The End of Assimilation?

This past Sunday David Leonhardt wrote a great opinion piece in the New York Times about immigration reform and acculturation. In it, Leonhardt draws a parallel between 19th Century American skepticism about Germans assimilating into American culture to similar skepticism today about Hispanic immigrants.

Leonhardt is correct about these 19th Century fears about immigrants and assimilation. In fact our lexicon of Polish jokes can be attributed to the influx of Eastern Europeans during the early 1900s many of whom had no choice but to take low-level service jobs as domestics - the jobs "white" people didn't want. 

At that point in time, neither Eastern European immigrants nor Jews were considered "white" - a term reserved only for descendants of the "Nordic Race" - ie Anglo-Saxons from Northern Europe. 

What we generally call "assimilation" truly begin after the Great Depression, and after WWII in particular. 

During these periods of time government-sponsored social programs were put in place specifically aimed at giving the masses the capital and skills required to be self-sufficient. "Self-sufficient" meant having a skill that was salable on the job market, and that practicing that skill would earn you enough money to purchase property - which was the main way of passing your wealth onto the next generation.

New Deal programs, along with the GI bill, removed many of the social barriers that stood in the way of Eastern Europeans, Germans, Italians, Irish and Jews becoming self-sufficient on their own. 

The way in which these programs were administered, in conjunction with the drawing of racially segregated neighborhoods drawn up by the Federal Housing Authority, excluded Blacks from this skill-to-property-ownership cycle.

I've spent the last year of my career as a planner focusing on diversity advertising - or ethnocultural targeting as I prefer to call it. Working in this specialized area of the industry, one hears constant chatter about assimilation. 

But I cannot help but wonder if such discussion is relevant in the 21st Century given the fact that the US is no longer an Anglo-Saxon-dominated US, but rather an ethnoculturally diverse US.

Absent a dominant enthocultural majority, what exactly is it that there is to assimilate into?

I'm looking forward to exploring this, and other related topics in this blog.

Inception Made Easy

I saw 'Inception' last night. What a joke! Only in Hollywood could something simple as planting an idea in someone's brain turn into a 2-hour action/adventure flick.

I mean, honstly. Even allowing for hyperbole and poetic licence, 2 hours to plant one idea in one person's unconscious? Commerce would grind to a halt if it was really that difficult. And all that dream nonsense. In reality, we flood people's unconscious with ideas their every waking moment.

This brilliant video by none other than Derren Brown is a superlative example of real world Inception and it's only 6 minutes and 40 seconds in length.

Come to think of it, 6 minutes and 40 seconds in reality is about 2 hours in dream time. I didn't just dream I saw 'Inception'...did I?

 

 

 

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The very Western privacy myth.

The fantastic NYT: Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options info graphic above was probably among the most widely user syndicated items today.

As this debate rages on, we must remember that the idea of privacy - the very concept itself - is a uniquely Western mental construct, not a universally accepted state of being.

In many Asian and Eastern-European languages there is no word that describes the concept of privacy¹. There is an every evolving body of case law on the topic in the US, but there is no right to privacy in the US Constitution, and the interpretation of what privacy is varies by US Appellate Court District.

Privacy, and the risks associated with a lack thereof, are in the cultural eye of the Facebook beholder.

Like free will, our belief in privacy may be necessary for our survival. But but the mental constructs we create for our psychic health are not proof of their existence.

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Data + Social Media = the CRM Holy Grail

Social media has been all over the New York times lately. The article that most caught my interest was not about social media per se, but rather about the self-tracking trend and entitled 'The Data-Driven Life.'

The instincts to collect data, to share, and to create stories and experiences to fill in the gaps in our knowledge are deep seeded. These instincts date back to cave drawings, Greek bards, etc. But there are also more recent and relevant historical examples. 

Photo sharing, for example, did not start w/ Flickr, the web, or even with the pre-web internet. It began in 1905 with the proliferation of pocket cameras and a change in postal regulations that allowed cards with photographs on the outside to be delivered via post. At that time, people would shoot pictures, develop postcards in their own darkrooms in low quantities, and share them via snail mail w/ their friends. It wasn't until a generation had passed that postcards were commoditized into mass-produced visual platitudes. In short, postcards were an analog form of social media. 

