The Nomadic Millennial

Over the past year I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of time researching North American millennials on a wide range of everyday topics. Through hundreds of in-depth interviews, and thousands of online surveys, the theme of transience has often emerged.

The nomad, defined as "an individual with no fixed location who wanders in search of pasture," can represent a cultural ideal for this generation. In the face of social and financial pressure, many are attempting to remain free from the feeling of restriction.  

Transience of Home

Millennials often describe feeling at home everywhere and nowhere. Where previous generations define home as a place, millennials often see home in more abstract terms.

I travel so much I feel like a nomad..... im a nomad. I learned that in highschool. You have gonads lolz omg,
— Veronica Hernandez (@veerawnica) April 5, 2014

Many of the attributes of home (i.e. safety, attachment, relationships) can exist everywhere in the digital environment. With the ability to carry many of these attributes in your pocket, the idea of home has become more transitory and mobile for millennials.

Transience of Objects

Millennials often describe wanting to live light. Where previous generations placed great importance on objects, millennials are often concerned about becoming trapped by stuff.

I'm just going to live in my car because all I'll need to carry to be happy is my yoga mat, my shoes, and a phone charger.
— Sarah (@Bellum_Pax) March 29, 2014

The objects that are most valued, are the ones that facilitate growth and freedom. Things that provide maximum impact, with minimal inconvenience, are the things that are carried and consumed by these modern gypsies.

So what does this mean for brands?

Paradoxically, despite the desire to remain free, millennials will often feel strongly attached to the things that facilitate detachment. So when a product or brand helps facilitate detachment, it can be highly valued by millennials (think: bikes, smartphones, prepaid visa).

Milking Memories: Five Steps from Insight to Campaign

This month I co-authored an article for the Market Research & Intelligence Association titled, 'Milking Memories.' Appearing in VUE Magazine, the article shared findings from two years of research we conducted on behalf of the Canadian dairy industry. If you'd like to read the original article you can view it here, alternatively a transcribed version is available below. 

To start this article, let’s go back – way back into your childhood. What are your earliest memories of milk? What do you remember doing, seeing and experiencing in relation to milk? How do these memories make you feel? If you’re feeling warm and fuzzy, you may be experiencing nostalgia, a physiological state that’s been shown to make people feel loved, protected and physically warmer (Zhou et al., 2012).

High School: A Teenage Stage of Change

For many North American teenagers, the transition into high school represents a period of transformation and change. A social environment with new rules, structures and social experiences, high school can have a profound influence on teen motivations and behavior.

“When you first go to high school you’re more careful. You don’t want older kids making fun of you. You’re entering a new place. It’s different. I have shirts I wear in public but not in school. I don’t want people to think I’m weird.” – Teen Girl (2012)

The Science of Environmental Change

Research has found that environments can have a major bearing on human behavior. When living in a known environment, human actions have a tendency to become habitual (i.e. repeated without awareness). However, when an environment change occurs it can create a 'window of opportunity' in which habits are more likely to be considered.

"I started feeling insecure because it was a new school. You pay attention to those things that you can change; like what you eat, the clothes you wear, you can even change your personality. In elementary school everything was perfect. I'd wear sweatpants, but in high school I wear skirts.” – Teen Girl (2012)

The High School Stage of Change

The teenage transition into high school provides an excellent example of how environmental change can impact behavior. From food to fashion, entering high school can cause teens to re-evaluate many of their behaviors - which is what makes it an important stage of change.

Instacode: A New Language for Digital Youth

“People show more of themselves on Tumblr. They don’t use their real names, or write personal stuff, but they blog pictures. I don’t do any written stuff because I don’t want people from school to read it… I wouldn't want them to read about my feelings and tell other people what I've been thinking… Depending on my day and how I’m feeling, I might post a dramatic picture of rain on glass.” - Digital Youth (2012)

For digital youth, participating online is a social necessity. While previous generations have the luxury of keeping their digital and physical lives separated, digital youth must stay continuously connected in order to remain informed and in-touch with their friendship groups. Digital disconnection = social death. 

However this continuous connection also means that any private conversation, comment or personal interaction, could easily be shared through their entire social network. Social success, or social distress, is only a click away.

Hence the rise of instacodes. The deep human need to express thoughts and feelings, without fear or social judgement, has given rise to a system of codes and visual metaphors that digital youth are using to express themselves secretly on platforms like Instagram and Tumblr. Instacodes let digital youth communicate private things in public places.

