Meet the New Social Media - from 'likes' to 'like minded'. Here are 3 things you need to know:

Meet the Media of Social Creativity.

1. It runs on (meaningful) User Generated Content: Suddenly EVERYONE is a Subject Matter Expert. People are not really interested anymore in what time you woke up, how you felt when it rained, or any other witty, silly or mundane update. If you’re a foodie, people are now interested in what you think about the newest fast food joint in town. If you’re a traveler, they want to know what you think about the last place you went to. If you’re a gamer, they want to know what you think about the latest MSI Ghost gaming laptop. Instagram, Tumblr, Blogs, Pinterest- any place where you share specialized content or opinion that you have created- even if all you've created is an opinion. 

2. Or on pure functionality: Can you help me chat with my friend, free of charge or advertisements. How good and smooth can you make the experience? Can you help me transfer files? Can you help me find the best Chinese food place in town? Or the best hotel in town? Can you do it better? Easier? Faster? And for free?

3. But no longer on what people are doing. It runs on what people create:  The reason why Twitter is still alive is that it’s easy for it to switch from the former to the latter. However Facebook, widely recognized as the poster boy of peeping into other people’s personal lives, will see users shifting to platforms that offer content that adds some value. 

The media of Social Creativity says:

- I can share what you create with like minded people- and the fact that you don't know them personally doesn't matter- in fact- it makes it a whole lot better!
- I can make content/ information available to your friends/ people when you want it- or when they want it. I can do it fast, easy and for free
- I can show you what people just like you have created- and I know it matters, even if it's an opinion 

Brand is in the details: Microscopic brand experiences that consumers latch on to

If you are relying on advertising and communication campaigns to keep your brand consumers hooked on, you living in the past. 

Brand is fast evolving from being defined by ads and marketing to being defined by experiences. And by experiences, I don’t mean the larger than life and the out of the word. Experiences so subtle you may not even notice them at first. It’s like they talk to your subconscious, and hook you on.

Think of an upmarket car- A BMW/ Audi/ Mercedes … When you step in and shut the door, you’re immersed in an experience. The feel of the seat, the sheen on the polished wood paneled entertainment console, the grip of the steering wheel, the smell of the upholstery and the sheer soundlessness once you shut the door, all add up towards a superb brand experience.

Let’s think small- think of the clicking of an iPod wheel,  the packaging of food on an Indigo flight, the resistance, size and matt finish of the volume knob on a Boston Acoustics speaker system, the simple toggle switch for silent mode on an iPhone, and the orange color hidden beneath it… the list of examples is endless.

It takes great thought and foresight to ingeniously weave these miniature brand experiences into your brand. They add up to shape the precious brand image that your consumers carry in their minds. 

How super basic brands are breaking the differentiation clutter.

Last weekend, I voraciously ate my way through an enormous ‘Fixed Thali’ (a standard South Indian assortment of dishes that forms a complete meal). At the end of the meal, as I sat completely stuffed and glowing with satisfaction, I suddenly realized something. Me and 5 of my friends spent about 30 minutes standing in queue to get into a hotel that offered basic (vegetarian) South Indian food at premium prices. And as I put the last piece of coconut barfi into my mouth, I realized that about 60 other people in the queue outside and everyone inside the restaurant must be feeling just as good about the whole experience as I was.

There were 2 two things that are almost instantly noticeable:

1.       The simplicity of the product and the service: The food, the staff and the ambience were very basic. Absolutely zero fancy.

2.       Exorbitant pricing that people didn’t seem to mind: Prices were higher by about 400% higher compared to prices of same menu items in South India (Bangalore/ Chennai.. etc). A massive mark-up that people didn't really care about.

What this restaurant was doing is something that’s more widely observable across different B2C marketplaces. It is called breaking the differentiation clutter.

What happens when a new marketplace is created? There is a product/service, that addresses a set of previously unaddressed needs, that consumers purchase. Gradually, more suppliers of the same product/ service jump into the fray, giving reasons why their offering is better. We call these reasons points of differentiation. 

As more and more firms join the battle for the mind, differentiation becomes complex. And the reason it becomes complex is because firms add new features and benefits- that consumers often get fooled into thinking they need. Moreover each firm delivers its differentiation promise to the customer differently. Soon the marketplace reaches a state where the original product/ service idea has evolved into a variety of different avatars, as offered by different competitors. In such a state, the consumer is inundated with choices. The original need now lies somewhere lost among several other needs, created by differentiating competitors.

Then comes a player that rips off all the bells and whistles, and takes it back to basics. A player that differentiates itself from the clutter by returning to the original need, and focusing on it with extreme rigor. This makes the new brand extremely simple and tactical. And usually this immediately catches on. Consumers are suddenly relieved of the mental unease that was created by choices that they didn’t really need.

