Fired Up

"Your Fired!"

It's just not as much fun when Donald Trump is nowhere to be seen.

Tons of my friends are getting laid off. My networking groups are spawning off shoots with names like Fired Like Us. It's a catastrophe to be sure, but I have to admit to being kind of fired up.  It seems to me that many of these highly capable and qualified ex corporate souls are going to prove out the time tested adage that says "Necessity is the mother of all invention".  Invention is exactly what we need right now to solve the staggering array of social and environmental ills that are plaguing our everyday lives and threatening our very existence (if you want to be dramatic about it.)  I am interested to see if there will be a measurable increase in entrepreneurial innovation in our economy over the next couple of years.  All those great ideas that have been playing second fiddle to 6 figure corporate salaries may now be given a chance to fly.  Lemon's to lemonade as it were.  Let the innovation begin!

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.