TWO ENDURING SOCIAL-CULTURAL TRENDS

STATUS ANXIETY

PRIVACY & SECURITY

TWO RESPONSES FROM BRANDS

PROBLEM

STATUS ANXIETY

PRIVACY & SECURITY

RESPONSE

1. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

2. TRANSPARENCY

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY.FROM ASPIRATION TO INSPIRATIONGREAT BRANDS, THOSE MOST IN TOUCH IN WITH CONSUMER SENTIMENT, HAVE EVOLVED THEIR MESSAGE FROM ONE OF ASPIRATION TO ONE OF INSPIRATION. THEY ARE FOCUSED LESS ON WHAT THEY CAN GIVE, AND MORE ON WHAT CONSUMERS THEMSELVES CAN ACHIEVE.

THESE BRANDS HAVE REALIZED THEIR ROLE IS NOT TO BE THE SOLUTION, BUT TO BE THE MOTIVATION FOR ONE. THE CALL TO ACTION ISN’T MERELY TO BUY SOMETHING, BUT TO BUILD SOMETHING.

OF COURSE, SOME BRANDS HAVE ALWAYS ACTED THIS WAY, PARTICULARLY IN CATEGORIES PREDICATED ON PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT, LIKE SPORTING GOODS. WHAT’S INTERESTING IS HOW OTHER BRANDS, WHETHER OF STYLE, WEALTH, WISDOM, OR POPULARITY, HAVE TAKEN THE SAME TACK.

LEVIS. GO FORTH

GOOGLE CHROME. DEAR SOPHIETHE GOOGLE ADVERTISING, LIKE “DEAR SOPHIE” AND “IT GETS BETTER” IS WIDELY PRAISED.

AND WHILE THE WORK SEAMLESSLY INCORPORATES CHROME, THE MESSAGE, “THE WEB IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT”, PUTS THE ONUS LESS ON PRODUCT FEATURES OR THE GOOGLE BRAND,

AND MORE ON THE CONSUMER.

IT CELEBRATES THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO TOUCH LIVES, BOTH THOSE WE KNOW AND THOSE WE DON’T.

AXE. SUSAN GLENN

TRADITIONALLY, FEW BRANDS HAVE MORE AUDACIOUSLY PROMISED TO FULFIL THEIR AUDIENCE’S DREAMS THAN AXE. BUT SUSAN GLENN TURNED THIS PROPOSITION ON ITS HEAD.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, AXE SUGGESTED THAT SUCCESS IN THE MATING GAME LAY NOT INSIDE A SPRAY BOTTLE, BUT WITHIN GUYS THEMSELVES. SUSAN GLENN CHALLENGED GUYS TO STEP UP AND TAKE THEIR DESTINY IN THEIR OWN HANDS.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IS ALL ABOUT MOTIVATING A CHANGE IN HOW I FEEL ABOUT MYSELF

WHEN WE FOCUS ON THE LITTLE THINGS WE DO WELL, WE FEEL MORE CONFIDENT IN OUR OWN ABILITY AND HAVE THE MOTIVATION TO SUCCEED.

PRIVACY THE ACCESS EVERYONE NOW HAS TO INFORMATION (DATA) MEANS PEOPLE ARE WORRIED ABOUT PRIVACY AND SECURITY.

BRANDS CAN BENEFIT FROM BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT HOW THEY ARE USING THEIR CUSTOMERS INFORMATION.

AWARENESS OF PERSONAL DATA IS INCREASING $4.39 (FACEBOOK’S ARPU) AND $20 (GOOGLE’S ARPU).

TRANSPARENCY

THE GOOD

THIS CAMPAIGN FOR FIRST DIRECT RESPONDED TO CONSUMER CRITICISMS OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR'S LACK OF TRANSPARENCY.

THE BANK TOOK LIVE, UNEDITED FEEDBACK FROM REAL PEOPLE - BOTH GOOD AND BAD - AND PROJECTED IT INTO A CAMPAIGN THAT USED ALL THE LATEST DATA VISUALISATION AND SOCIAL NETWORKING MEMES AND TECHNOLOGY. THE RESULT WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN KEY BRAND METRICS INCLUDING MOMENTUM BY 8%, RECOMMENDATION BY 15% AND DIFFERENTIATION BY 8%.

THE CAMPAIGN WAS ALSO HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL IN DRIVING CURRENT ACCOUNT ACQUISITIONS WITH 16% OF ALL APPLICATIONS IN THE SECOND HALF OF 2009 DIRECTLY DELIVERED AS A RESULT OF THE CAMPAIGN.

IN ADDITION, THE LIVE CAMPAIGN WAS 38% MORE COST EFFICIENT THAN ANY OTHER FIRST DIRECT CAMPAIGN IN RECENT HISTORY WITH AN OVERALL ROI OF 2.01. FINALLY, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF POSITIVE PR WAS GENERATED FOR FIRST DIRECT FROM THIS CAMPAIGN WITH OVER 100 BLOGS/FORUM POSTS AND TWEETS.

QANTAS #EPICFAIL

THE BAD

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS ON AUSTRALIA'S FLAGSHIP CARRIER CAN NOW GET UP-TO-THE-MINUTE DATA ON THE AIRLINE'S MOST ELITE AND VALUED FREQUENT FLYERS DISPLAYED ON THEIR ONBOARD TABLETS.

THE INFORMATION IS USEFUL, HELPFUL AND THE APP WAS A DIGITAL INNOVATION ACTUALLY SOUGHT BY QANTAS STAFF.

THE UNHAPPY CATCH? TOO MANY FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SOUNDED LIKE THEY WERE READING FROM A SCRIPT WHEN USING THIS INFORMATION WITH THESE VALUED CUSTOMERS. THEY COULDN'T SMOOTHLY INCORPORATE THE CUSTOMIZED DATA TO AUTHENTICALLY CONNECT WITH THEIR FREQUENT FLYERS.

INSTEAD OF MAKING THEIR BEST CUSTOMERS FEEL SPECIAL, THE DATA-DRIVEN APP TOO OFTEN CREEPED THEM OUT.

PRIVACY CONTROVERSY 1: GIRLS AROUND ME APP (2012)

AN APP THAT ALLOWED USERS TO FIND NEARBY WOMEN WHO HAD ‘CHECKED IN’ ON A SOCIAL NETWORK, USING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA FROM FOURSQUARE. ACCORDING TO THE APP, IT “SCANS YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND HELPS YOU FIND OUT WHERE GIRLS OR GUYS ARE HANGING OUT.” THE APP WAS DOWNLOADED OVER 70,000 TIMES FROM ITUNES BEFORE BEING WITHDRAWN.

THE APP WAS QUICKLY LABELED AS THE ‘CREEPY GIRL-STALKING APP’ BY THE MEDIA FOLLOWING REPORTS THAT GIRLS AROUND ME ALLOWED USERS TO STALK AND FIND OUT INFORMATION ABOUT WOMEN WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE.

DESCRIBED AS THE APP AS A ‘WAKE UP CALL FOR PRIVACY.’

THE DESCRIPTION OF GIRLS AROUND ME APP AS CREEPY, EVEN THOUGH IT ONLY AGGREGATED PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA, SUGGESTS THAT THE CREEPINESS STEMMED FROM THE UNEXPECTED RE-USE OF GEO-LOCATION DATA. WOMEN WHO HAD SHARED THEIR LOCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF FOURSQUARE—FOR THE PURPOSES OF LETTING THEIR FRIENDS KNOW WHERE THEY WERE OR FOR RECEIVING DISCOUNTS FROM LOCAL COMPANIES—HAD NOT EXPECTED THAT THAT INFORMATION WOULD THEN BE MADE AVAILABLE IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTEXT SUCH AS A MOBILE APP USED BY STRANGERS.

THE UGLY

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