can do it!" environmnet. These kids, pretty much without exception, do better. They are responding to a strong messaging strategy that says "you are smart, you are a high achiever....", and creates expectation that are in line with that - "You will get high grades, you will be top of the school".

This example of individual, human behavior in response to strong messaging strategy would not have created a compelling case for change in the way companies do business up until now. However, a shift in consumer values and preferences means that people are looking for a values based, emotional and experiential engagement with the companies that they buy from. This is not unlike the way those same people meet and make friends and it is very different from the more utility and product brand based consumption that we have seen in the past. Consumer engagement, and hence sales, relies upon a companies ability to identify, articulate and project core messages that are in line with the prevailing landscape of consumer values. What consumers are starting to tell business is that "We have to like you before we will buy from you." First impressions are a big deal in this scenario and, a well executed core messaging strategy allows companies to, both make that impression, and move their organizations towards meeting the expectations associated with it.

All of this places strategic values messaging at the center of the larger strategic development of a company, right where it belongs. It highlights the huge, material significance of the funding developing and executing sound messaging strategy within any business that seeks to engage today's Conscious Consumer.


Monday, August 25, 2008

GETTING THE MESSAGE - Part I


Traditionally ad and marketing companies are retained to create positive images and messages that are then pasted over the top of whatever product a company is trying to sell. That is known as branding. A favorable representation, a facade, an illusion, a feeling….. call it what you will, it has very little to do with a company and, often, only a tentative relationship with a product. It has nothing to do with operational and organizational development of the business whatsoever so there is no need for it to be complete, accurate or even true. Imagine talking the same approach towards your accounting functions. Actually don’t imagine it. There are lots of great examples of financial branding, the best of which is Enron. The question isn’t why branding has become so much less effective in recent years, but why it lasted as long as it did?

People Don’t Change!

No they don’t, but the circumstances in which they continue to behave with total predictability do. There are social and cultural changes underway that are changing consumer behavior and undermining the power of the brand. The first of these is the psyche of the American consumer. Dating back to the birth of true consumerism in the 50’s, the public has been generally trusting of big companies and willing to believe the representations that they make about their products and themselves. Well let’s just think of that as the age of corporate unaccountability. Not all companies behaved irresponsibly but, if financially motivated to do so, they did and with impunity. Also, when those same companies represented job security, decent pay for hard work, a health safety net and a solid pension, nobody asked too many questions.

I won't run down the list of events that have been exposed and have eroded this sense of confidence, but multiple, high profile scandals have reinforced the notion that corporations are in business to benefit a very small number of wealthy stakeholders at the expense of employees and the general public. People have stopped trusting business and this is bad news for branding.

And Now Ladies and Gentlemen,

may I bring you the INTERNET. Reasonably skeptical consumers can gather information about a company that would, previously, not been of interest or even available. How do you treat your employees…. BIFF! What’s your safety record like…..BANG!. What’s your record on waste disposal and child labor…..WHAK! Executive pay scales, pending litigation, fair trade, sustainability…….. Ouch! That hurts and that’s before you even get into peer generated product reviews and social networking.

And One More Thing....

I am starting to feel like a bully but there really is one more thing. There is a significant shift in the values and preferences of today’s consumers, and these are being expressed in the choices they are making. Emerging values center on a bunch of intangible qualities like awareness, independence, individualism and sustainability. How the hell do you brand to those people. They actually pride themselves on being brand resistant. That’s called “awareness” and it's a problem. Where are all those nice people who just wanted to look rich and have stuff get bigger? The point is that things are changing. Not all over the country and not at warp speed but a new generation of values coming down the pike. It’s not a trend or a fad and its not going away because it's being driven by very real economic and social considerations like the cost of gas and the fact that Del Mar is falling into the ocean. This shift is going to continue until it represents the dominant cultural code that drives behavior across our whole lives. That is huge.

So What Now?

There is an answer – of course there is and I am going to call it

Conscious Consumer Engagement...... It's the next big thing, Seriously!


Tune in to Getting the Message – Part II for more on that.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Branding Only Works on Cattle

Jonathan Salem Baskin is the author of the book "Branding Only Works on Cattle." He is scheduled to speak at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco in October which is how I came across him.