Digital Teens - The Drivers of Digital Behavior

Over the past month, our team have been conducting a study into the online motivations of digital teens. The study involved morphological interviews and online surveys with 1905 digital teens, and provided some interesting insights into the online behavior of teenagers.

"The internet has multiple personalities. You can do multiple things on the internet… For some teens, the internet is their best friend, because they can have fun with it, they can connect with it. They can do whatever they want with it. It allows them to be whoever they want.” - Digital Teen (2012)

Highly Connected

To begin with, our study found that digital teens are highly connected. When exploring the personal ownership of internet enabled devices, we found that 79% of digital teens own a personal computer, 51% have their own smartphone, and 24% own a personal tablet. 

Selectively Engaged

However, despite their level of online connection, digital teens can be surprisingly selective with their friendships and attention. Our study found that the average digital teen had only 4 close friends, and considered 14 people to be in their social network. Furthermore, 97% of digital teens said they were happy with these friendships.

In terms of online attention, our study found four destinations that digital teens tended to visit on a daily basis: 72% of digital teens use search engines daily, 65% use Facebook daily, 57% watch online videos daily, and 30% play online games daily. In contrast, despite the media hype, 85% of digital teens have never used Pinterest, and 63% have never used Twitter.

The Drivers of Digital Behavior

Highly connected but selectively engaged, digital teens can be a challenging audience. So what are the drivers of digital teen behavior, and how can they be harnessed by brands? Find out by viewing the following Slideshare presentation:

Digital Teens: The Drivers of Digital Behavior from Nick Black

The Future of Digital is Mobile

Occasionally, whilst foraging for knowledge berries on the internet, you stumble upon a patch of tasty information. This was the case on Sunday when I read an article by John Naughton titled, "Real cost of the smartphone revolution: The smartphone market is expanding at an astonishing rate, but is it damaging creativity and innovation on the web?"

The article referenced a May 2012 conference presentation written by the industry analyst Mary Meeker from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Drawing from a range on secondary sources, the presentation puts forward a compelling view of current and future digital activity.

While there are numerous insights and trends from Meeker in the deck, I've pulled out two highlights that I found of particular interest.  

Insight One: The Future of Digital is Mobile

At present mobile traffic represents 10% of global internet traffic, but according to Meeker while "internet growth remains robust, rapid mobile adoption is still in [its] early stages" and will likely impact global desktop internet usage (see recent data from India below).

Insight Two: Companies Need to Think Mobile

The opportunity for mobile innovation to 're-imagine,' or disrupt, stable categories like finance, energy and retail is immense. Industries and companies that fail to proactively develop strategies for dealing with the shift to mobile are likely to lose market share.    

For those that are interested in the full presentation, a copy can be found below:  

KPCB Internet Trends 2012

Design the New Business

A few weeks ago I watched an interesting video titled, 'Design the New Business.' The documentary explored antecedents and outcomes of design thinking in business, from the perspective of industry and academic experts. 

According to the TU Delft students who created the video: "Old ways of thinking are being replaced by open minds and creativity. Design is playing a central role in helping solve problems and drive the future. We invite you to see how design is shaping the new business." 

This documentary is worth watching is you have some time - see link below:

How to Harness Nostalgia in Marketing

"I'm thinking about when I was a child and there were no cares and no worries... You didn't worry about the calories in a cookie, you'd just go for it.” - Respondent (2012)

There's something special about hearing people re-connect with their childhood. Like unearthing a treasure chest of emotion, the first years of life can represent a source of comfort and nostalgia.

While the realities of adulthood can bury childhood memories under layers of parental, work and social responsibility - uncovering and harnessing nostalgia can represent a major opportunity for marketing.

The Benefits of Nostalgia

According to research, eliciting a feeling of nostalgia in human beings can, "serve a homeostatic function, allowing the mind to return to previously enjoyed states, including states of bodily comfort." From a practical perspective, this means that nostalgic thoughts are able to make you feel comforted and physically warm.

For any brand that wants to be associated with comfort and warmth, whether they're a restaurant like Johnny Rockets, a food product like Kraft Mac & Cheese, or a technology manufacturer like John's Phone, uncovering and harnessing nostalgia can be important.