In 17th-18th century Europe, it was very common for individuals not only to publish memoirs - analog, ex post facto blogs - but also to publish their personal observations (ie their data) on everything from health and history to fad and fashion. And these books were not at all like books today. For one thing, they had titles like:

• 'A true and faithful narrative of what passed in London on a Rumor of the Day of Judgment,' and 
• 'They Key of the Cabinet of the Chevalier Joseph Francis Borri, in which are contained many curious Letters upon Chemistry and other Sciences, written by him, together with a Memoir of his Life,' and of course the famous and indispensable 
• 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds' written in two volumes beginning in 1841 by Charles Mackay, and from which the above-referenced titles are drawn. 

Unlike the relative rarity of being published today (meaning published in hardcopy by a major publisher and widely distributed by one of the 4 major book sellers), it was relatively easy to be published in the 17th and 18th centuries and everyone who thought they had a new idea was doing it. And the titles were deliberately more akin to key word clouds than to the pithy, marketing-driven titles of today. (How else to find what you're looking for in an analog search?) 

To tie this back CRM and social media loyalty programs and to jump back once more to the 17th century, absent medical data people were susceptible to such brand stories as Alchemy and Magnetism - the latter of which blossomed into a veritable craze by the person I consider to be the Father of Experiential Marketing, Franz Mesmer. Despite the vestigial belief in Magnetism that exists to this day (http://www.magnetictherapymagnets.com) most people are more likely to believe their doctor (or Google Health) than they are a TV and OOH campaign about Magnetism - ie they're trending towards trusting data more than being mesmerized by unsupported messaging - (pun intended). 

Behavior modification is the Holy Grail of CRM, and it is a widely known phenomenon that people are most apt change their behavior when presented with ongoing feedback. The fact that people are keeping such meticulous data about themselves and sharing that data in their social media spaces opens the door to customized and mutually beneficial retention and loyalty programs that could not have been imagined even a year ago. 

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What's in a Game?

As I mentioned in my rambling 'Random observations about China' entry, the Chinese have their own form of hacky sack that is played with what at first looks like a weighted badminton birdie. I wasn't able to upload the video from China, but it is now viewable here.

The Chinese hacky sack game is not played by young people, but rather by the 40+ age group. As explained to me by an acquaintance from Guangzhou (where this video was taken), the feet are the first part of the body to age so people play hacky sack to keep their feet in shape.

What intrigued me most about the game is how much it revealed about the local culture.

• The game is noncompetitive. There is no way to score points, no tricks are performed that call attention to any one player, there are no standings or handicaps, etc.
• The cost of entry is minimal. A good birdie (and there really are good and bad ones) cost about as much as a soda and sandwich.
• Little space is needed to play. No need to reserve a court, lug your clubs through the back nine, pay for an alley, etc - not to mention the fact that space is quite a luxury in a country roughly the same size as the US but home to 20% of the world's population. (The US, by comparison, is home to approximately 5% of the world's population).
• Games form spontaneously. While many came in groups, the majority of players drifted in and out of the game circles as time and stamina allowed. When my son and I did our best to play, we were often joined by other players who were quick to give us impromptu lessons.

Exercise in the US tends to come in three flavors: 1) the wretched chore; 2) the fanatic's fix; 3) the heated competition. Not since I was a child had I experienced the joy of exercise as unadulterated play.

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I dreamed of Clifford Geertz last night.

I dreamed of Clifford Geertz last night, and in this dream he revealed to me the whole of human existence stripped of our webs of significance. Thusly laid bare, that which remained was a multifaceted game board on which was perched a perpetual motion machine of brightly colored beads tracing intricate and meaningless patterns ad infinitum.

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Incentive Plans & Measuring Purchase Intent

CNNMoney.com reported that "Toyota's new incentive plan appears to have piqued the interest of buyers looking to snag a good deal....

Auto and advertising industry trades have been abuzz as news of massive recalls flowed, then ebbed, the flowed again in all media imaginable, everyone wondering what effect this will have on this hitherto untarnished brand.

The article referenced above quoted and Edmunds study that indicated that '"purchase intent" surged 40% to a 14-month high [this past] Tuesday.' 

