3–from–1 "It’s Time to Become Human" #134 😊
3–from–1 by arnt eriksen
"You have to stay true to your heritage;
that’s what your brand is about."
— Alice Temperley
Calling All Brands! It’s Time to Become HumanThere is a marketing movement happening that your company can’t ignore. Brands no longer want to be seen as intimidating corporate titans. They want to be viewed as companies that value their customers as individuals. While buzzwords like engagement and social have been popular for a while, the latest trend for brands is to be human.
This movement is partly due to research indicating that 63 per cent of people are influenced more by other people than brands. Simply put, brands need to act like humans to today’s consumers.
(Excerpt from Brand You Economics, Chapter 3)
What’s the Challenge?
Brands are scared. As they venture into the process of humanising themselves, it’s not uncommon for them to feel nervous or fearful of losing control of their messaging. In fact, only 3 per cent of brands have started marketing themselves on a personal level. This leaves tons of opportunities for your marketing team, but first, you have to get started.
Sometimes, getting an external perspective on what you’re doing and where you want to go, can be valuable and give the needed clarity to move ahead in full speed. We are in the world of velocity marketing, but that means that you need to know why you do what you do, how you do it, what you deliver and to whom — and as mentioned above, what is your voice, and your narrative.
Why the story?
Because stories make it emotionally relevant to us, it makes us connect on a deeper level. And when the story being told is relatable, inspiring or motivational, we connect, and we believe. So we move beyond the need for something, to truly wanting something.
Ok, let's move on to the next part of the newsletter
INSIGHT: BRAND
If you’re planning segmentation this year or have a segmentation in hand that’s turning out tough to activate against or simply want to figure out how to drive buy-rate and penetration for your brand…
You need to uncover which of the four human drivers correlate with your category – which then, in turn, reveals how to position your brand and communicate to consumers for maximum behaviour-driving.
Neuroscience provides these four drivers which are durable, and predictable, and explains WHY people act the ways they do in a given context (like a category, stage of the purchase journey, or shopping channel)... READ MORE"
Why it matters
Having worked as a brand and marketing strategist for more than a decade, it is easy to go deep on the buying persona or even dig into the archetype that defines the brand or the audience. I mean there are 12 main archetypes, and a total of 60 if you include the sub-archetypes as well. Sometimes though, it is good to first take a step back, and view things through a simpler lens, and as this article summarises it, there are 4 drivers that correlates with most purchasing decision. So start there, and if needed - go deeper.
I just posted a new video on YouTube — titled "5 Emotional Marketing Tips That Will Transform Your Brand"
INSIGHT: STRATEGY
The one big thing that, as brand marketers, we need to be really tuned into is the speed in which the awareness-to-conversion journey has completely changed. You don’t even have to be a strategist to know that if you’re sitting on TikTok or Instagram, and there is a product targeted at you and you are engaged in that piece of content, you can buy it immediately.
I think that represents a really interesting challenge for people who are building brands. The whole idea that you’re doing things in stages… that is not the truth of the world we live in today, and I’m quite fascinated by creative commerce because of that... READ MORE"
Why it matters
Not only is Jo Arden a brilliant strategist, but she also works at Ogilvy, the agency that was created by the father of advertising, Sir David Ogilvy, who himself was obsessed with understanding the data, insight, and behaviours to create the big Ide(al) which resulted in so many creative ads over the years.
I do think 'strategy' is more important than ever, and I believe that the dynamic exchange between the younger generation, that is submerged in the new platforms as native practitioners, and the more seasoned communication specialists, make brands take a clear position, and amplify the values and brand truths with empathy and actions that resonate with the audience.
INSIGHT: MARKETING
"Marketers like to look into the future, but it often makes sense to also look into the past of a brand and try to identify forgotten associations that have helped the brand succeed. What type of associations should you be looking for? Well, it really depends on the task and the brand. But this can be anything from reconnecting with the original intent or vision of the founders of the brand, understanding what factors have helped the brand grow throughout its history, what forgotten brand assets can be revived and modernized to help the brand stand out.... READ MORE"
Why it matters
Now, this is an exciting idea, the fact that - and which is one of the 5 thought starters in this article mentions; "If you have the opportunity, go through the brand’s archives to understand why the brand was created in the first place and remember what values and vision the founder(s) embrace and lived by." I think that sometimes brands, marketers and companies, in general, are too keen to come up with something new, more content, more messages, just more and new stuff. I call it content pollution. Marketing done right serves the purpose to inspire, enlight or entertaining the audience with the end purpose of changing behaviours. However, focusing on quantity over quality might get the brand truth lost in translation, and the end result is a disaster. Reminding yourself why the brand exists, what triggered the reasons to create it in the first place and going back to the root, might not be a bad idea to revitalise and refresh your brand.
END NOTE
Most of our decisions are based on emotions, the intangibles we get when we interact and communicate with a brand. What is the feeling we get, does it move us in any way, do we feel empowered, smarter, appreciated, proud, better, more beautiful and so on? It is not about the rational features of a brand, product or service, they matter, yes, but they are not the reason we make a decision. That comes down to the benefits we get and the story we are told.
If you wonder how? Simply reply to this email, and let's set up a short call to figure out how I can help you. I have worked with brands like American Express, Domino’s, Design Hotels, Scandinavian Airlines and more. But I am also a mentor for Google Startup Labs, helping small businesses and startups towards achieving their brand and marketing goals.
Thanks for reading.
If you liked this week’s newsletter, please forward it to someone. My purpose is to use my knowledge, passion and curiosity to make a positive impact on people around me, so the more I can inspire, the better 🥰
Be safe — stay awesome!
Another milestone for me was to finally have the book published as an audiobook on Audible. So if you are like me, listening to books is just so much easier than sitting down to read.
Audible UK — Audible US
Apple Audiobooks