The Sources of Nostalgia

There are two types of memories that are often associated with nostalgia: social interactions and momentous life events. Researchers have found that these "areas seem to be most frequently.. associated with the recall of [nostalgic] experiences," and may provide a fertile starting point for branding.

Social interaction memories are often focused on interactions with close friends and family. In research, exploring memories and metaphors from childhood can help to uncover these types of associations, for example:

"It's milk and cookies, warm feelings, and the glass bottles that used to come to the door… My mom would always say, don’t worry if you drop the milk, it’s okay. My favorite memory was her telling me not to worry about the spilled milk.” - Respondent (2012)

Momentous life event memories are often focused on periods of birth, death and transition. In research, exploring the memories of major life changes and evolution can help to uncover these types of associations, for example:

"I had a blog when my grandfather was sick and dying. I wrote it for the extended family, so everybody had a place to check in and get updated on what was happening with him… A friend of mine suggested this type of blog, because their child had died. They couldn’t field the phone calls and the emails... it was too emotional.” - Respondent (2011)

Harnessing Nostalgia in Marketing

So how can you harness nostalgia in your marketing? Here are a couple of examples.

When research manages to uncover existing nostalgic associations with a brand, building a marketing strategy around those memories can be an option. One example of a brand that used this technique was McDonald's in their 'feed your inner child' campaign:

   

Alternatively, linking a new brand with an existing nostalgic memory may also provide a marketing opportunity if the aim is to reduce feelings of risk. This can be effective when marketing innovative products that need to make people feel comfortable, for example:

          

Foraging for Social Facts: How humans forage for information like animals forage for food

Last week I spent some time chatting with marketing students at a university networking event. Watching the students slowly consume advice from marketing professionals was a lot like watching cattle graze in a pasture; when one student found a tasty source of information, others would follow and cluster around the source.

This observation reminded me of some great research on how human beings forage for facts. Consuming information online may seem 'socially revolutionary,' but the underlying human motivations are far more 'evolutionary.' In fact, according to research, we forage for digital information in much the same way that animals forage for food.

How People Forage for Social Facts

In 1999, the psychologist Peter Pirolli published a study that looked at the human motivations behind information consumption. The study titled 'Information Foraging,' established a theory that "modern-day information foraging mechanisms may [parallel] food foraging mechanisms that evolved in our ancestors." In summary, the research provided three key findings on how we consume information:

Human beings hunt for information patches. Just like animals seek out an ideal patch of food, humans seek out ideal patches of information. For example, we use Facebook, LinkedIn or Google, because they help us to aggregate information into a valuable patch.

Human beings follow information scents. Just like animals use scent to find ideal patches of food, humans use social clues to find ideal patches of information. For example, we use Tweets, Likes or Links, because they help to signal the potential value of information.

Human beings are on an information diet. Just like animals are driven to find the maximum amount of food with the minimal output of energy, humans are motivated to find information whilst conserving time. For example, we prefer concise information sources that provide quick facts and data.

Planting your Information Patch

So how can you use this research to help ensure that people cluster and consume your content? Well in the same way my recent networking experience created an information patch for students, you need to plant  an information patch for consumers. To help you get started, here are three things worth considering:

1. Plant your information in a patch. Good information grows together, so you need to plant your information in online groups and communities that share your content interest.

2. Create information scent. Valuable content has a social scent, by highlighting brand affiliations, social credentials and content links, you can build information credibility.

3. Provide information on a diet. Informavores are fast-fact-eaters, so provide content summaries, data points and information implications to keep them grazing.

Defining Community Trust at TEDx

Back in November 2011, I had the opportunity to present on the topic of community trust at TEDxSFU. Community is an abstract concept, and as an audience member I found it interesting to observe the way in which different speakers attempted to define it. 

The Definition of Community 

During the event, some speakers expressed a more traditional perspective on community; while others described community from a more progressive perspective. Some focused on the importance of control and structure in community; while others emphasized individuality and freedom. Below are a few quotes to help illustrate how different some of the community perspectives were: 

"Governments at all levels are now legislating consultation and need more accurate tools to validate their decision making... We've had some online consultation thus far, but it's met with varying degrees of success... because consultation has been largely anonymous and does not stand up to scrutiny." - Speaker 1 (Structure Oriented) 

"Social media is revolutionary in velocity and scale. It's being used as a tool for revolutions and the effect it's going to have on Government is going to be massive... Like we've seen in Egypt, in London and in Occupy, geeks are resourceful and they'll find ways to get information out." - Speaker 2 (Individuality Oriented) 

In my opinion, community isn't defined by any one of these perspectives - community is defined by all of them. Like any human concept, community is full of paradoxes and contradictions. Only by embracing these contradictions can you begin to understand what truly creates a community. 

