 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Extraordinary upheavals throw up extraordinary risks, problems and, of course, opportunities. One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. The survivors, the winners will be those who:
Or we can hunker down, go into defense mode, and lose the moment.
Under pressure we find out who we truly are.
That’s one helluva challenge.
Argentina is on the cutting edge of the credit crunch. Iceland has gone over the edge pushed by a banking system addicted to global gambling. There’s no place to hide. We’re all connected now. The mainstream production sectors cannot be protected from the downfall of the financial sector.
Winning now is not about management and doing things right. And it’s not about leadership and doing the right thing.
It demands Inspiration. Inspiration and Imagination are needed now more than ever as we face tough choices in testing times.
This is the full force of what’s known in biology as Creative Destruction. The new can only emerge out of the destruction of the old. New rules, new markets, new sources of supply, new technologies. They add up to new life.
Fortune favors the brave. In the recession of the mid-1970s:
| Fact: In the recession of 1973-1975 the U.S. saw unemployment reach 9%, inflation surge 11% and the stock market crash 48%. Source: Ad Age 13 Oct 08 |
Start with an idea, not a TV spot, and take it into the Screen Age, across screens your audience loves. The experience has to travel.
P&G, the biggest advertiser in the world, understands brands better than anyone. Brands are made out of ideas, emotions, inspirations and meanings – with a dollar value. Every aspect of a company that customers touch impacts the brand. Every aspect builds differentiation. Every aspect has the potential to add value to consumers’ lives.
Brands have created huge value for companies. Coca-Cola’s brand is valued at $66 billion. IBM and Microsoft’s at almost $60 billion.
P&G has $143 billion in assets and a market cap of $218 billion. That $75 billion difference reflects the value of P&G brands.
EMOTIONAL REALITY
Our emotional reality is shaped by paradox. On dealing with complex opposites at the same time.
Look at how we bring up our kids:
It’s a fantastic balancing act.
In business, paradox has been perfected by our client Toyota. Toyota:
Emotion is powerful. It makes up about 80% of how we think; reason, 20%.
Emotion is fast. James Burgh, NYU psychologist, says that people evaluate everything as good or bad within a quarter of a second.
Emotion is contagious. That can be good and bad.
It can spook billion-dollar markets …
and …
It can inspire joy with hugely successful viral marketing…
Emotion makes the big decisions. House, car, husband, wife.
Neurologist Donald Calne: “reason leads to conclusions. Emotion leads to action.”
From Information Economy, Knowledge Economy, Experience Economy, Attention Economy to the ATTRACTION ECONOMY.
When the focus reverts to price and benefits, you can surprise with the obvious. The obvious? We’re all human beings. We want to be attracted, connected, inspired. We long to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
The shift to the Attraction Economy changes how you connect with consumers, inspire your people and sustain differentiation.
| ATTENTION ECONOMY |
ATTRACTION ECONOMY |
| Interrupt | Engage |
| Inform | Inspire |
| One-to-many | Many-to-one |
| Reactive | Interactive |
| Return on Investment | Return on Involvement |
| Price | Priceless |
| Brands | Lovemarks |
Great brands are Irreplaceable. Lovemarks are Irresistible.
Comparing Argentina and Ireland, Bono says: “We share much in common. The only difference is they can dance!”
Irresistible…
6 WAYS TO CREATE LOVEMARKS
#1 FACE THE TRUTH
The truth of Love is simple and intuitive.
#2 LIVE THE DREAM
People need Dreams and Dreams move mountains. Martin Luther King didn’t say: ”I have a mission statement.”
In the current global melt-down no-one is talking Dreams. They need to start. Once people recover from the shock and fear they need big ideas to sustain and inspire them.
Saatchi & Saatchi’s dream: “To be revered as the hot-house for world-changing ideas that create sustainable growth for our clients.” The bigger the dream, the higher you fly and the longer your range.
#3 ATTRACT WITH THE THREE SECRETS
Brands invest in Trust, Performance and Reputation. Lovemarks involve with Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy.
Customer surveys and focus groups don’t get you close to Mystery, Sensuality or Intimacy. You need deeper insight and foresight.