This is pretty gripping stuff from a strategic copy writing and values messaging perspective. It actually starts a conversation with the elephant that has been working its way towards the center of the room for some time. If patience was my virtue, I would be anxiously anticipating the arrival of said book but it's all just too exciting and, having read an overview of the book, I am going to extrapolate with my own perspective on this subject.

Branding is a collection of fairly established practices and methodologies that were born with the consumer age and then formalized into the ad, PR and marketing industries. The incorporation and departmentalization of the knowledge at the heart of these industries created, somewhat paradoxically, a structure that is too rigid to respond to the constantly shifting landscape of consumer behavior, values and preferences. Until recently, the decline in the relevance of branding has been gradual because the cultural change that precipitates it has also been gradual. Styles and trends have changed, as they do, but the basic tenants of consumer behavior have stayed very much the same for the last several decades.

So something is definitely up. From my spot in San Francisco I can actually see and feel things shifting and changing around me. It's very exciting and makes me think that I am at the center of something very important that will change our lives in ways we have only just started to imagine. That sounds rather lofty and inaccessible but, in a way, that is what business is dealing with in the shape of the new, conscious consumer. These people simply aren't responding to all the good old tricks, so what has really changed?

The Consumer - Ummmm....No. People don't change, unless you are talking about tracts of time that take us back to the reptilian state. We still do whatever we can to project strength and superiority to our peers. Now we do this through the way we consume. The ego is alive and well and the driver of all discretionary spending. Eckhart Tolle is definitely on the case but he as a ways to go.

The Economy - I would hate to rule it out. There is quite simply a lot less money around so people are putting more thought into how they spend. Either they REALLY need it, or they REALLY want it. The thing is, if you're not on the really needed list then you better be on the really wanted list or you're history.

Cultural Codes/Values - Gotcha! This is really where it's at. People still want to feel good and look good but, by today's standards, a Prius is better looking than a Mercedes Benz. Status markers point to how conscientious, global, sustainable and aware you are rather than to how wealthy and successful you are. Purchasing has become experiential and consumers want to be engaged emotionally and feel that they have a relationship with a brand that reflects their own personal values. That is a significant shift and the basis of the argument that branding has had its day.

So has it? Of course not. When you ditched your bell bottoms I doubt that you gave up completely on the idea of wearing trousers. Branding is like anything else. It will always be a component of business but it will have to change to remain relevant and contextual. Its not dead but it is having a life changing experience. Its being turned inside out and upside down. It can no longer be a message created in isolation of the entity that creates the product that it represents. You can't slap it over the top of a corporation like too much makeup on an ugly woman. Branding has to go inside and tap into an authentic component of the values that represent the company. If those values aren't there, or aren't consistent with the values of the consumers, then the work must be done to address that before effective branding can be achieved. Branding is going to be more about the
character of the corporation and how compelling and engaging the voice of that character can be. It's going to have to be respectful and tell the truth because consumers are smart and have a lot of information at their fingertips. They will check and woe be the brand with the great curb appeal and the garbage piled high in the back yard.

Amazingly gifted strategic copy writers enter stage left. This goes back to an earlier post where I talked about the huge, upcoming demand for talented strategic thinkers who understand the macro business picture and can steer a company towards the articulation of an authentic and compelling voice. It's a somewhat unique, hybrid skill set that is going to be prized and, hopefully, richly rewarded moving forward.

Check out
http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=2
for information on the event and come and say hi to me if you make it.





Winning WORDs

I was recently invited to a dinner party where I had the pleasure of spending the evening with a fellow word junkie. He told us about something called Mensa New Word Definitions.

Without further ado, here are a few of the highlights:

MENSA New Word Definitions

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners. None of them get through spellcheck.

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, infortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off these bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

And the pick of the literature:

Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Linguistication

Linguistication. You wont find this one in the Oxford, or any other English dictionary. It's a made up word that means to make up a word by combining parts of existing words..... Ha! And yes, I made it up. Its a hybrid created by combining the words lingua - Latin (now the Spanish 'lengua') word for language and the word mastication which means to chew up.

I find that there are times when things combine to create something new and there is no word, or no word that I know of, to describe it. An old favorite is
hydroquesting. This means to attempt to gain the attention of the bus boy carrying the water jug while keeping your eyes on the person you are having a conversation with and avoiding the appearance of being completely distracted. We have all been there and it seemed like something that should have a name. Now, in my small world, it does.