The Topic of Community Trust 

For those of you that are interested, below is a video from my presentation at TEDxSFU. Like all research we conduct, it attempts to unify and explain contradictions in human motivation. In this case, it looks at the topic of community trust among leaders and public institutions.

The Five Stages of Travel

Heading into the annual holiday and travel season, I thought you may appreciate a study undertaken by Google on 'The Five Stages of Travel.' While the data itself is relatively bland, the use of infographics managed to engage me in the experience. Happy Holidays.

Stage One - Dreaming:

Stage Two - Planning:

Stage Three - Booking:

Stage Four - Experiencing:

Stage Five - Sharing:

The Community Trust Report

Over the last month, I’ve been involved in a study that explored the topic of community trust in public institutions and political leaders. The study involved online surveys with 1500 people from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and used the HuTrust model to measure the psychological drivers of trust. Last week, The Community Trust Report was shared for the first time at TEDxSFU.

Figure 1: When people trust their community, 80% will report a crime 

The Benefits of Community Trust

Trust is at the core of a community. Many of the social actions and interactions that embody the idea of ‘community’ are predicated on the need for trust. In fact, our research showed that when people trust their community, 80% will ‘help their neighbors,’ 80% will ‘report a crime to authorities,’ 73% will ‘vote in elections,’ and 54% will ‘volunteer more of their time.’ 

Political Trust in Montreal

From a political point-of-view, our research had some interesting findings on trust in Canadian politics. On average, only 19% of people surveyed in Montreal said they trusted Prime Minister Stephen Harper, versus 44% in Toronto and 46% in Vancouver. 

Among those surveyed in Montreal, the psychological driver that most reduced trust in Stephen Harper was found to be Vision; meaning that people ‘felt his values were less appealing.' In contrast, among those surveyed in Toronto and Vancouver the psychological driver that most increased trust in Stephen Harper was found to be Stability; meaning that people ‘felt he had a strong foundation.’ 

Police Trust in Vancouver

From a social point-of-view, our research has some interesting findings on trust in Police. On average, only 65% of people surveyed in Vancouver said they trusted the Vancouver Police Department, versus 78% in Toronto who trusted the Toronto Police Service, and 80% in Montreal who trusted the Montreal Police Service. 

Figure 2: The VPD are significantly less trusted than the TPS

Among those surveyed in Vancouver, the psychological drivers that most reduced trust in the Vancouver Police Department were Relationship and Competence; meaning that people ‘felt they were less great to deal with,’ and ‘felt they were less able to deliver what they promise.’

Community Trust at TEDxSFU

The theme for TEDxSFU was community engagement, and it attracted speakers including Jim Chu (Chief, Vancouver Police), John Furlong (CEO, Vancouver 2010 Olympics) and Ryan Holmes (CEO, Hootsuite). Below is a copy of the presentation I made at the event, which includes some of the findings from The Community Trust Report.

The Community Trust Report from Concerto Marketing Group

Digital Moms: The Drivers of Digital E-motion

Back in March 2011, I was involved in a proactive study that explored the online motivations and drivers of digital mothers (mothers who spent a period of time online).

The market psychology study involved in-depth morphological interviews and online surveys with 500 North American Moms. The outcomes from the study were designed to coincide with a keynote presentation we made at the 2nd Annual Marketing to Digital Moms Conference.

While there’s no shortage of metrics and statistics on the digital environment, the data can often fail to capture the personal human experience of online activity. As our study found, the digital actions of mothers are often influenced and impacted by a range of deeper motivations and feelings. Posting a photo can be a form of self-expression. Online shopping can reflect a desire for change. A status update may be driven by the desire for connection.

“For me it’s about getting the box, opening the box, and looking at all the stuff I bought. But as soon as I open it and look at it, it doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I don’t really know why… There’s something about me that likes the process of ordering, and looking and clicking, and getting, and opening, and then it’s like, okay I’m done.” - Digital Mom (2011)

Digital e-motion is the term we used to describe this deeper combination of action and motivation, and below is a presentation that contains some of the results from our research on the digital e-motions of mothers.