If you want to understand how a lion hunts, don’t go to the zoo … go to the jungle.
Emotion is at the heart of Xploring. Truthful, Real, Simple, Actionable.
Example: Saatchi & Saatchi Xplorers went on a 3 month road trip through China to find out what the people did versus what they say.
Example: Saatchi & Saatchi Xplorers went behind the veil in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Dubai.
It’s not giving people what they want. It’s giving them what they never dreamed possible.
Emotion is the only way to inspire Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy.
Mystery
The power of the unknown. Dreams, stories and icons unfolding through past, present and future.
Business can inspire with stories. Not just stories about us – our businesses, our brands, our goals – but stories that consumers want to join and share.
Danish futurist Rolf Jensen: “The highest-paid person in the first half of this century will be the story-teller.”
Sensuality
Sight, sound, smell, touch and taste are portals to the emotions.
Example: Apple sold its original iMac with tangerine taste. Yum!
Example: Colors communicate. Red is Passion. White is Pure. Green is Healthy. Black is Cool. Purpose is Premium. Blue is Optimistic.
Nothing convinces faster than the five senses.
Example: Argentine parilla with its mounds of meats….a Lovemark even a Vegan could learn to love.
Example: Test driving a new car:
Brands are taking the senses seriously. And staking out their own sensory territory:
Exciting the senses creates Loyalty Beyond Reason.
Intimacy
It’s the small touch, the perfect gesture that takes loyalty beyond reason. Intimacy is empathy, commitment and passion.
Infusing all three with emotion is how we helped P&G get named 2008’s Advertiser of the Year at Cannes.
#4 CONNECT WHERE IT COUNTS
Let’s get back to the fundamentals of entrepreneurial business.
Without people to choose and use our products and services, we have nothing. We must create connection. We must engage, intrigue and excite consumers wherever they are.
Connections on screen.
The digital revolution is transforming marketing, entertainment, communications, technology. And they all play on screens.
We call this SISOMO: Sight, Sound and Motion on screen. I even wrote the book on it.
This is not about tools and technologies. It’s about the fastest, most exciting way to get emotional connectivity.
The only question that matters: do you want to watch it again?
Word of Mouth was always the most powerful touchpoint. Now it travels at warp speed on screen.
Who do you believe? Brad Pitt or your best friend? No contest.
Connections in store.
The biggest creative opportunity out there, and the First Moment of Truth.
We set up Saatchi & Saatchi X to infuse Lovemarks through the entire shopper experience. To inspire real emotion and motivation. To turn shoppers into buyers. To create a Theater of Dreams.
In recent work for JCPenney we set out to “inspire everyday lives”. We stopped marketing, and started connecting.
| “Every Day Matters” was named Marketing Campaign of the Year at the World Retail Awards in Barcelona. |
#5 GO BLUE
Now more than ever the role of business is to make the world a better place.
Business is on the front lines of the journey to sustainability.
The real opportunity is how billions of everyday choices scale up. We need a solution the size of the sustainability problem, not just new light bulbs.
We set up Saatchi & Saatchi S to address this.
1. From limits to possibilities
2. The power of consumers to change the world
3. Sustainability is a catalyst for business growth
4. No sustainability, no Lovemark
This seismic shift is GREEN to BLUE:
1. Green is about the environment. Blue fuses environment, economy, society and culture.
2. Green is about fear. Blue is about radical optimism.
3. Green is about obligations. Blue is about opportunity.
4. Green is about the planet. Blue is about the people who want to live on it.
5. Green asks “What’s to be done?”. Blue asks, “What can I do?”
#6 GET INTO FLOW
Flow focuses passionate energy together on Purpose driving activities.
Being “in the zone” dramatically increases productivity and creativity.
Get into Flow through Harmony from shared purpose and Passion as emotional connection with the Dream.
Focus (100 Day Plan)
Reinvention (point not Lead)
Execution (Drive the important not the urgent)
Distribution (Great artists ship)
Accountability (RASCI)
3 THINGS TO DO TOMORROW
