Identity is the single most critical factor governing our behaviour online.
Source: Flickr User: DaveBleasdale
In fact, identity is so important that we tend to consume, create and share content that allows us to build and then communicate that identity to the outside world. For example, I may identify myself as a bit of a punk, as someone who goes against the norms of popular culture. I may go nowhere without my converse shoes, even if I’m wearing a suit. I may live a modest lifestyle, practise yoga religiously and listen to rock n’ roll music. All these behavioural patterns give me an identity. And I will find ways to communicate that in the online space through the things I share – tweets, pictures, status updates on Facebook, blog posts, etc.
Identity is king. And organizations who’re looking to build highly engaged, self-sustaining communities of their own, need to understand this more than anyone else.
For organizations, I see three critical things to keep in mind before venturing into the online community space.
First, making sure you understand identity in the context of your brand. Ask yourself the question: If I were to build a community of my most passionate customers/prospects, what would they identify themselves as? Would there be a sense of belonging – to a common purpose, cause or role in society? When trying to answer these questions, you may realize that you probably don’t have a strong enough understanding of your own brand identity. And that’s fine. It just requires you to take a few steps back in the process and lay some groundwork.
Second, the identity you define must be broad enough to allow people to relate to it and also form sub-communities within. For example, Converse Shoes may have a community that brings together people who are heavily influenced by punk and DIY culture. Since this foundation is broad enough, it would provide enough room for people to congregate around certain areas of interest and form sub-communities within the overarching Converse community. So you might have groups of audiences converging around libertarian political sentiments and also have groups converging around more liberal attitudes. And while these may seem as quite distinct camps, they are all brought together by a broadly established set of shared beliefs and values.
Third, giving your community the ability to communicate identity to the outside world. We all enjoy being a part of communities. We enjoy standing out in a crowd and we enjoy having a sense of purpose. But the loop isn’t complete unless we inform others of our identities, of our beliefs. The easier you make communicating identity (typically in the form of content) to the external online world, the more your chances of continued success.
References:
A semiotic approach to online communities: Belonging, interest and identity in websites
Identity in Online Communities: Social Networking Sites
Marketing Commentary by .
Social technologies have transformed the fundamental way in which organizations interact with their audiences. They have given employees a voice (whether companies like it or not!) and have become an organizations’ gateway into understanding culture[1].
Additionally, Social technologies have also empowered audiences, who today are highly knowledgeable, have a strong voice, and are impervious to traditional marketing B.S. Unfortunately most organizations and most marketers do not understand this phenomenon. The net result — they fail to make real connections with real people.
Take the traditional focus group for example. In it’s simplest form, a focus group is a research method that’s typically used to understand a consumer’s reaction to a product/service. Focus groups are essentially after-the-fact testing grounds. They don’t really provide market researchers with any real insight into the needs of consumers. What’s more, they give marketers the ability to get away with ridiculous ideas and concepts. Remember the Arnell Group’s Tropicana Packaging debacle? This design was put through extensive focus group testing. Here’s an explanation they offered in regards to the carton’s design:
Historically, we always show the outside of the orange. What was fascinating was that we had never shown the product called the juice…the idea of course is to have a consistency between the purity of the juice, which is coming directly from the orange, the cap which you squeeze every day and of course the carton. – Peter Arnell
Tell me that doesn’t sound ludicrous! Here’s a link to an article that explains the design of Pepsi’s new logo. I think some of this is so over the top that even a television show like “The Office” is put to shame! For my Canadian readers, I want to include the example of a recent Niagara Tourism ad campaign that took cheap shots at the city of Toronto and then invited Torontonians to come visit. Again, focus group tested and certified!
Real research is about immersing ourselves in our audiences’ culture. It’s about spending time with consumers and understanding their world. That’s where ethnography steps in. Ethnography is about understanding needs before they exist. Fundamentally, it’s a form of qualitative research where data is gathered by observing audiences in their natural surroundings and conducting intuitive in-dept interviews.
So why are most organizations not adapting quickly enough? Well, for one, it requires a massive shift in organizational culture. Responsibility also goes to educational institutions, especially business schools, who haven’t really evolved either. At the end of the day, audiences have moved on and their expectations have changed. The next five years will see drastic changes in the way organizations engage with their audiences. It’s not a choice anymore. These are the ‘cluetrain‘ years.
[1] “The body of ideas, emotions and activities that make up the life of the consumer” (quote fromChief Culture Officer).