All professionals whose work includes market research, ie planners, can tell you that there is no way to measure purchase intent short of interviews or surveys. In the Toyota case for example, at the very least I'd need to know what was an individual's purchase intent was before the recalls, after the recalls, and since the incentives were announced before even beginning to understand what the real effect on purchase intent the newly announced incentives have had. The sampling strategy of individuals surveyed would have to take into account the sales patters of specific models down to the zip code level. Asking about Buffalo Springs, TX about their Prius purchase intent would likely present results as useless as asking Upper East Side Manhattanites about their purchase intent for the  5.7 liter, 32 valve, king cab V8 Tundra (despite this group's apparent perverse fetish with the H2). 

Hours after this was reported, I was sitting in a meeting the topic of which was what online behavior to use to measure shifts in brand perception. I freely offered up what I thought was the obvious and honest answer: "Short of a survey, there's no way to measure shifts in perception." That was not the answer the room was looking for. Rather, I was lectured about online 'success events' and the use of proxies. This was a lecture I did not need, having used success events and proxies to assess attitudes - let us just say - more than a few times in the past. The fact remains, however, that while those may both be adequate ways of assessing the correlation between online behavior and perception, this is a far site short of concluding that there is a causal link. I took the imprompteau lecture for what it was: an invitation to stand down and be quiet.

Even the Edmunds article disclaimed this methodological weakness by stating that their the relationship between the success events monitored and intent to purchase was only correlative.

~

My bruised ego aside, what I really wanted to talk about today was what the veritable spate of product recalls mean for the Toyota tribe.

The first car I owned was a gray, 1976 Toyota Celica. I acquired it in 1986 with about 200,000 miles. I put about another 90,000 miles on it before I had to have it towed to the junk yard. Clearly I had an affinity for the car and a positive brand experience. Still, I have never considered purchasing another Toyota.

Since 1976 when the Celica was introduced, Toyota has grown into a collection of unrelated clans with few shared values. The Prius clan shares few values with the Avalon clan, which shares few values with the Tundra clan.  As a result, by the time I needed a new car I was no longer clear as to which clan within the larger Toyota tribe I belonged. (Nissan has done a better job of avoiding this conundrum. It will be interesting to see how Kia avoids this trap as they follow in the footsteps of their Asian brethren clans.)

The Toyota brand, however, has maintained one key value important to all of its clans: quality.

This value has now been called into question, and the larger Toyota tribe is at risk of splintering as a result.

Enter the incentive plans.

Incentive plans are not intended to repair damaged brand perception. Rather, they are intended to boost sales in the short-term, the implicit message being 'we know that our product is not worth list price, but it's certainly worth list price less all these discounts and deals we have for you.' It's a butts in seats play, not a branding play.

The desired effect of this butts in seats play is that Toyota will reclaim some of it's lost market share in the short-term. This is extremely important for automotive brands: the vehicles sold today will be on the road for the next decade - each vehicle an itinerant testimonial.

The more cars Toyota can get on the road now, the more time it buys itself to leverage these new buyers into loyalty and advocacy programs while, at the same time, fixing it's brand image in above the line and social media. But this tactic only works if the deals and discounts are temporary and soon forgotten by consumers. The longer that product discounts drive a butts in seats strategy, the more likely it is that Toyota will become a brand associated with deep discounts rather than with high quality.

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Branding with Lidia Bastianich

After my introduction to XM Radio's Muzak station on my way to JFK Thursday morning followed by the ritualistic airport security strip-down and boarding cattle call, at long last I sunk into my window seat, 'The Crying of Lot 49' on my lap. 

 

There was an aura on the plane that was just altogether wrong for an early-morning business flight. Everyone was energized and seemed to be signaling to each other with subtle looks and gestures, communicating in a silent, sublime language I did not know. Clearly I was on the outside of some inside joke making its way around the cabin. 

 

When the woman seated next to me arrived, she was kind enough to ask if the carry-on she stowed beneath the seats in front of us was bothering me. The question, I feared, was the part of the cabin-wide inside joke being perpetrate on me. Clearly she was in on it. 

Then began the perplexing parade. One after another, people boarded, paused by our aisle in deference to the woman next to me, and then proceeded in perfect single file to their assigned seats. There were hugs and handshakes, smiles and giggles, all peppered with intimate pleasantries exchanged in Italian. 

When at last we pushed back, the kind woman next to me dozed off while reading ‘The New York Times.’ I promptly turned on my reading lamp, opened my book, and fell fast asleep for the next hour. 