Linguistication is pretty common among writers of all descriptions from literature to sitcom. The Andy Griffith had some great ones. Barney was a master linguisticator. Executizing and therapized stand out for me.

My hope is that you will have some
lingistications of your own to share and I look forward to receiving them.

Tag - You're It

Tag lines are one of my favorite things to work on. Discovering and capturing the essence of a company and condensing it into 2 or 3 worlds is a fascinating process. If you get it right, you start to receive these amazing phone calls from clients who want to tell you about how their tag line gave them a fresh perspective on some challenge in their business or just helped them get through a tough day. I live for that sh..! A great example is a project that I did for a super gal here in San Francisco. She has a moving company that handles relocation's of large estates and unique homes, aka, folks with lots of money. Her name is Breeze

Moving sucks! Everybody knows that and for most of us it's really just a matter of shunting our Pottery Barn and
Ikea collections from one place to another. Art installations and master closet remodels have never featured in my own moving experiences but they show up on a daily basis for Breeze. I get stressed out just thinking about it.

I spent some time working with her to understand how she felt about her business and the experience that she wanted to give to her clients. We came up with a new tag line... "Moving Gracefully". It spoke to the aspirations of her clients as well as how she navigates her way through all the crazy logistics that she has to deal with. She loves it and called me one day to tell me how about how she repeats it to herself when stuff goes wrong and stress starts to ramps up. I love that her tag line is a tool that she uses to improve her own experience of running her business.
Thats what a really good message should do.

My tag line is "Find Your Voice"
Thats what I help my clients do and it's what I try to do every day in my own life. Its my mantra - whats yours?

Monday, July 21, 2008

Tell the Truth

Consumers are looking behind the face of your brand and checking out the quality of your corporate character using information now available to them on the internet. So will that happy meal make them happy or give them diabetes and should they "Just do it" in tennies put together by small children with bleeding fingers?

There are a lot of moving parts here but lets keep the focus on the consumers. Thats me and you. We are getting to be a pretty sophisticated bunch and we're pissed. Smoke is literally coming out of our ears after being lied to for years by big tobacco but what did we expect from those guys. More recently and far worse are the grand deceptions perpetrated on us little guys by big business and the government. They have left many of us minus a secure retirement, likely minus a home and certainly getting nasty looks from the locals on most of our overseas vacations. As a result, we are suspicious and unwilling to be lead into more strife just because we believed what we were told.

We are using the internet to research consumption options and peer to peer forums such as social network sites to gather feedback on our choices. We want to hear what you have to say but we're not taking your word for it any more. Companies need to project clear, compelling and most importantly, authentic messages to engage us as customers.

These messages should be the basis of your positioning and the foundation of your brand. Remember that consumers are looking for an emotional connection as part of the buying experience. If your not the cheapest option (and if your not Walmart then your probably not) then you better be the one providing the greatest feeling of connection and shared values to your customers.

You are going to need more than a great writer to help you get to the heart of the matter and articulate these messages. You need a good listener and a strong conceptual thinker who can translate the essence of what you are into a voice that will connect you to your customers. This is beyond branding and positioning. Your real product here is a set of respectable values and a straight talking approach to your customers. It's what we're all in the market for and we'll deal with the mark up to get it.

WHO DOES THAT?

I left a career in strategy consulting to become a freelance writer..... who does that? On first glance it might appear that I gave myself a demotion or developed the type of delicate constitution that abhors the rough and tumble world of business. Not so! I believe that the ability to craft authentic, compelling and articulate copy that allows companies to respond to the shifting interpretation of value within today's marketplace is going to be one of the most sought after skills in business. Actually, I think it's going to be the next generation of change management to sweep through the corridors of corporate America. "Times they are a changin" notes Bob with his unfailing ability to clearly point out the obvious. So while consumers, you and me, remain the same and basically respond to a set of cultural codes that drive our behavior across multiple areas of our lives...... those codes have shifted and what is emerging is a new set of values that we want to be associated with through the way we consume. Check out my article on "The Conscious Consumer" to get a closer look at whats changing and what companies need to do to engage these folks.