The Future of Global Brands – conscience causes

Branding once consisted of a burn mark on the backsides of cows. But, branding went on to give products consistent image through logos and trademarks, help businesses differentiate offerings from competitive propositions, and promise customers reliable quality and associated image or status.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s visionary global CEO wrote, in 2005, about Lovemarks as the future beyond brands. In a market reality where consistent quality is the cost of entry, and naming product features to gain the customers’s respect does not win loyalty for long. Roberts believes that love for a brand is what brings loyalty beyond reason. That love, is inspired by going a step beyond respect to tap into the emotional connecting points for different target customers. In 2006, his new book SiSoMo talks about the future of connectivity through new technological connectivity via sight, sound, and motion. The consensus among marketing experts is that the focus has already shifted from products and services to experience, connectivity, and emotion.

Why brands may not be called brands in the future

What’s in a name anyway? A lot is in a name. When brands are no longer called brands, they will have gained a new or added purpose. My best guess, and the logical trajectory from what is happening now with user-created everything, is that the line between branding experts and consumers will become extinct.

Why Brands will go on

In their broadest sense, brands get across the value and identity of people, products, services, ideas, interactions, countries, groups, almost anything we can get close to or experience. In this sense, I don’t see a threat to brands. As long as people still depend on each other, on ideas, emotions, and trade, brands will go on.

Countries, as we know them, may be more at risk than the broad concept of brands. Country-allegiance is

global brand barrier 2: assumptions

Moving to China feeling very solidly half-Chinese was both a blessing and a serious barrier.

The blessing came in the form of curiosity, passion, and commitment in understanding the people. Many foreigners come to China for the market opportunity. The sheer number of Chinese people who are now, at least theoretically, accessible to business propositions is driving investment and interest. More and more foreigners seek to witness, be a part of, and influence a uniquely fast-growth capitalist China. Others come to satiate a deep interest in China’s long history and rich cultural heritage. Whichever the driver for living in China, a foreigner will need to nurture respect and curiosity about local perspectives gained on a person by person level. It takes a certain relentless stubborn persistence and watchful patience to uncover common ground in all circumstances. Feeling only part-foreigner helped me invest unconditionally in exploring the local perspective.

The barrier came in the form of assumptions I am about what drives people who, half-my-blood and some general tendencies aside, have values stemming from experiences I was wholly foreign to.

Assumption 1: The Chinese people are modest, and age is synonymous to power.

The dramatic soar of choice, access, and relative freedom makes young people in China relentless opportunity seekers. Their experience with technology, new ideas, places, products, services and personal freedoms equip them to nimbly out-maneuver their parents in the new China. Add to this the fact that the single-child policy has produced an 80’s generation dubbed ‘little princes’, 20-somethings are often spoiled, and over-confident. While family closeness and respect of elders still reign, young people are the clear knowledge masters. Their parents often relying on them for big and small decisions.

Assumption 2: Low crime rates means people are innocent

Societal beliefs and the common conscience are still largely government-taught. The result is that radio broadcasts about the virtues of a harmonious society (including but not limited to helping one’s fellow neighbors, not spitting, swearing, etc) can be felt on the street level. At least in Beijing, petty theft, armed robberies, murders, and rapes are rare. This gave me the impression that people are quite innocent. While innocence is unusually hight on the one hand, opportunism, is rampant. I often wondered about this paradox of sorts. The answer lay in history and the fact that, some blind spots aside, the Chinese identity draws largely from a conscience of historical identity.

Assumption 3: Foreigners are welcome and accepted unconditionally

People want to learn from foreigners, but the goal is to surpass them to regain China’s rightful place as a great nation in the world. And, history has taught the Chinese to view foreigners with some degree of suspicion. In the name of profits, foreigners come to vast China for its numbers. In the name of progress, Chinese will get to know the foreigners and learn all that they have to offer. Warmth and curiosity about a foreigner doesn’t mean that the Chinese will hesitate to take what is he or she feels is owed to them by the affluent foreigner who had years of living freely before the Chinese joined the catch up game.

Closeness is about open transparent communication:

Closeness is communicated not as much by open talk about opinions (a typical Greek thing as it turns out). Instead, the Chinese will do things together, give gifts, and offer their time and unconditional commitment to the group.

global brand barrier 1: transparency blocks attibuted to miscommunication or language/culture barriers

Global Human Insight

Global brands benefit from Global Human Insight. Why? Because when the same brand needs support across the world, it is more efficient to run one campaign. Resource economies aside, though, there is the integrity of unified brand identity to consider. We are as bound to one ‘local’ location as our web exploration and travel adventures will allow. Experiencing multiple, smart, locally-relevant manifestations of a single ‘global’ brand position is a delight for the traveller or muli-local. Even witnessing a brand repositioned to fill a local market need can stir positive curiosity. Everyone knows that Starbucks is the third place across the world. In China Starbucks is a third place too, but its prohibitively high prices by local Chinese standards, makes it more The Place to Find Fellow Affluents, Ex-pat Co-workers, or ‘a Husband’. Olay is another example of a brand that, while broadly providing the same value proposition across the world, takes on a more premium space in China. Similarly to how the sleek Zurich Bahnhofstrasse McDonalds in incomparable to its ostensibly cheaper downtown Manhattan version, glossy Olay cosmetics can be found in Chinese department stores, and are distant cousins to their US/EU drugstore versions. In both cases, however, the core brand value to customers is unchanged globally. McDonalds is fast food (global menu and local inventions) conveniently (frequently) located. Olay is about age-resistant skin care, everywhere.

One thing that Global Brands play on and count on to succeed is the simple fact that certain human truths are universal. Sure, Greeks like to openly debate politics while Chinese will avoid engaging in these types of conversations. This local reality is important to understand – the causes are historical, political, and as a result, now cultural. But, biologically-speaking people have same evolutionary, neurological, physical realities weaved from the fabric our evolution as a species.

When it comes to unlocking human emotional wisdom, the kind that facilitates innovation, design, distribution, communication, and interaction of ideas with people, the universal human heart is a fine place to start. In her book, the Female Brain, Louann Brizendine, M.D., describes emotional attachment between people sometimes being sparked by an associated positive or exciting extermal experience. The brain’s response to new experiences results in a positive physical/emotional reaction which in turn gives innocent bystanders associative brownie points. This is why a well-designed date can make a difference. It is also why shared experiences and activities as a group inproves team building/and group bonding. By the same token, brands and products that happen to be there at the right time can gain points in people’s hearts. If a brand knows that it wants to associate itself with the high people feel while cheering for a sports team, then equipped with this basic principle local managers can decide which sports, teams, games, and forms of cheering are most relevant. Another universal emotional bonding window is a time of change, challenge, or an identity turning point. For example: the teenager, the new mother, the newlywed, the new college student, the retired man, the menaupausal woman, the new parents, the first job, the discovery of a health problem, etc. Each of these ‘change moments’ changes slightly depending on the local environment, norms, and generational statistics and societal reactions. That said, though, the key thing is for a brand to own a particular part of these emotional territories and adjust it according to the place and times.

Global Roots – contradiction of terms?

How important are our roots? I dare say they are important indeed. Smells, sights, tastes, and sounds from the neighborhoods we grew up in take on unreasonably strong emotional significance. Few languages can compete for the affection of our ears as well as our ‘Native’ tongue. The emotional connections we feel for the qualities we experienced at Origin are natural, physiologically based, and evolutionarily driven. Young brains are extra open to attachment. Psychiatrists cite the first three years as the key period for ‘imprinting’ – the process where an infant downloads the neurological, emotional, physical regularities of its new world (often the extents of which are largely defined by the mother’s breathing, facial expressions, and smell).

So, our roots define us, whether we like it of not. Even though I continue to decide to move to the next place, and still not return to my native Greece, I still feel more from the simple sound of a loud motorcycle (tampered engine… how on earth did that become a fashion that still persists?) combined with the smell of lemon trees in bloom and a bit of sunned (possibly strike-compiled) garbage, than I do from my favorite perfume and anything else short of my mother. Go figure.

Now, what if my Origin is 100% Greek neighborhood-wise, but my mother (origin of origins compared to neighborhood) is Chinese? And what if the sweet languages at my origin were Greek-Chinese… with echoes of (parental secret language) English?

I’d like to know is at what point do our emotional attachments to happenstance surroundings get weaker? Because, I seem to have continued the incontrollable and illogical imprinting for a lot longer than 3 years. It may well still be going on. For example, England. Was only there for 1.5 years during the awkward tween years where photographing me was just for the sake of future laughs, I think. I remember little, but I care a lot. It appears I feel almost English. Well, and it went on. Moved to Switzerland. Attended an International English-Speaking school, and learned High-German as a foreign language. I understand some embarrassingly low percent of conversations in Swiss German. But, listening to Swiss German is like music to my ears, and, importantly, ‘home’. I attended UC Berkeley for architecture and later The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Each school kicked my **** in its own unique way, and I spent my years largely frantically studying instead of fanatically partying (as I had hoped). If I meet anyone remotely related to either school, I will treat them like extended family and remember those ‘fun times’ (!), however. This sad state of affairs is still continuing with every job and every city and every restaurant that I happen to touch. Touching it apparently makes it mine. And my things are, well, to be given the honorary importance of historical events.

And here is where I would like to get back to answering the question that started this blog post to begin with: Global. Roots. Roots are the basis of a tree. Trees grow. People grow. So, what? Roots grow too, but, clearly, always from the point of origin. Global refers to worldwide. Worldwide sounds rootless. A worldwide tree would be the earth…

Thinking of the earth takes us away from the one-person scale where the senses and emotions thrive, to the bird’s eye view or, more accurately perhaps, the spaceship view where unity and ‘big picture’ life ideas reign, but lose the emotion and we no longer do wonderful crazy illogical human things like buy the soap that costs significantly more than the next soap.

Globalisation – sinner or saint?

On the one hand, the ‘Global Standard’ is about best practices. On the other, globalization is about finding the least common denominator, blowing it out to monolithic Goliath dimensions, and wiping out the cultural richness and diversity of small local offerings. At what point does David win, and at what point do market forces and ‘consumer choice’ change the story?

Many globalization critics in the developed world are concerned with the dangers of oversimplifying culture and the loss of heritage. Still others link it to terrorism and social unrest. According to Newsweek’s European economics editor, Stefan Theil (Comment section of the Financial Times, January 8th 2008), German and French textbooks are particularly critical, attributing violence and armed resistance to globalisation, and ‘brutal, savage, and American’ to Capitalism. Another textbook Theil cites, explains that India and China are successful capitalist economies because their freedom is limited by state ownership and protectionism. I find these quotes surprising, after my two years living in Beijing. China is a fascinating and unique example of the harmonious coexistence of a communist regime and hyper-capitalism.

Rock concerts, clubbing, KTV (karaoke bars), shopping, movies, and online gaming are now typical Chinese youth activities. The Beijing Opera performers possess skills unparalleled in other parts of the worlds, that are passed down from master to student. As audiences dwindle, lost to a new relevance, so does the already meager income of the talented musicians and performers. The art form is dying as young people chose more lucrative occupations. Can the Beijing opera’s secrets survive through the interest of foreigners and culture enthusiasts? Can it be integrated, in part, into the Modern Dance revolution that is taking place in Chinese Tier 1 cities? Ghaffar Pourazar, the first foreigner to graduate from the Beijing Opera School, has devoted the last 14 years protecting and promoting the ancient art form. A British-born Iranian, Ghaffar plays the Monkey King, but also has adapted A Midsummer Night’s Dream into Chinese Opera and has written and produced a story about a Monkey with AIDS to increase awareness of the disease in Chinese schools. In talking with Ghaffar, I can tell that he accepts the new tastes of Chinese young people. He does not want the art form to be preserved as a dead language and a museum piece. Instead he is working to adapt to the new tastes and new needs, and predicts that the extreme lack of interest in the old art forms will be replaces with new interest when the tide turns.