In a marketplace flooded with choices that are literally confusing your consumer, focusing on the basics is a great way to differentiate. You become the brand that addresses only their basic needs, but better than anyone else in the market. You become a super basic brand.

There are 3 traits that are common to all super basic products:

1. The ability to pinpoint the original needs behind a product or a service
2.  A simple but very strong focus on the basic original needs
3. A very high quality promise

Getting this right can mean premium prices for your brand that consumers are willing to pay. 

The importance a visual mnemonic (not logo) for your brand.

I recently came across an article by Gordon Pincott where he talks about brand ‘keys’, that basically ‘unlock’ sections of your  brain, and knowledge, experience and emotion associated with your brand tumble out. He goes on to state the importance of brand ‘keys’ and how it’s essential for a brand to build and maintain these ‘mnemonics’ that help trigger associations in the brain.

In a lot of cases, the brand name is simple, unique and descriptive to serve as the mnemonic by itself. ‘Facebook’ for instance. In other cases, a visual key helps. Visual mnemonics are known to register a lot more powerfully than their textual counterpart. Read on to find out how.

The human brain registers experiences in two ways. The cognitive experience, which is secondary, is where the brain needs to function in order to register. Reading the letters ‘IBM’ for example. The sensory experience, is primary, and registers directly without the brain having to really ‘work’. Our five primary senses enable rapid impressions of colors and shapes, sound, tastes, textures and smells on our brain- something that doesn’t really need ‘processing’ power.

Naturally, sensory experiences register much faster than cognitive ones. Besides, the way the human brain works, it tends to register a summation or overall of individual bits and pieces, rather than remember them separately. Mr. Pincott says it’s like recognizing a face. You don’t remember the eyes or the nose or the mouth individually, but you remember the face.

The caveat here (and I might be at the risk of sounding too obvious when I say this) is that your visual mnemonic should ideally connect with your brand. It is very easy to create a logo. It is far more difficult to create a static visual piece that conveys your brand values and reflects who you are. But if you do manage to create one, use it. Use it with discretion, on important, powerful pieces of communication, and let your consumer make the connection thereafter. It’ll register rapidly and powerfully, your consumers will connect with your values and it’ll create magic for your brand.

Brandecipher: Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism

Brandecipher debunks seemingly complex brand management terminologies, methods, fundamentals, systems, processes etc. 

Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism: 

Jean Noel Kapferer is well known for his advanced work on brand identity, strategic brand management, brand portfolios, brand architectures and most recently on prestige and luxury management. He presently teaches luxury management in China, Korea and Japan.

The Brand Identity Prism looks like this:

It consists of 2 dimensions:

- Constructed Source vs. Constructed Receiver: How the brand is seen as a person (Physique and Personality) vs. How the brand is seen as its stereotypical user (Reflection and self-image)

- Externalization vs. Internalization: Externalization defines what the brand is to the outside world it interacts with. Externalization parameters (Physique, Relation, Reflection) define how the brand socializes. Internalization parameters (Personality, Culture, Self-image) define the brand internally

Don’t worry. It’ll make more sense as you understand each of the six factors individually. Brand identity can either be created using each of these factors or by combining them powerfully.

1.       Physique:  Physical features of the brand- Color, shape, size, texture, smell… etc. Are there any physical characteristics that immediately trigger a brand recall? Think of

o   Coca Cola: the contoured bottle, red, the crown

o   Gatorade: Muscular shape of the bottle, orange, blue, green colors

o   BMW: The shape of the grille

o   Harley Davidson: the characteristic potato-potato-potato sound of a Harley

2.       Personality: Who is the person talking to consumers of the brand? What’s his/her style of talking, tone of voice? Think of

o   Ronald McDonald: someone who loves kids and kids love him in return

o   Mr. Muscle: Strong and powerful, loves the jobs you hate

3.       Culture: Links the brand to its origin. Cultural values in the brand represents where the brand comes from. In a many cases cultural values in the brand are related to its country of origin

o   Mercedes-Benz: German auto engineering excellence

o   Coca Cola: Kindness, gratefulness, happiness

o   Tantra T-shirts: Indian

4.       Relationship: How a brand treats its consumers.

o   Harley Davidson: Red carpet treatment HOG (Harley Owners Group)

o   Dixons retail: Every single customer, every single time is the most important person in the world

5.       Reflection: Who is the stereotypical user of the brand? Not TG. The Stereotypical user.

o   Nike: The athletic superachiever

o   Omega Speedmaster: the professional who needs extremely accurate timekeeping even under non standard conditions

6.       Self Image: Who does the consumer of the brand see himself/herself as?

o   Fastrack watches: the ‘in-your-face’ rebel

o   Volkswagen Beetle: The affluent fun-lover

o   Big Bazar: The value conscious bargain hunter

To understand this better, we’ll see how these factors apply to a single brand- Appy Fizz: 

Of brands and emotions

Human beings are rational and often pride themselves on the ability to make rational decisions.

