Kyle BowmanBrands. Movements. Culture. Trends.

If you have ethics, you’re in good company – CSR is key to brand success.  At the insistence of a consumer population increasingly concerned with corporate social responsibility, making a contribution to society is becoming a key consideration in the corporate strategies of brands and businesses.  Society is becoming more connected and it is changing the way people look at businesses and what they look for when entering into a relationship with them.

Click here to read article by Jane Asscher – Chairman and Managing Partner of 23red

If you are in marketing and you aren’t paying attention to movements and how they can be harnessed to communicate the passion behind your brand, you are about to miss the boat.  Why?  There is a dirty little secret out there that people are not talking about.  People just do not care much about product specs anymore, or claims about how such and such product is going to make you happier.  People care more about what your company cares about.  People are craving authenticity in real relationships and in relationships with brands.  If you do not get that, you are in trouble.

Here is a rule of thumb.  For every passion, there is a movement.  People who want to help children are buying Tom’s shoes.  Get it?

Values based movement marketing is better than traditional marketing for many reasons.  Below are nine reasons.

1.  Movements unite values and passions among divergent demographics

When you choose movement marketing, you aren’t creating passion.  You are merging passions that already exist.  You can cross demographic lines with your product that you would not ordinarily be able to cross.

 2.  Movements promote great relationships

The qualities that characterize a person’s relationship with a brand are very similar to the qualities that characterize a person’s relationship with another person (trust, loyalty, beauty, time spent together, etc).  Movements spark the initial interest so that values and passions can create long-term relationships.  Movements = cupids arrow.

 3.  Movements help you create better stories. 

Great brands tell great stories.  More and more, when I meet people, they ask me, what is my story?  This has made me want to have a better story!  Movements will do the same for your company!  To have a great story, you have to do great things that you are passionate about, which means you have to do some soul searching.  Does your brand have a great story?  If not, find your passion and use movements to tell great stories.

 4.  Movements ensure authenticity

Movements create boundaries to enforce authenticity.  If you are not authentic, you are going to get kicked out of the movement and rightfully so.  Why be authentic?  Well, first of all, it is a better way to live life.  Second of all, your customers will reward you.

 5.  Movements are more memorable 

People are so busy and so overwhelmed with information and marketing, that if you do not tap into passionate movements, they just won’t remember you.  People remember how you make the feel.  Movements only get started, because people are already feeling something passionately.

 6.  Movements help eliminate guesswork

To some extent, movements replace surveys, because when you create authentic relationships, you can get the information you want by just asking in a genuine way.  It helps you to get to know your customers.  Let’s face it – half of the time, people do not know what they want or why they want what they want.  So how is a survey going to help you figure it out?  By creating or tapping into movements, you have a road map for where people are already heading.  You knew who understood this?  Steve Jobs.

 7.      Movements help you define and change your company culture

Movements help you determine very quickly what your company values are and who in your company is living those values.  This is all about company culture and what you believe.  For instance, if you do not want a company culture that is cut throat with no values (think Goldman Sachs), watch how employees interact with a very meaningful movement.

 8.      Movements are more practical

Even for global brands, all marketing is heading local.  What better way to understand a local market than to tap into the movements people care about?  I believe that movements will be more measurable and more cost effective than traditional forms of advertising.  Think ROI, big data, and social media here.

 9.      Movements are just awesome

Movements are exciting and uplifting.  Once you get a taste for making the world a better place, for building better relationships, for living with more passion, you will become addicted.  You will love it, and your customers will love it.

So what are the other reasons movement marketing is better?  Can you think of excellently executed examples of movement marketing?  Feel free to comment below.

Most of modern marketing is based on a flawed assumption – money can buy happiness.  We have all heard it said, a million times, money can’t buy happiness.  Yet, nearly everyone goes ahead trying to buy their happiness.

Yet, I have noticed that this is changing slowly.  In his recent Ted video, Michael Norton talks about how spending money on others rather than on yourself increases your happiness.  Spending money on yourself produces no change or a negative change on your happiness.  I have noticed this in my own life when I buy a product that is going to help someone, or I give a phenomenal gift that someone loves.  It feels great!

So what happens when marketing starts telling the truth?  Well, you get companies like Tom’s and you get consumers to buy green products.  You help promote relationships and ideas that matter to people.

This is a revolutionary concept in marketing.  The revolution comes down to three things:

Give and it will be given unto you.