Global ‘corporate giants’ exist because of the human instinct to explore and to want what others have. They thrive when they offer something that locals find valuable.

The Global Standard

Supporting brands in China I often used the term ‘global standard’. This and relative words like ‘worldclass’, ‘international’, ‘worldwide’ are popular for a reason. Especially in China, where the sharp contrast of going from a closed to an open economy, people tend to think in terms of catching up to the world and the latest new (from abroad) being better. Under these conditions, the Global Standard is an upgrade, an impetus for change, and a race towards progress.

The Chinese consumer buys into the global standard because of the concept’s relevance to their aspirations (as tied to historic change). But, the driving curiosity about what is going on elsewhere is not unique to the developing world. People in most places have sought food from other regions to supplement their traditional dishes. Chinese, Indian, Japanese, American fast-food chains, Swiss cheese, etc are now found in much of the world. The Global Standard appears to be about variety, diversity, quality, and the freedom to choose a novelty that may very well not be a novelty elsewhere.

As social animals, we relate to others within our perceived communities, and measure our fortunes relative to these peers. The question then begs: who do you identify with, who do you think should have more or less the same opportunities as you?

Who we relate to is fluid. During different life stages, the size, depth, breath, and focus of our communities change. Parents, Peers, Teachers, Colleagues, Partners, Extended Family, Children, Strangers take on different meaning and importance depending on social, adaptive, physical/mental circumstances and priorities. Depending on the subject at hand, and the extent of our exposure and knowledge, we perceive various scales of community. If the extent of my perceived community had stayed my neighborhood in Athens, and had I not moved to London and later Zurich and later studied architecture, I would not have compared urban levels of green, nor decided that my original hometown needs greenroofs.

The Global Standard is also about the free flow of ideas. Our challenge is to maximize the flow of good ideas and recognize and limit the movement of harmful ones.

Human Insights – the importance of getting close enough to touch

In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about people’s ability to make complex, important decisions with just a thin slice of critical information. An often invisible influencer of these excellent ‘gut feelings’ is the information found in faces. Babies study their mothers’s faces like their worlds depended on it, and, according to most psychiatrists, they do. This type of ‘imprinting’ is crucial for their developing the ability to understand the full information provided in social interactions, and form instincts about the appropriate responses. Autistic children’s social interaction suffers from lack of this unconscious skill.

Connectedness is becoming an increasingly multi-gadget, and multi-form experience. In-person one-on-one, in-person group, voice and video, voice, letter, email, text, social network utility public or private message, online ‘wall’ graffiti, and online public testimonials, blogs, blog comments, video, file, music sharing, online gaming are some that come to mind. These communication choices offer gradation of intimacy, commitment, tone, and exposure and certainly allow a broader network, more and novel interactions.

Technology is a catalyst for relevant, timely, and cheaper connectivity. For depth of interaction, though, we are still bound by evolution to rely on our own highly well-developed unconscious processing of sight (reading facial expressions and body language), smell (giving cues to health and compatibility), sound (subtle tonal changes), and touch (babies die without it, adults just suffer).

In the race for brands to connect with consumers in relevant, engaging and emotionally potent ways, Human Insights are essential. To get them, we gather market trends, mine statistics, get quantitative consumer data via online surveys, watch the blogs and public opinion wherever it is forming… but we also have to listen up close to real people. Because, for now, that is where the richness of emotion can be understood.

The chameleon reminds me that another person’s mindset will transfer to me (even momentarily), only if I get close enough to touch. Sometimes, depth of interaction (a single great conversation with the right person at the right place and time) can unveil more than an impressive number of sub-optimal interactions (disengaged or badly led focus groups, for example).