On Thursday, June 13th, I had the pleasure of talking to my friend and colleague, Mary Beth Deans, about the importance of business culture in innovation.

We’re obsessed with innovation today. Yes, we need to innovate products, business models, experiences to stay relevant. Why aren’t companies talking about innovation in corporate culture? It’s time.

It has been said: culture eats strategy for lunch (and dinner too!).If your people aren’t creating, taking risks and innovating, change starts with organizational culture. So what matters most with culture? How do we change culture to better support and encourage innovation? What environments allow people to do their best work?

I work with marketing teams and innovating in marketing (products, messaging, business models) can be challenging if the culture doesn’t support risk-taking and experimentation. So this is near and dear to my heart: I’ve taught methods for strengthening risk-taking muscles at Stanford Continuing Studies.

Listen to the podcast by clicking the file below! Enjoy.
Kathy Klotz-Guest

It’s a marketing crap explosion out there. There is too much content and jargon-laden stuff chasing too little mindshare. In 2010, Google’s then CEO, Eric Schmidt, proclaimed that there is more content created every two days than in all of human history up through 2003. More recently, IBM stated that 90% of content today was created in the last two years alone. Holy data shit-storm!

It gets worse. The annual Edelman Trust Barometer continues to show a steady decline in customer trust of companies. And along with the decline in trust, we have a growing deficit in attention span. We’re on social overload and it isn’t pretty.

There is just too much out there and we’re filtering for our very survival. That means way too much information is being created and yet, simultaneously, we’re facing a paucity of meaningful marketing. Data does not mean information and it certainly doesn’t mean “meaningful.” It’s getting harder and harder to cut through the noise.

Does This Customer Advocacy Make my Marketing Data Look ‘Big’?

Against this backdrop of marketing ‘Big data,” and its corollary (little relevance and, thus, “who gives a crap?”), marketers are fighting to be heard. This can a good thing – it forces companies to rethink how they are communicating. It’s time to change the marketing ‘game’ to one that is more human, relevant and purposeful. And no – by the way – I don’t want a relationship with you just because I liked your Facebook page. Seriously – I wouldn’t put up with stalker behavior in a date; why would I put up with it from a ‘brand’ that thinks I want to interact with my laundry detergent (coffee, toothpaste, whatever) on Twitter while watching TV. Nope.

The New ‘Buying Journey’

Additionally, the buyer’s journey has changed. According to Forrester (October 2012), buyers are approximately 67% – 90% through their decision-making process by the time they contact the company for information. That means they are doing self-directed searches, talking to their networks and getting information from your detractors and advocates. What is the net sentiment for your company? This has huge implications for why advocacy matters today. Forrester’s data shows that 94% of us trust advocates compared to 18% of us who trust influencers. Why? Because unpaid advocates are believed to be “people like me.” That matters when it comes to trust. I sure don’t trust corporate spokespeople and media ‘influencers,’ but I trust people just like me.

Humanize Like Your Success Depends on it (Psst! It Does)

While there are a lot of ways to humanize your company and content, here are three ways to stand out.

Use Story Marketing.

Tell simple stories. Humans are storytelling animals. Stories simplify and cut through the noise in ways that data alone cannot. According to Jennifer Aaker at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, stories are remembered up to 22X more than facts alone (Stanford studies). Stories give us reasons to care where facts fail. Neuromarketing – the intersection of neuroscience and marketing – tells us that humans make decisions with emotions and use facts to justify the decisions. Yep – emotions are critical. Stories that answer “why,” and that tell your market who you are and what you care about are more powerful and meaningful. Even in B2B. It’s time for business to stop thinking it is above the rules. Most of us don’t check our humanity at the door when we go into a work building. Surveys show that 92.3% of audiences are, in fact, made up of people (we really don’t know about the rest)!

Related to stories, companies today need to elevate the discussion of what they do to a discussion of who they are. It’s not about products and services today; it’s about standing for a purpose that is bigger than the company. For Zappo’s, it’s delivering happiness and great customer service no matter what it takes. For Patagonia, it’s the environment. For IBM, it’s being part of an ecosystem that creates a smarter, better planet with technology. Find your higher purpose, and you’ll connect in a more meaningful way. Products and services come and go – movements have longevity.

Think Upside Down.

Turn assumptions on their heads. Once we’ve seen or heard new messages, we acclimate to a pattern. Over time, the novelty factor wears off. So what better way to shift expectations than to flip them occasionally? If people expect serious, give them humor. If people expect humor, change the message frequently. Humor is human, and it is one of the best devices for communicating because it operates as an incredibly effective pattern disruption technique. If I’m talking at you for a few minutes, your brain adapts and filters what I am saying until I do something – anything – that shifts your expectations and disrupts the expected pattern – a joke, a story, an exercise, etc. Then, your attention increases greatly. Humor gets around the intellectual ‘facts’ filter. Once I make you laugh, your attention is high and your filter is down. I am now able to get my messages through in a way I could not before.