If spending money on others offers a bigger return on investment in terms of happiness and in terms of marketing dollars, then sharing is indeed the currency of the future.

People are craving human connection.

People’s lives are only as happy as the quality of the relationships.  You can take that to the bank.  This includes relationships with people and yes, relationships with brands.  Brands represent relationships values – trust, loyalty, passion, commitment, forgiveness, etc.   When your relationships suffer, your happiness suffers.  Just look at lottery winners that become isolated and miserable.

Authentic happiness matters. 

A great many people in America have tons of stuff and really miserable.  They have everything they could ever want, but their relationships are terrible!  Old school marketing was really effective for these people, which is a bummer!  I guess it is true…You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.  Well, it is about time for this to change, because the freedom to pursue authentic happiness is what really matters.

How have you experienced this new way of thinking in your lives and how has this affected your decision making in what you buy and what relationships you allow into your life?  Let’s get a conversation going!

One question has been bugging me for a while now. Why was there such a big uproar over Apple abusing workers at Foxconn factories when nearly all other electronic gadgets and consumer items are manufactured in conditions equal to or worse than Foxconn?

The answer is simple. Apple’s brand stood for something. You see, great brands promote the values of human flourishing. When people see children and the elderly sharing moments connecting with each other, it means something to people. Apple’s brand stood for pushing this world forward, not in just in terms of raw technology, but in terms of human flourishing. It promoted our humanity and our individuality. These things are not to be trifled with just to increase the profit margin. People fell in love with Apple. It was a true romance for many, hard as that may be to understand.

Let’s get back to the issue at hand. Everyone knows Chinese workers are getting screwed. They are working for next to nothing in conditions we would never allow for own loved ones. However, they are just so far away. What can you do for these people? Not much. Well…you could buy a Mac instead of a PC. Apple is pushing the world forward…right?
Apple has pushed the world forward without a doubt, but something interesting happened when Apple was tied to outrageous working conditions. It created a visceral reaction among people that was akin to being cheated on. It is like Microsoft was the jerk that you expected to cheat on you and that you dumped for your true love, and all of the sudden you realize, wait a minute, this person is cheating too…on me! You see, great brands that promote human flourishing are held to a higher standard that should be held sacred.

Just like love is blind in relationships, love can also be blind with brands. Customers give Apple a tremendous amount of leeway, but certain issues at a foundational trust level can begin to erode this. For those true believers who fell in love with Apple for what it stood for, there will always be the question of “Isn’t Apple being greedy and what happened to thinking different?” If Apple can’t answer that question, Apple’s brand begins to erode, which means people won’t be quite as forgiving, which also means that loyalty erodes. That is huge. Loyalty to Apple is what allows it to be innovative. Innovation is everything in technology.

Apple can create a better standard for the entire tech industry, because its brand means something. That is leadership. What is the lesson for executives and marketers here? It means that business people can use all their talent to push this world forward, because this world is transparent now. In a transparent world, without genuine values, lived and breathed by an organization, marketing is pointless. It really is, so let that sink in for a second. So come on Apple, use your brand to keep raising the bar! Help us push this world forward to a new era of human flourishing. People will reward you for it.

I believe the future of manufacturing will be localized and will be driven by individual self-expression.  This will have a profound impact on marketing and business in America and around the world.  The video below is an example of this.  It is a video of a DIY 3D printer that can literally take a 3d computer image and print it.

We are living through an incredible period of innovation.  You can actually buy your own 3d printers from companies such as Maker Box.  It is mind blowing.  You download soft copies of objects and print hard copies.  Let that sink in for a second.  How everyone is not shouting this from the rooftops is beyond me.

Think about the trends that are happening in American society right now.  American society is enjoying a local good food revolution and people are standing OUTSIDE and in LINES for food trucks.  People are writing on Yelp for free, because they are passionate about their experiences.  This is all driven by technology that is allowing people to satisfy their craving for originality, passion, and craftsmanship.  We are in the infancy stages of this, however.  Extrapolate this trend just a decade out, with the world coming online, and it is mind boggling.

One thing I truly believe is that passionate craftsmanship that promotes human flourishing is the future.  That is the thread that weaves all of this together.  In a world of transparency, if you are not marketing this, if you are not LIVING this, your days may be numbered.  The way the world works is getting turned upside down.

Don’t believe me?   Watch this video: