Mar 22, 2023 | Branding, Communication
‘If you want to change the world, change the metaphor‘. Joseph Campbell
Every storyteller knows how powerful metaphors are, we all use them to describe to ourselves and others, the complex situations and challenges we face. The tales our parents read us as children are all metaphors, almost always describing desirable behaviour. I remember my father telling me the ‘angry bee’ metaphor on several occasions as a kid. Once when I was losing a tennis match, and my temper, he said, ‘An angry bee stings, and dies. It was therefore better not to get angry’. (I later discovered it was a metaphor Seneca had used to try and persuade Nero that being a murdering pyromaniac would not be good for his legacy)
Metaphors can also be subtle uses of language that go largely unnoticed, but which can have a significant effect on the way we think about a situation. For example, ‘crime wave’ is an emotive term that may lead to someone reading the term conclude that there was more crime than if the numbers were simply stated. The latter lacks the drama and emotive impact of the former.
Similarly, President Reagans ‘war on crime’ drove a military type response to drugs that resulted in a huge increase in incarceration rates, but no reduction in the availability of drugs. The ‘war’ was won when the ‘enemy’ was stopped, while doing nothing to address the causes of them becoming enemies in the first place. (Americans seem to be very good at this sort of self- delusion)
There is a substantial body of academic evidence surrounding the proposition that the use of metaphors counts for much more than we would naturally assume.
A former client, an SME whose lifeblood was being able to get to the senior people in target businesses in a B2B environment, found themselves struggling.
Many of those he needed to speak to, build a relationship with, and persuade that his solution was one that could be deployed easily, were increasingly protected by personal assistants in various forms.
He referred to them as ‘gate-keepers’ which they were. Their job was to ensure as far as possible that their bosses time was not wasted, that distractions were minimised and that they only saw the most important things.
My clients product did not necessarily fall into the ‘must see’ category, and he was therefore often frustrated.
After several conversations, we changed the metaphor in his mental model of the PA as ‘gate-keepers’ to one where they were ‘enablers’. In other words, he took the view that his task was not to get to the MD through the gatekeeper, but to engage the gatekeeper and turn them into an ‘enabler’ and even an advocate for their product.
Once this approach was understood and implemented, the results were spectacular.
Consider for a moment the impact of the current usage of the words ‘War’ and ‘China’ in any political statement from proponents of the AUKUS submarine deal. The language and the resultant frame through which most will consider the merits of this project will be influenced by the usage of those two words. Had anyone in power used the term ‘industrial development catalyst’ or ‘nation building’ it would have significantly changed the nature of the ‘debate’ surrounding this decision.
Metaphors are a natural and very important component of our communication. We learn to understand them as children, using them automatically to communicate effectively.
What metaphors are you using in your communication?
Mar 17, 2023 | Communication, Sales
Goliath, contrary to the stories, usually does win, it is just that we simply never hear about it. There is no drama, no unexpected outcome, no backstory of how little, under resourced David beat the giant who had all the advantages, and got away with the prize.
We use these stories in marketing all the time, because they work, and we know they work, because they have been told to us as stories when we were kids, and we remember them.
They have meaning.
Go to a live event, with someone selling something from the stage, and you will always hear pretty much the same sequence: hardship, battling against the odds, a personalised stage of despair then some insight that shows them the path, which made them hugely successful.
Now they want to help you walk the same path, they offer a picture of what it will be like at the end of the path, you just must be brave enough to take those steps, to grasp the opportunity they are offering, which they know works, because they are the living proof.
Trouble is, just buying the books and courses of someone who has been successful does not make you successful.
In fact, the reality is usually that the only success that someone flogging a book or course has had, is in selling you a book or a course.
Jan 23, 2023 | Change, Communication, Marketing
Considering my definition of marketing as being: ‘The identification, development, leveraging and defence of competitive advantage’ it makes sense to consider the impact of AI, as it is happening all around us. Largely unnoticed until the explosive birth of ChatGPT in November last year following the earlier release of Dall-E, the doomsayers are at work.
I am not a data scientist, my limit is writing a formula in Excel no longer than 3 factors, but you do not need to be a data scientist to think about this stuff.
AI learns from itself by iterating with the benefit of ‘digital hindsight’, the outcomes of the previous iterations built in. Think of a radiologist reading scans. In the course of a year they might read a thousand, each time learning from the experience of the previous readings. Over the course of a professional career of 25 years, they might read 25,000, then they retire, and the experience is lost. An AI system can read hundreds of thousands in a week, each building on the previous, looking for patterns, so millions over a couple of years. They can also take data from other sources and blend it into the analysis, and they never retire, so the experience is not lost, it compounds. Importantly however, it compounds based on what has happened, making visible what is already in the data. We have yet to build an algorithm that can be creative.
