Hello! Lovely to meet you!
Welcome friends! Lovely to have you here. So where exactly is "here"? And what on earth is a ThinkerBelle? "Here" is a blog space on all things that interest this little strategist, namely design, social media and technology. I like to think that "ThinkerBelle" (my strategist persona) lives at the intersection of these three domains. I hope you enjoy this space, please comment and don't be a stranger. I appreciate you being here. Follow me in the tweetverse if you like @thaz7. Stay groovy.
Latest
Transparency is Golden.
We live in a wickedly transparent world. Connectivity and the speed of information has made transparency so much more accessible to most any one with access to the internet. For example, simply enter your region code on your Dole organic banana and you will be taken to the locale, learn about their carbon neutral company and trace the supply chain. Pretty awesome? Downright terrifying? Perhaps it’s a little bit of both.
Information truly is everywhere, whether it’s customer reviews on yelp or epinions, twitter, your brand’s site, or the site of your competitors-if there are some skeletons lurking, someone WILL find them. Remember the days of the Better Business Bureau? (which is still alive and running by the way. albeit on life support) Consider the WHOLE CONNECTED WORLD as the BBB. Anyone can say anything about your product/service. Sure, it’s at an individuals discretion on who to trust, just remember that even the opinions of strangers are trusted more than advertising (39% versus 14% -weber shanwick).
We all learned early on that honesty is the best policy, well that is truer than ever for brands. While this should be obvious, skirting the truth, or downright lying will get you no where but a black list fast, countless brands STILL fall victim. Tools like Twitter makes word spread easily and quickly. And if you haven’t heard, bad news always travels faster than good news…
This takes us back to one of those basic principles of “modern brands” (from the kind, smart folks at Zeus Jones) modern brands don’t make promises (that can be broken). They act upon their beliefs. Creating empty promises that sell “the dream” may be what Mad Men was about, but is a dated and myopic way to approach brands in a modern, transparent world. Brands must do their part to establish beliefs and consequent actions that LIVE up to the story of what motivates consumers, not wax poetic about what they “could” do. Those who stop short will be left in the dust of a twitter feed. Simply stated: being just a pretty face will get you nowhere fast.
So how does a brand navigate this wickedly transparent world? To be gravely simplistic, start by listening. Tools abound (twittratr, twendz, how sociable? etc) stop and listen into the conversations around your brand. Next, as a brand, you have to have the “come to jesus” moment. What have I done in my life (as brand) that could possibly come back to haunt me? Run a worst case scenario on it and if necessary, expose yourself as needed. Better come from yourself than a stranger. Great example is Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles, where you find famously “good” brand, not being entirely “good” at all. They expose themselves and by doing so, gain credibility by showing how they are trying to make amends as well as take away the facade of perfection. Consequently, trust is established.
And haters listen up. Opinionated consumers aren’t going anywhere. They won’t be silenced. Social media isn’t a trend that will fade away-empowerment changed the game (yuck, marketing speak. Apologies). Twitter isn’t going anywhere, so no where to hide from the up to the nano-second updates of the modern world– it’s quickly becoming part of the “plumbing” of our digital ecosystem. Get used to it or go home.