Marketing Commentary by .
Apologies for not blogging in the past fortnight. I must admit, I’ve been a little pre occupied with things. But I’m back. Heading to NXNEi on wednesday for my panel with Gordan Savicic, Kate Raynes-Goldie and Steven James May called “Web 2.0 Suicide“.
Also talking about “why a less private, open, social internet will save the world” at this weekends Privacy Camp in Toronto. It’s going to be a fantastic event and I hope to see you there as well.
Next blog post coming up later this week. I promise.
Marketing Commentary by .
Uncategorized by .
Cyberpunk who?
The term ‘cyberpunk’ was born quite a while ago and came to be primarily used to describe computer geeks who were (and still are) typically characterized by a distrust in government, a libertarian attitude and a belief that the internet and information must remain open and free (amongst other things).
Cyberpunks rose to cultural prominence in the 90s with the breakout of punk, when the term took on the construct of teenage rebellion and over-night transformed the nerdy computer geek into a rock star.
While many believe that Cyberpunk culture died in 1994 thanks to excessive media exposure, I belong to the clan that believes that the Cyberpunk has evolved over the last 15 years and is still highly influential in swaying market adoption of technology products. Cyberpunks have however dissipated into a number of subcultural groups, although the overarching theme and vision remains the same.
Here’re some examples of the role Cyberpunks have played in the proliferation of products/services:
1. Illegal music downloaders – Adopted Napster and the first and second generation iPods. This played a big role in the widespread proliferation of both these products/services.
2. I.T geeks in universities trying to save the world from Y2K; Sitting in basements, staying up all night coding – Drank Red Bull. The rest is history.
3. Anarchists, situationists and burners took to Tribe.net in its early days. Tribe proliferated initially until it ran into some serious trouble due to excessive commercialization! Today, it continues to exist as a niche social networking site that caters to specific subcultures and has a very loyal user base.
So why bother about Cyberpunks?
It’s pretty simple. Cyberpunks have in the past been instrumental in the success of many products and services. As consumers, we are still influenced by Cyberpunks. Think of the last time you asked for a product recommendation from a buddy who you consider a tech-geek. Which brings me to the reason I decided to write this post.
Conclusion: From a market research standpoint, brands, specially technology brands, are not paying enough attention to the study of digital cultures. Unfortunately, Cyberpunks don’t walk around with labeled T-shirts. Finding and influencing them requires some critical skills in ethnography, intuition and common sense.
References
1. VirtualCampfire.org
2. The evolution of Cyberpunk, NY Times By NICK RAVO and ERIC NASH; Published: August 8, 1993
3. Image source: Flickr User: Extra Ketchup
Marketing Commentary by .
There’s a revolution brewing in the digital world today. Most of us know it in the back of our minds, but we choose to ignore it. Some of us choose to blog about it.
First, some background information. In case you haven’t already heard, Facebook’s got “Presence” [physical objects, when attached with RFID tags, can be transformed...into digital objects] and StickyBits has…well, StickyBits.
Now lets talk about this revolution shall we.
The ‘digital universe’ is changing. Not only are almost all types of media becoming social, but physical objects are also gradually beginning to move into the social realm. You can already add meta data to almost any physical object and transpose it into the digital world. Going forward, you will be able to not only add on layers of information to physical objects, but also use those layers to interact with others.
The end result of this digital revolution will be that items with meta data, items that are social, will end up carrying more value. A used book with the thoughts of the previous reader will be considered more valuable as it will bring together numerous readers who share a common interest in that particular book/topic.
As used and recycled physical objects become more valuable than new ones, there will be a largely positive effect on sustainability! This revolution will be priceless to this planet. Ultimately, this movement will change the way organizations fundamentally do business.
Now that I’ve said what I had to, I want to hear your thoughts on the matter. What do you think? How far are we from such a revolution? Should we already be thinking of newer business models that fit/support such a future?
Marketing Commentary by .
The other day I was sitting on a patio at a local coffee joint and watching people walk by (in a totally non-creepy way!). It was the first day of spring in Toronto, love seemed to be in the air (this won’t get any cheesier I promise) and I couldn’t help but wonder what made relationships tick. At that very instant, I was struck by a profile on tribe.net. This was the profile of “Love is Everything“. 