The ingredients necessary are just 4:
- Input data,
- Computing power,
- Quantitative understanding of human behaviour (still evolving) and,
- An AI system.
Successful Marketing uses all four, although to date in vastly different ways and to differing degrees. It requires an intimate understanding of customer behaviour and how your behaviour and that of the customers impacts others in the supply chain. This is almost ground zero for marketing success.
The combination of the recently released ChatGPT and its stablemate from OpenAI Dall-E will do for content creation in its broadest sense, what the digital camera did for photography. Suddenly everyone became a ‘photographer’, so who needed professionals? Slowly, the gap between even good amateurs and the professionals became clearer, the value added by the real pros, as distinct from the others became more obvious, and presented the clear choices that needed to be made. A similar process will evolve with written and visual content. It has become very easy to produce stuff that will pass muster as OK, but is that good enough in a homogeneous world?
The combination of these tools and a professional will reduce the time taken to produce great work, so the costs will go down, and the quality will not suffer, but be enhanced. A great outcome for the few true professionals.
The downside will be felt by those who claim expertise, but do not genuinely have it. Their output of regurgitated marketing strategies, tactics and collateral material will resemble the thousands of templates already available, and be of little genuine competitive use.
Header cartoon credit: Tom Gauld in new Scientist
Nov 21, 2022 | Communication, Governance, Strategy
The purpose of a brief is not to be brief.
A brief, for whatever purpose it is written should be a catalyst for creative thinking, examination of options, and father of a robust solution. This applies equally to an engineering brief as it does to an advertising brief, research brief, or brief given to a head-hunter searching for a new CEO.
Failure to write a good brief will lead to a sub-optimal outcome, or at best, considerable delay and false starts that consumes resources unnecessarily.
A comprehensive, well thought out brief is not a guarantee of success, but it certainly shortens the odds.
Following is a framework for the next time you have to write a brief, for whatever purpose.
Let strategy drive the brief.
Strategy should be the primary driver of every decision taken in an enterprise, down to the daily tactical decisions. It provides the framework for the choices that need to be made. Most briefs I have seen are disconnected from strategy. Sometimes this is just poor leadership, in others it reflects the lack of any strategy, which is evidence of poor management. In the absence of a clear strategy, the choices made as an outcome of a brief of any sort may as well have been taken in a vacuum.
Define the need.
A brief will be in response to some need to be addressed. It may be a competitive challenge, it may be seeking a solution for an internal problem, or it may be seeking information, or be focussed on an opportunity of some sort.
Ensuring the need the brief is seeking to address is clearly articulated is vital to the construction of an actionable brief to experts that will enable them to bring appropriate expertise to bear to deliver the planned outcome.
Define the objectives.
As noted above, the generation of a brief presupposes there is an investment of some sort being contemplated. No investment should be made in the absence of explicitly stated outcomes the investment is expected to deliver. These are usually stated as objectives.
The best objectives are always those against which performance can be measured, SMART objectives. In some circumstances, such as an advertising brief, such clarity is challenging to achieve. It requires deep thought to indentify the drivers of the outcome, the lead indicators, that can be reliably measured. However, the effort will deliver returns, whatever the arena for the brief.
Assemble all relevant facts and informed analysis.
It should go without saying, but no brief is complete unless there is a comprehensive collection and analysis of all facts, and information relevant to the choices that will be made. Objectivity is a blessing. Sometimes it is hard to know where to draw the line, particularly when constructing a creative brief. Average will rarely deliver results, and continuation of the status quo while often ‘safe’ in a corporate environment, is bound to deliver ordinary results at best. There is a warning here for marketers, who will take this to be a licence to change advertising execution. Marketers are often way too close to their advertising and get tired of it before the average participant in the market has seen the message sufficiently to absorb and act on it.
Execute with experts.
A great brief in the hands of the summer intern will not usually deliver a useful result. No matter how great the brief, expertise in coming to grips with the nuances and options presented, requires wisdom that only comes from experience.
Simplicity.
While this post opened with the observation that the purpose of a brief was not to be brief, it is also the case that the simpler, more concise, more focused on the drivers of success the brief is, the better. Simplicity will increase the ability of those responding to make the choices they need to in order to deliver the outcomes being sought. Steve Jobs said it best when he said: ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’ about 50 years after Einstein said: ‘everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler’
Note to the unwary. When what should be a ‘Brief’ is called a ‘Tender’ it is a sure sign that price is the dominating consideration, and you are not the only one being invited to the party.