A great example of this is IBM’s ‘Art of the Sale’ (all seven of them!). When it first came out, the video was a huge hit – growing traffic for the company’s smaller, newer mainframe product by 25X. Why? No one expected humor from IBM and, more importantly, IBM did something even more unpredictable: it parodied itself. Yep – it was “un-iBM” and that’s why it worked so well – generating trade press and earned media that paid advertisements could never have generated.

When you have been running with the same messages for a while, flip expectations, and you’ll jump start attention and create a deeper connection with your audience. Remember, even the best messages flat-line. It’s a never-ending cycle; so make sure you are jump starting your own messaging innovation curve. Messages have short product life cycles, too, because of the amount of noise out there.

Unleash People and (a likeable) Brand Personality.

Every company has a brand personality. It might not one you’d like to have, however. Remember those Mac v. PC ads? Those were fantastic ads because they really spoke to how people saw the world of PC vs. Mac users. No doubt about – brand personalities matter. If your company was a person, who would it be? And, more importantly who do customers believe it to be? B2B companies have personalities, too. Only most of them are incredibly boring and outdated. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Show a human side. Weave personal interests alongside business information, so your audience knows something about you as a person and can connect with you on that human level, before building a business relationship. We do business with people we know, like and trust – let people get to know you and trust you by liking you first as a person. It’s easy to add fun bios to company sites and to social networking profiles.

Part of being likeable (no not Facebook likes) is being relatable. And a big part of the personality of the company is its people. The best storytellers in a company are those closest to the customer (not those in the C-suite!). Shocking, right? Let those storytellers engage with customers. Look at how Cisco Systems used Gen Y –intern turned Internet rapper, Greg Justice. This intern put a relevant, hip face on an older technology company and spoke to other Gen Y’ers in ways that company execs could not. Remember, advocates matter as customers are doing their own searches before they even contact the company for information. Advocates are “people like me…” – they are trusted far more than company spokespeople and media influencers.

Sometimes the best storytellers also live outside the company – they are passionate, rabid, unpaid advocates who share their stories out of dedication and loyalty. These loyal customers tend to refer 5X (Forrester) more customers on average than their non-advocate counterparts. A great example is Starbucks Melody, a Seattle-based lawyer who loves Starbucks and talks about the company passionately to her tens of thousands of listeners. Engage, empower, and catalyze your advocates with great content and stories and let them tell their stories their way! IBM, too, has a lot of fans both inside and outside the company – so, yes, B2B, it is possible.

Cut Through the Marketing Noise and Complexity

By telling simple stories, turning expectations upside down frequently, and letting your personality come through, you’ll stand out in a noisy world today. While there are many ways to humanize – the most important thing is to forge deeper connections with your audience in order to increase marketing results. There is no short-cut or quick ‘social media’ fix.

Every marketer communicates, yet few truly connect. ‘Meaning’ kicks volume’s ass every day of the week. Move over data overload. It’s time for “Big and Meaningful Data.”

Let me know what you think!

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Source: Mamiverse.com

Kathy Klotz-Guest (KKG): Can you summarize the story for our readers?

Laurie Kretchmar (LK): Caine is a real and imaginative boy in Los Angeles who created an arcade of games made of cardboard at his dad’s auto parts store. There was very little foot traffic until a customer and filmmaker named Nirvan Mullick happened upon it , surprised Caine by bringing hundreds of people to visit and made a short documentary about it. The video “Caine’s Arcade” took the Internet by storm. I was touched by Caine’s story and also Nirvan’s. Nirvan has since gone on to start a foundation to foster creativity in kids around the world. (Keeping it Human Note: The foundation is called the Imagination Foundation).

I also was interested in how a story like this struck a chord. I think people are hungry for good news, but not saccharine news. Nirvan has great anecdotes about people who’ve been touched by “Caine’s Arcade” including a burly Secret Service agent who said he cried when he saw the movie.

KKG: It’s a great human interest story. What part of it interested you most?

LK: As a former journalist, I always love to hear the story behind the story. In my blog I write about social media and marketing and topics that grab my interest. I recently heard of an altruistic kid who made a splash and I suspected his parents were heavily involved in the marketing of his idea, which they were. When I began to think about what we all need, I thought, aha – we need a Nirvan.

Source: Firewireblog.com

And here’s a secret – I knew that Nirvan was and is accessible via social media and would almost certainly retweet my blog post on Twitter. I was right, and he did. We tweeted “Who is your Nirvan?” He replied, “I’m my own.”

Nirvan and Building an Imagination Foundation

KKG: That’s very cool. Nirvan is a great champion who turned his experience into a Foundation to encourage creativity in kids. What lessons in advocacy can readers take away from this story? I can think of a few.