I was amazed at how many friends Frank (the dude behind the profile) had – over 14,000! As I spent some time going through his page on Tribe I realized some critical things -
a. Frank figured out what his brand stands for, but he didn’t stop at that. Most importantly, he found a way to translate his brand promise into a cause worth pursuing.
b. Frank is truly authentic! He solely focuses on advancing his message through posts that add value to the community. He does this by giving his community content that furthers the cause.
c. Frank isn’t obsessed with himself. In fact, he hardly talks about himself on his profile.
In today’s digital economy, companies absolutely need to engage and involve their custo
mer communities if they want to regain their business. Unfortunately, just having a great brand and brand promise is not sufficient.
A few days ago, John Bell blogged on the “Utility Brief”. I’d like to leave you with a quote from his article. Hopefully you’ll ponder over this post and share your thoughts.
“Today, consumers want their brands to deliver more value through utility, entertainment or information (the latter two are really just forms of utility). They want high quality products and services but expect brands to go beyond that to keep them as customers or to at least earn their advocacy.”
Marketing Commentary by .
Source: Flickr: Franco Folini "Graffiti on a truck: renuer"
Throughout history, the development of technology has always sparked counter-cultural movements that have looked to subvert popular culture and societal norms.
Many of these movements were inspired by the situationist movement of the 1960s. However, all these movements did have 2 common underlying motives. They all looked to improve personal empowerment and encouraged the building and growth of communities.
One such movement led to the use of print media to create the “Whole Earth Catalog“. This catalog promoted openness, user-generated content (yes!..back in the late 60s) and stood for the democratization of information and collective consciousness. Out of this catalog was born a message board called Whole Earth Lectronic Link (WELL) in 1985. This online message board looked to again subvert culture by attempting to use technological tools (initially built for societal control) to bring about Personal Empowerment and a sense of community. Of course, I don’t need to remind you that the same underlying motives form the foundation of Social Media and the web 2.0 world as we know it.
I therefore strongly feel the success of innovation in the Social Media world will be heavily dependent on whether or not newer ideas take the fulfillment of these very motives/ideals a step further. Yes, I know there are many other factors that will influence success, but I believe that these cultural motives are critical to laying a foundation that can withstand growth.
I think a good example is Foursquare (and of course other similar location based services) because it looks to improve personal empowerment by giving businesses the ability to better cater to their customers’ needs. Are there other examples of innovation in social media that adhere to these two principles? Your input will make this post and my follow-up a lot more interesting.
References: www.virtualcampfire.org
Nov 10
14
The power of noticing – A new wave of insight gathering.
During a breakfast meeting a couple weeks ago, my buddy Sean Howard remarked on how he was drawn into the world of digital ethnography some years ago, when he first realized how much a person could tell about him by simply looking at his Facebook profile. This is probably true for most us who today spend a majority of our lives online. And unfortunately unlike Vegas, or Austin for that matter, whatever happens online doesn’t just stay online.
Yet, as marketers, we continue to look at consumer insight like it’s the holy grail. We continue to shell out surveys after surveys of boring questions simply because we’ve grown accustomed to ask and look for anything quantitative, and we refuse to look at what the internet gods gave us!
Source: The Internet
The power of observation is underestimated.
Ethnographers will swear by the insight one can gain by simply observing people, their activities, interests and social interactions. The same applies to the online world. Whether we like it or not, our activities online are governed predominantly by our need to build a certain identity for ourselves. An identity that eventually ends up determining where we live (online), what we choose to share and how and with whom we choose to interact. Unfortunately traditional forms of research cannot successfully unearth identity markers. That’s purely because we as human beings are not built to be perceptive (or honest) when it comes to our own selves. And when you ask a person why she does activity A versus B, in most cases, her answer will not represent reality.
So this is where digital ethnography fits in. It helps you unearth common cultural threads in an online audience and helps you understand identity, values, social interactions and brand attitudes. And while it does take experience and a certain skill set to be able to observe audiences in a given context, this isn’t something that organizations need to be afraid of trying.
Sean made a really good point during that breakfast conversation – that marketers have learned to accept the flaws in quantitative research but somehow when it comes to the qualitative world, they’re very wary. The tools exist and the knowledge certainly exists. It’s only a matter of time before more organizations learn the value of understanding culture and start engaging audiences with things that really matter to them.
Oh and please Detroit, not another one those “what do you think of this car?” YouTube videos!
Posted in Marketing Commentary by Ujwal Arkalgud. 1 Comment