Does being rational mean being free from emotion? While the very definition of rationality would say so, the human brain would beg to differ.

To explain why, let me introduce the 3 brains that make up our brain and are responsible for how we act.

1. The Visceral Brain- or the 'automatic brain' is the instantaneous instinctive portion of the brain. This is perhaps one of the most primitive decision enabling regions of the brain. This brain is fast and helps us react quickly to external opportunities and threats. The Visceral Brain's instructions are basic and are based on information that is innately stored in the brain. To look for food when you're hungry. To run away from an explosion.

2. The Limbic Brain- This is perhaps the most important of the three brains. Before I move on with what the Limbic Brain is made of and how it works, here are 2 facts:

1. The Limbic Brain is not conscious. It helps us with automated activities that do not require conscious thought- think of the way you drive a car or brush your teeth- you're not really paying attention but you're in control. This happens because these actions are driven directly by patterns stored in the memory without involvement of the Rational Brain (later)
2. An overwhelming majority of our actions are controlled by our Limbic Brains. Think of all the things you do. You are not paying attention and taking constant conscious rational decisions for each stroke of that toothbrush or every time you to press the clutch. Contrary to long held beliefs, most of our actions are in auto-pilot mode controlled by the Limbic Brain- and only few are controlled by the rational brain

The Limbic Brain contains the important regions responsible for long term memory- the Hippocampus.
The Hippocampus in turn houses the center of emotions- the Amygdala. The very anatomy of the brain that places the emotion center at the very heart of the the memory center, enables humans to associate every memory with positive and negative emotions. Therefore every time we recall a memory, the emotion associated with it is automatically recalled along with it.

3. The Rational Brain- also known as the neocortex, it is the part of the brain that's responsible for rational decisions. Had this part of the brain been capable of independent functioning, our decisions would be purely rational based on true evidence. Fortunately or unfortunately it doesn't.
The Rational Brain, by its virtue of being rational, has a natural tendency of seeking evidence or proof points for decision making. And the most easily and instantly accessible proof points are our own memories.
When the Rational Brain pulls out a memory, the emotion associated with that memory is pulled out along with it.

Brands without emotions don't work. Emotions come from connecting with people, causes, and the inner self. Coca Cola open happiness, Airtel friends campaigns are great examples of emotions of happiness, togetherness, fun and humanity that arise when people connect with people. The Toyota Prius exemplifies how a cause can define a brand. Nike on the other hand connects excellence in athletic performance to pinnacles of satisfaction a sense of achievement for the inner individual self.

There are brands that combine these different categories of emotions. Apple for instance gives its consumer a sense of inner satisfaction being able to comprehend the simplicity and greatness of design and performance. Apple users. It also gives them a sense of belongingness to like minded individuals from the Apple community.

The art of being foolish

Many are commenting on how young sportstar Virat Kohli has recently starred in a string of foolish ads. From pataoing women with creepiness to Waku-Doki-ing in his Liva, BrandVirat seems to be the BIG HIT both on and off the field. 

Of all Virat campaigns, Cinthol's Alive is Awesome is perhaps the most ridiculous. Or so people are saying. The TVC certainly leaves one wondering what the hell just happened. 

Well I'll tell you what just happened. Someone came up with something different. 
For category that's teeming with brands, all trying to cleverly position the male deodorant as the ultimate weapon of mass seduction, no single brand had the balls to try something different. While Axe can almost single-handedly claim credit for for its wildly exaggerated (and hence humorous) enhanced sex appeal ads, other brands that have blindly followed suit have often missed the comic element, making their ads exceedingly stupid and often repulsive. 

Lousy advertising over the years has conditioned us to believe that in a deodorant ad, women will helplessly, desperately, and involuntarily get attracted to men who use a particular brand. This new ad reaches out of the TV screen, grabs you and shakes you up. The ad itself draws a very strong parallel with its product in how refreshing it is. It therefore stands out from its sexist counterparts and has great recall. The ad is foolish- but in a nice way that sticks.

So if you think that the Alive is Awesome ad is disturbing, and it makes you think of the mindlessness that seems to have taken over today's advertising, ask yourself this: what are the last deodorant ads that you saw? I dont know about you- but with great effort, I can't even recall 5 brands and their ads.