LK:
1) Be open to serendipity and possibilities. You could literally be replacing a door handle when you stumble upon a meaningful idea that transforms your life and those around you.

2) Look for allies! Who is most interested in what you’re promoting? As Ted Hope, an independent movie producer said at South by Southwest, “You have to find a way to conspire with people you have yet to meet.”

Source: Vimeo.com

Storytelling for a Cause

KKG: This story is a such a great way to think about promoting a cause. However, I would say that many of us need ‘Nirvans!’ Why is having a Nirvan so important today?

LK:There is so much noise that it can seem hard to get attention for your great idea.

KKG: Amen! Preaching to the choir.

LK: Some of us feel shy tooting our own horn – so find someone else who will do it for you or help you become a thought leader. As I told one non-profit leader who had his first book coming out yet was reluctant to tweet, “It’s not about you! It’s about your cause. It’s letting people know about your work so they can learn more.”

To find your tribe, ask yourself, who shares my passions and interests? Search for them via social media. I’ve found some authors, editors and readers on Twitter who share my interest in certain children’s books. For instance I’ve celebrated the life of a great children’s book illustrator – Trina Schart Hyman whom I interviewed many years ago. I also recently mourned the passing of an author who was very influential to me and others – E.L. Konigsburg. She wrote “The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basel E. Frankweiler” about a young girl who hides out with her brother in the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Reading that novel as a young girl in California was the first time I envisioned New York City and I knew I would live there someday, which I did.

KKG: How can we increase our chances of running into and empowering others to be Nirvans for us?

LK: Look for us. We’re all around.

KKG: How can we be better Nirvans for others? It’s about really being present and recognizing the need and opportunity.

LK: True! Keep an eye out for natural allies. Introduce people with similar interests. It could be as simple as reaching out via a tweet. I just introduced two Illinois women via Twitter; one is a young activist promoting women in politics; the other an advocate for survivors.

Thanks, Laurie!

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This is why Hubspot is a company after my own heart with its use of humor. Today, I saw the best unsubscribe message ever: Hubspot Unsubscribe.

Likening an ‘unsubscribe’ to an awkward break-up, this video is smart, funny, and incredibly effective. And, like all humor, it contains a kernal of truth about how break-ups make us feel. Granted, we’re not breaking up with lots of people at the same time.

This is a great way to reinforce the human connection and leave a great feeling even when customers want to unsubscribe. Way to go, Hubspot. You had me at “unsubscribe.” Your approach is one model I can wholeheartedly subscribe to.

Jeff and I had what I hope to be the first of many conversations around how to “Innovate the Improv Way.” Listen to the episode by clicking the file below. Enjoy! Check out my last blog post on Improvisation.

Empathy and Customer Stories Drive Design

One of the products we discussed was Nest Labs, a product I have written about before. Designed by folks that were part of the iPhone team at Apple, this product is a simple, elegant, easy-to-use learning thermostat that looks good. From a design standpoint – they did lots of things right, as you would expect from people with Apple’s design sensibilities. The product tackles the challenge that many users have – learning how to use a thermostat – and having it yield consistent savings. Most thermostats don’t save setting preferences, they are incredibly inefficient, not easy to program, and unattractive. The Nest thermostat learns users’ preferences so that it reduces heating costs and inefficiencies by up to 50% (savings vary) and it’s elegant, attractive and user-friendly.

No doubt – it’s a great product with a great team and origin story. It costs several hundred dollars to start with – there are several generations out now and costs are headed down. It’s a product with a great ‘Why’ behind it. So what could this company do better?

Tell a Better Marketing Story

The answer is storytelling. It could tell a better story to customers. The company has a huge opportunity to tell its compelling narrative in a bigger, bolder way to the market. Great products that solve real challenges, open up new opportunities, and make life better for people have a solid story to tell and it’s imperative to tell it in the right way.

How to Craft a Compelling Business (and Consumer) Story

The key to a great story is change; in other words, how does the product leave customers better off?! A great story answers that question in a compelling way. This point is critical: simply showing how customers benefit by saving money or time feels a bit empty and anti-climactic. It is. Great products are supposed to make lives better. So what?! Here’s the key point: never end your story on a monetary benefit. There is nothing wrong that benefit. Of course, it matters. Still, it’s only a surface-level benefit.

The Most Important Element of a Successful Story is Change

Underneath every benefit is a larger human need. Think about Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. People have needs for security, control, freedom, self-esteem, belonging, access, community, recognition and a need to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Why end with a superficial benefit when you can reach people emotionally, cut through noise (lots of me-too products claiming the same benefit), and connect in a way that facts cannot? So tell the human story of how your product leaves people better off. If you can’t answer how you change customers’ lives for the better, then you have work to do. A human need – not product – always drives both design and marketing storytelling.

