We’re So Different, We’re Practically The Same
Where to start… How about here: In a world and a generation where microfragmentation is a word my spellchecker is still unfamiliar with and a challenge facing businesses and marketers alike, “the richest source of insight comes from observing behavior,” So says BBDO President and Chief Executive Andrew Robertson.
The reason he says that is at the root of a study that BBDO did a few years back. At the core of the study published in BusinessWeek, are 5 daily rituals that it appears are universal. I may be taking a little license here by using the word “universal” since the researchers surveyed 5000 people in 21 countries and didn’t ask any of the “V.” Long live the 5th Column.
But I digress. Or maybe not. Rituals are funny things. They are religious, ceremonial, habitual and sometimes even pathological. They’re meaningful and frivolous. Sometimes even at the same time.
And apparently vegging out in front of the TV before bed qualifies.
The five that BBDO came up with that occur every day in every part of the world: preparing for battle, feasting, sexing up, returning to camp, and protecting yourself for the future” (the ritual before bed). According to the study, each label is meant to suggest a defined emotional state that permeates each set of behaviors. It suggests then, that even though we’re so different, we’re practically the same.
If the rituals are universal and globally we share similarities, then it stands to reason that gone is the national, regional local and microfragmented audiences we have been led to believe actually exist.
Sure, a man and a woman are different sexes (duh) and have different perspectives and even different ways our grey matter functions, but that which seemingly divides us, probably viscerally unites us more than we’d like to admit.
It makes sense then, for us as marketers to align our work to those five in some form or fashion. Here’s a great example from Nike of “Preparing For Battle” that breaks the code.
The familiar parts of that spot become resonance which sparks an emotion which leads to product recognition/try which becomes loyalty and leads to advocacy. KaBLAM.
What it is simply, is a brand that breaks the “rules” and establishes cultural significance.
The Study and Business Week article were written before the massive adoption of social media so I took the concept to the next level. Social media can be classed into those five rituals which is why people flock to it, sometimes not even knowing why.
If “returning to camp” involves meeting your peeps for drinks after work, then foursquare is a ritual inducing medium.
Twitter is a ritual inducing medium where “sexing up” means that teenage girls are talking about what they’re going to wear to a dance or singles lining up a date or the desperate are trying to find a hookup.
Blogging especially about food becomes a way that feasting is part of the social medial landscape.
Hell, if feasting is about reconnecting with your tribe, then you could argue that Facebook should change its name to Feastbook.
Brands NEED TO find a way to insert themselves into the conversation in a relevant and purposeful way, the same way Nike/WK did with their spot Awake. The Lombardi Trophy then for any brand is to break through and become part of one of these 5 rituals.