Digital Moms: The Drivers of E-motion from Nick Black

Three interesting things on the interweb

In this edition of interesting things on the interweb, you’ll find three different forms of thinking from one source - Strawberry Frog. For those of you who don’t keep up-to-date with the advertising industry, Strawberry Frog is an independent agency which has been described as “waging war against the dinosaurs of advertising - monolithic global networks and their holding companies.”

Interesting interweb one:

In a five minute interview conducted by Heidu Ehlers, the founder of Strawberry Frog, Scott Goodson, discusses some of the challenges and priorities involved in running a global agency. According to Goodson, “when I founded Strawberry Frog, the challenge was always about fearlessness. You know, am I fearless enough to do it, do I have what it takes. And that question is there every single day.”

Interesting interweb two:

In the Planner Survey 2010, Heather LeFevre reports on the working life of 1578 strategic planners from around the world. Covering topics such as salary, job satisfaction and digital activity, the Planner Survey 2010 delivers some great data in a visually engaging format.

The Planner Survey 2010 from Heather LeFevre

Interesting interweb three:

In an insightful Adweek article titled, ‘Whither Millennial Men,’ Chip Walker shares his insights on the emerging nature of millennial men. According to Walker, “millennial men are taking matters into their own hands and inventing a new version of American male success… a new male success archetype I call the indie guy.” Walker goes on to say that, “maybe the future of marketing to these young men is about giving them hope that a new version of American male success is possible, in a world where the odds sometimes seem stacked against them.”

Motivation in Motion: The psycho-logic of marketing

Back in 2004, I had the opportunity to work on my first morphological research projects under the guidance of Barbara Grohsgart. At the time I felt confident in my understanding of research methodologies and models, but nothing had prepared me for the thinking behind morphology. From its theoretical foundations to its practical outcomes, morphology offers a different, holistic, view of human motivation.

Jump forward a few years and I’m still fascinated with the morphological research approach. While I often employ other qualitative methodologies and motivational theories (like phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory and humanistic psychology), morphology remains an important part of my research and strategy toolkit.

Which begs the question, what exactly is morphological research and strategy? That's a question which is difficult to answer in a sentence, let alone a blog post. So for those of you that are interested, here’s a presentation designed to give you some theoretical background:

Motivation in Motion: The psychology of marketing from Nick Black

Soap, Sex and other Edgy Insights

Last week I wrote a post for the BC American Marketing Association titled, 'Soap, Sex and other Edgy Insights'. The post explored the the value of insights that may, at first, seem a little strange.

A few years ago I worked on a research and strategy project for one of the world’s largest soap manufacturers. One particular interview from that study has stuck in my mind. It started simply enough - a young woman describing the drama of her life and how showering seemed to fit in. She described the way it felt when you rub soap over your skin in the morning, and the sense of satisfaction a late night shower delivers; washing away a drunken night on the town.

And then, unexpectedly, she leaned a little closer and let out a secret. “You know” she said, “I like to put bars of soap in the drawer with my panties. They smell nicer that way.”

Now what do you do with an insight like that?

Sticking with sanity

As marketers and market researchers, we tend to like rational results; answers that can be easily explained. People want lower prices. Product quality is important. Customer service is essential. When we’re faced with insights that seem strange, or don’t fit with our existing ideas, the natural reaction may be to dismiss them or label them as fringe.

According to Prof. Zaltman from Harvard University, “over 80% of all market research serves mainly to reinforce existing conclusions, not to test or develop new possibilities.” The implication from this finding is simple. In an attempt to play it safe and deliver what is expected, marketers may be missing out on some of their biggest opportunities.

Exploring edgy insights

When archaeologists are interested in understanding a culture, they often move beyond the palaces and places of worship, and turn their attention to the trash. It can be messy work, but hidden amongst the shards of bone and broken pots exist some deep insights into everyday life.

The same is true for market researchers. To get to the heart of what motivates people, we often need to go beyond obvious answers and start digging amongst the ‘mental mess’. For example, in morphological research, we’re encouraged to assume the presence of ‘meaningful Gestalten’ even when things initially appear to make no sense. Simply put, we don’t dismiss anything. Instead, we assume all insights may be part of a 'meaningful pattern of motivation' and we keep digging.