Great Marketing Stories Speak to the Human Need Being Met

Extrapolating from the benefit of saving money are larger human needs that are being met. Two needs (of a number) with Nest Labs include control (the ability to control one’s environment) and the self-esteem and belonging that come with being greener and reducing one’s use of energy resources. There is value and community in belonging to a movement that is bigger than the individual. When you are part of a larger movement – such as being greener – users feel connected socially to something meaningful. Those are substantial human needs that go way beyond the surface and undifferentiated message of saving just money over time.

Show Me (More Than) The Money!

So how can Nest Labs turn up its marketing power? Tell a bigger and more human story that goes beyond the monetary benefit.

Want to tell a bigger and better story? Find the human element underpinning your benefits and tell that *story* to the world.

What do you think? Email me at kathy(at)keepingithuman(dot)com.

Kathy Klotz-Guest
kathy(at)keepingithuman(dot)com

The CMIO: Chief Marketing Improvisation Officer

Successful entrepreneurs (and companies) are improvisers who prepare, fail, learn quickly, and “pivot.” They know when to adapt, and they empower others to do that as well.

In a world of increasing complexity, the ability to improvise and to manage change is critical. According to the IBM 2010 Global CEO Study, the ability to embody creative leadership is among the most important attributes for navigating and succeeding in a world of increased complexity. The study also revealed that there is a shortage of flexible, creative leaders in top companies. That’s a big issue for managing the next wave of change.

Marketing – and business in general – is undergoing tremendous change. Because of social media, the rapidly evolving social enterprise, increasing amounts and complexity of information (the rise of “big data”), marketers are inundated with choices, “facts,” the promise of greater insight, and a constantly changing set of “rules” for connecting better with customers.

Create the Playbook and Be Ready to Ditch It

So what’s a marketer to do? The answer is to create a playbook and improvise as needed. I have launched products, online campaigns and stories, and start-up companies. In the day to day, real-time trenches, the unforeseen – both good and bad – happens. When stuff stops working, great marketers improvise and change course. Failure is part of the improviser’s motto; it’s a chance to learn and grow. Yet, continuing to fail because of inflexibility is just poor management.

Products Should be Co-Created

Companies can’t wait until products are perfect to ship them. There is no such thing as completely done. Consider all the bugs in software. Great marketers create the best products they can by involving customers early on, getting products out the door and continuing to get feedback that helps shape the next revision or product upgrade. Product strategies should and will evolve –it’s an orchestrated and organic blend of co-created development with customers over time. Great marketers deviate from the plan – improvise – when customer feedback requires a new direction. Plans are roadmaps, not fiancés. Like them; don’t marry them.

Great Storytelling Means Letting Go

The narrative of a company must always adapt to the changing market conditions, customer needs and the competitive landscape. Company narratives evolve organically and are adapted by customers who shape them and make them their own. There is no such thing as waiting until a narrative is perfect. In fact, this is where great brands thrive – by allowing their customers to co-create the company story with them. By doing that, great brands build customer loyalty by letting customers define what the larger company story means to them.

Campaigns can also be co-created with customers – it means letting go of controlling the story and enabling customers to shape that story the way THEY experience the brand. Like improvisation on a stage, this requires trust. Letting go almost always means better outcomes than can be achieved by “control.” Customers ultimately decide if a brand succeeds or fails.

Social Engagement Requires Experimentation

In a world where social media is still evolving, companies must embrace experimentation with a number of tactics to see what works. Marketing is filled today with examples of companies that are failing. That’s a great thing in a way. Now is the time to try, fail, and learn by improvising – not the time to stick to long-term playbooks. Measure, see what works, and improvise a new plan. Yes, some stuff won’t work, and even best laid plans can fail. Nothing in marketing is guaranteed; there is no template. Marketing – the iterative, improvisational dance – is some science, yes, and a hell of a lot of art. Thriving in uncertainty means accepting the situation or offer at hand (improvisers call it, “Yes, and-ing”) and moving forward by building (and-ing) on the reality of the moment.

While overall strategies shouldn’t change frequently, tactics should because knowledge and tools will. The point is lots of mistakes will (and should) be made as companies find their footing in a new world where customers have more power and transparency. Be married to your company’s values and the narrative it creates – not to tactics that aren’t working. Intractability is lethal.

Improvisation Requires Leadership and Mastery

Improvisation isn’t winging it. Like great marketing, it requires preparation, fluency, mastery and big values such as trust. Improvising in business can only be successful when companies have leaders that embrace change, and trust their people enough to decentralize flexible decision-making. Companies with solid brands are capable of improvisation precisely because they are prepared – and open to change.

The beauty of jazz isn’t in the predictable notes; it’s in the improvisation. The same is true of marketing. Marketers who prepare and are willing to improvise as needed will be the ones to succeed in a business climate of constant and rapid change.

Kathy Klotz-Guest