THEME #3 FROM 7 PART POST SERIES EXPLORING THE EVOLUTION OF BRAND STORIES & THEMES
Great brand stories, not unlike human stories, can inspire vibrant conversation, sustained interest and engagement – especially within social communities. But only to the degree to which there is meaningful and mutual interest. Think about the ways we come to understand a person? Our innate social instincts strive to find common points of connection, understand context, and interpret their behavior. In other words, we synthesize what we learn and observe in order to better understand and connect. Contrast this approach to what happens in business when a brand attempts to connect with people. Ironically, the default response is to break down through analysis. Strip down into simplistic demographic terms, and segment in order to shape what is known. This process of re-interpretation is meant to simplify information – but in the long run it produces a distant and simplistic understanding of the customer. The difference of generalizing insight/information vs. pursuing meaningful customer “intelligence,” is not only a difference in philosophy and methodology. More importantly it is proving to be a significant business disadvantage.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Einstein