Why marketing success involves edgy insights

All of this brings me back to the start of this post, and one woman’s soapy secret. As market researchers, we were faced with an insight that didn’t initially make sense. But we dug deeper, and came to understand that soap motivations extend far beyond quality and price.

How we wash is heavily influenced by social norms, sexuality and our state of mind. We found that opportunities for soap go beyond moisturizing methods, touching topics like body image (think Dove), sexual angst and exploration (think Axe) and how washing can help create a mental transformation (think Original Source).

So how did we deal with that particular soapy secret? We kept digging. And in doing so, we began to uncover much deeper and more exciting market opportunities.

The humanity and biology of brands

This week I wrote a post for the Canadian Marketing Association titled, 'The Humanity and Biology of Brands'. The post was an attempt to articulate my sense of dissatisfaction with many of the methods and models we use to understand brands. If you'd like to read the original post you can view it here; or alternatively you can find a copy below. Please feel free to share any opinions, experiences or alternative views you have on the topic...

First a confession: When I was at University, I struggled with the concept of branding. An odd thing for someone in the business of building brands to admit, but it’s true; as a concept branding never made much sense. Every book had a different theory, every agency offered a different approach and every expert had some unique model or metric. Depending on who you talked to, or what you read, a brand could be a pyramid or a personality, an experience or an equation.

It seemed that branding was either the most compelling and complicated topic in marketing, or it was a load of crap.

Now an insight: Brands are like human beings. They exist as a mirror of our motivations, reflecting our ideals and dreams, fears and frailties. Nothing can exist in branding that doesn’t already exist in our everyday lives. In fact, if we want to better understand brands, we don’t need more complicated metrics, we need to better understand ourselves.

So how can we gain a better understanding? We need to go back to basics and re-consider the psychological and biological parallels between human beings and human brands.

Just like people, brands are born. Where a brand is born and to whom, are important factors in determining its development. A brand may have great nature (visual appeal or personality) but without the right nurture (parental support and security) it may never survive. As marketers, what type of parent are you and how will that affect the development of your brand?

Just like people, brands go through adolescence. Very few brands can become an overnight success; indeed it takes time to establish an identity and become independent. Attempting to circumvent this process can be as detrimental for a brand as it is for a person; the childhood stars of today are the forgotten failures of tomorrow (think Macaulay Culkin or Extreme Football League). What was your brand’s adolescence like; did it experiment and gain experience?

Just like people, brands need the right environment. As Prof. Richard Florida found in his study of cities, “the place we choose to live affects every aspect of our being. It can determine the income we earn, the people we meet, the friends we make, the partners we choose.” The same can be said for a brand. A brand must pick a place that will help it build relationships and earn the income it needs to survive. Is your brand in the right environment, an environment that matches its motivations?

Just like people, brands can get sick. We like to believe that we, and the things we create, are invincible - but nothing could be further from the truth. Human beings and brands are fragile and prone to illness. Even the strongest leaders can get sick (Bill Clinton or Toyota) and without proper treatment they may die (Michael Jackson or Pontiac). When was your last brand check-up, do you have insurance, or are you working your golden goose to death?

Just like people, brands must reproduce. Reproduction isn’t just fun, it’s fundamental to our survival. By reproducing we allow our species to adapt to the environment and evolve. A brand must also reproduce; it must adapt and evolve itself in order to maintain relevance and to respond to changes in the environment. Is your brand ready to reproduce?

As a brand strategist, having worked across three continents with many multinational clients, I believe there is something missing in our understanding of branding. As a morphological researcher, I believe what’s missing is an understanding of their humanity. Because brands are more than a metric or a model, they are a mirror of our psychological and biological motivations; and to properly understand them, we must better understand ourselves.