Header cartoon credit: Tom Gauld in ‘New Scientist’
Oct 12, 2022 | Communication, Marketing
‘Content is king’ is an expression that is widely accepted as a basic truth.
Pity it is wrong.
Creating content has become commoditised, everyone is doing it, you can now buy AI programs that will do it for you. (Let me know how that goes)
The value of any content is magnified geometrically when it comes to the receiver in the appropriate context. It is the context that connects first, before the content has a chance to make an impression.
Remember what happened when you were considering buying a new car?
Suddenly, you see the car you favour almost everywhere, even if they are relatively unusual.
It is the same with ‘content’.
When thinking about a new car purchase, you will rarely see content produced by an architect, no matter how good it may be. However, if you have decided your house needs a reno, will probably see an ad that highlights renovation architects.
Context.
Most search results have ads running down the RHS, which we mostly do not see. However, from time to time, we do ‘see’ an ad, and mostly it is because our subconscious has latched onto a photo or headline that reflects something that has been on our conscious mind.
In other words, the message intrudes on our brain because it hooked into a context, then if the content is any good, we may take it further.
This balance between context and content more than anything else is why you must understand the behavioural drivers of your ideal customer, to ensure not only does the right content get to them, but it does so in a context that it will be seen, and understood.
Header cartood credit: Tom Gauld from new Scientist magazine.
Sep 23, 2022 | Branding, Communication, Management, Marketing, Small business
In 1960, E. Jerome McCarthy published his idea of the four foundations of marketing. Price, Promotion, Product, and Place. The world has changed in the intervening 62 years, so you must wonder if this idea is still relevant, let alone a foundation.
To my mind, they are not only relevant, but retain their place as a seminal part of the marketing process, it is just that the context in which we think about marketing has changed radically, so the role the 4 P’s plays has also evolved.
This used to be simple, there was a product, and there was a price. Whether it was a consumer product, or one sold to another business, it was simple, and uncongested with notions of service.
Life, and the environment in which we compete has completely changed. Let’s see.
Product.
The idea of ‘product’ has changed along with everything else. We used to buy a car, increasingly, we are now buying the means to get from point A to point B, and discovering new ways to pay for it beyond the options of cash, or some sort of loan from a bank.
Product rather than being a singular physical product or service delivered has become a system that delivers value. The scope of ‘produc’t has also changed from the immediate geography to global, and the channels by which this is achieved look nothing like those available 62 years ago.
Price.
The exchange of money is how the economy goes round; money is the fuel. However, the articulation of the ‘Price’ of a product/service bundle has changed as much as everything else. Along with the product and delivery options now available are the pricing options. There are now many ways to be paid, only a few of which were available 62 years ago.
In all developed economies to differing degrees, the taxi industry has been regulated over time. Nothing changed from 1962 when the ‘Four P’s were articulated until along came Uber and disrupted the cosy taxi environment. Uber eliminated the uncertainty of how long you had to wait for a ride, creating great psychological value, and introduced surge pricing that would entice more supply into the system at times of high demand.
Surge and subscription pricing have changed the face of commerce globally. Amazon uses both in their operations, adding the willingness of a buyer to pay higher prices based on their browsing and purchase history.
Place.
We used to buy products at a defined place, in a defined manner. No longer. The notion of ‘Place’ has been replaced by one of ‘How’ you buy rather than ‘where you buy’.
The old model of a set of mechanically driven distribution channels has been replaced by a melange of ‘omni channels’ that deliver value in a wide variety of ways.
Control of the channels, formerly in the hands of the sellers has moved into the hands of the buyers, who demand and are given in increasing amounts of transparency backwards into the supply chain. All this is enabled by the explosive growth of digital technology.
Promotion.
If the other factors have changed radically, there are no words to describe the magnitude of the change to the ways promotional activity has evolved.
It used to mean the way we gained attention of potential customers via a limited number of options, engaged them, then sold product through whichever stable distribution channel was available. While the core process is unchanged, how we promote out products has exploded.
This brings us back to the question posed: are the for ‘P’s’ of marketing still relevant.
My answer is ‘Yes’, but the clothes they wear have changed radically and therefore the way we think about then must change.
My response to the change necessary is to look at the marketing process more from the perspective of the customer. This brings me to the view that both customer and supplier can look at the process from within the framework of Objectives, Value proposition, Ideal customer, and the Current state. Each party to a transaction sees these four parameters differently, but they are all relevant to the way the transection and relationship proceeds.