Market in Motion: Mitch Joel, Transparency & Morphology

Back in November, I had the opportunity to hear Mitch Joel speak at the MRIA Qualitative Conference. For those of you who aren’t aware, Joel is the author of Six Pixels of Separation and a fairly prominent speaker in the area of digital marketing. It was kind of neat to hear his keynote on the evolution of digital dialogue, particularly since we’d presented earlier in the day on technology purchasing motivations (the tools that fuel digital reality).
A negative can be positive

The first point that Joel made in his presentation, was the importance of transparency (accepting both positive and negative) in digital dialogue. Contrary to popular opinion, Joel’s data showed that “negative reviews are more positively correlated to sales than positive reviews. In fact they can make people trust you more.”
By way of explanation, Joel told a story about a camera he recently purchased. Like many of us he was researching online and narrowing down the selection, when he stumbled across a site with a negative review. This review was posted by a photographer, who called one particular model ‘an amateur camera that lacked the technical features needed by a professional’.

Once he read this review, he knew he’d found the right camera; since all he wanted was an amateur camera without too many technical features. What was negative for one person was positive for another.
The market in motion
The second, more interesting point that Joel made in his presentation, was about the need to embrace constant change in online behavior. According to some data he shared, “20% of Google searches done every day, have never been done before.” The implication being that we, as marketers, need to accept that “no market is ever stable; it evolves every day."

This idea of constant change is a challenging one for marketers; who often exist in a business ecosystem that is resistant, if not highly adverse, to change. And yet change is a fundamental part of the human condition, and requires tools and strategic techniques that are not only capable of dealing it, but actually embrace it.

Morphology; the study of formation and changes of formation (metamorphosis), is a powerful marketing tool because it embraces change. In fact, morphological research creates models that explain how human needs are dynamic and in a constant state of change.

A good example is the morphological tension between continuity and safety (acquisition), and the opposing need for change and movement (transformation). As human beings, our lives are a function of both these needs working together in tension. Think of the small child who starts their first day of school (change) with their teddy-bear in hand (safety), or the young adult who mixes vodka (change) with some familiar lemonade (safety).

To build upon what Joel was saying, the digital world is not only a catalyst for change; it’s also making change visible (like stop motion animation). The challenge that this creates for marketing is huge; we need to stop seeing and measuring our markets like static objects, and start appreciating them as dynamic organisms that evolve and change every day. Put simply, the market is always in motion.

A brand as a person, not just a personality

Imagine if a brand was a person. Not just the caricature of a person, a brand personality created and draped over an organization or product - but a real walking, talking, breathing person. A person with dreams, values, networks and knowledge.

When we think of a brand as a personality what lies below the surface can seem inconsequential. Brand personalities have become the business equivalent of changing your name via deed poll. So what if the product fails or the organization lies; just change the brand personality, and bingo, a new brand is born.

Example: Unilever’s campaign for real beauty in Canada (Dove)

When we think of a brand as a person the game changes. Trust, loyalty, word-of-mouth, these are new metrics for a brand but they’re old metrics for people. People may be aware of Richard Nixon, but would they trust him? People may recall Lehman Brothers, but would they recommend them? The answer is no. Because the true measure of a person, or a brand, goes much deeper than a personality.

Example: Unilever’s campaign for skin whitening in India (Pond's)

The game is changing. Social media is giving consumers the power to pull-away brand personalities and reveal what lies beneath. If what lies beneath your current brand personality is a legacy of previous brand personalities, product failures and marketing misrepresentations, then your business has some tough questions to answer. After all, who really cares how many customers are aware of you, or can recall your latest logo? If they don’t trust you, and aren’t loyal to you, then you’re in a pretty bad place.

Trust, loyalty and recommendation aren’t the measures of a good personality; they’re the measures of a good person. If organizations are serious about embracing these new metrics, and seriously growing their business, they need to start thinking about a brand as a person, not just a personality.

For more information on building a brand beyond personality, check out this previous post and presentation.

Family, Food & Fun: Research on family meals

Back in January 2009, we completed a qualitative research project exploring the topic of food and family meals for the BC Dairy Foundation and the BC Ministry of Healthy Living & Sport.

The existing facts on family meals had already established a link between eating together and a multitude of mental, physical and social benefits. However, in order to properly understand the topic, there was a need to move beyond facts and explore the feelings behind family meals.

Through our research, we found that meals involve much more than food and function, facts and figures. Meals bring together nutrition and emotion in our minds. Meals are about love. Meals are about friendship. Meals are about fun, and, most importantly, meals are about family.

Below is a presentation that shares some of our research on family meals, and the insights it uncovered. If you’d like more information on this research, or tips on how to reconnect family, food and fun, you should check out Better Together BC.

Market Research: Family Meals

View more presentations from Nick Black.