 

It was not until I awoke that I took notice of something familiar in my aisle-mate's face. Though I had never seen it as I was seeing it now - bespectacled and in profile - I was seated next to a dozing Lidia Bastianich! 

 

There was no inside joke. Rather, I was the outsider seated amidst a tribe of chefs and the tribal leader was right next to me. 

 

The account planner in me was shocked into vigilance, my flight transformed into a clinical testing environment. I was both test subject and object. 

 

The objective of the study: To observe the effect celebrities (branded people) have on the behavior and attitudes of their fans (their brand loyalists). 

 

Observations: 

1. Lidia’s presence spontaneously caused me to evaluate my physical appearance. 

• I was dressed in what I’ve come to call my 'agency uniform - jacket and dress shirt over blue jeans. I consciously deemed my attire appropriate for the occasion. 
• I was deeply satisfied when I noticed the specular highlights in my shoes. 
• I happen to be wearing French cuffs and I was conscious of a desire that Lidia would take notice of, but not comment on this fashion detail. 
• When I went to the men’s room, I noticed that the left side of my collar was awry, and was relieved that Lidia was seated to my right. 
• I was unshaven, but unconcerned as I felt this made me look more European. 

2. Under normal circumstances I might be between 30% - 50% propensed to engage in conversation with someone seated next to me on a flight. Lidia’s presence in the next seat increased my propensity to 100%.

 

3. My conversation was singular in its purpose: to convince Lidia that I had a personal connection to her, to demonstrate to this branded person that I was brand loyal. 

~

In the aggregate, this behavior is attributable to a single need on the part of the test subject: to convince the tribe leader that he was worthy of tribal membership.

After I introduced myself, our conversation focused almost exclusively on my tribal credentials: how my wife - Italian and Irish I made a point of emphasizing - had introduced both my me and my son to ‘Lidia’s Italy; my wife’s family of five children, serious cooks all; the fights she and her siblings have had over gravy and tomato sauce; the picture I have of my son making his first tomato sauce at the age of four. Clearly, this was my rite of passage and I didn’t want to screw it up. 

 

The experience left me thinking about the idea of ‘earned brand membership’ and how important this idea is to a brand. It is this that an iPod more than an MP3 player, a Rolex (or Swatch) more than a time piece, Starbucks more than coffee, a Hugo Boss sweater more than a garment to guard against cold. Put another way, it is tribal membership that makes a product into a brand.

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Corn Whiskey, Highways & Hypodermic Needles

It was 'The Drunken Hiccups' and a night's sleep that brought it all together for me - the connection between 'The Crying of Lot 49' and account planning.

Certain artistic expressions - literary, musical, visual - pierce the tapestry of reason through which our perception is filtered.

Clifford Geertz in 'The Interpretation of Cultures' alluded to the same phenomenon more eloquently: '[M]an is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself as spun.'

Getting further into 'The Crying of Lot 49' I came across the following passage:

In the early '60's a Yoyodyne executive living near L.A. and located someplace in the corporate root-system above supervisor but below vice-president, found himself, at age 39, automated out of a job. Having been since age 7 rigidly instructed in an eschatology that pointed nowhere but to a presidency and death, trained to do absolutely nothing but sign his name to specialized memoranda he could not begin to understand and to take blame for the running-amok of specialized programs that failed for specialized reasons he had to have explained to him, the executive's first thoughts were naturally of suicide. But previous training getting the better of him: he could not make the decision without first hearing the ideas of a committee. [Emphasis added.]

Brilliant in its hyperbole, Thomas Pynchon describes a man who has progressed from begin suspended in his webs of significance to the point of being paralyzed by them. He cannot see beyond the possibilities of his own experience - beyond the experiential connections of his limited web. He cannot expand his vision to the larger cultural web of which his personal web is both a subset and a byproduct. He would take his own life but for the limitations of his personal web, which does not include a silk stand leading in the direction of the risks and joys of decision making.

There is a huge winter storm that is supposed to hit NY tomorrow, but I will not be camped out the woods somewhere with my camera in gloved hand. Rather, I'll be getting to JFK two hours prior to my 8AM flight to Miami to present the findings of a qualitative study we recently conducted. As a result, the silk strand between my professional and artistic life will grow even more tenuous. The much belabored point I'm making is that all of us who hold down jobs do so at the expense of limiting our personal webs.

This is where Pynchon's hypodermically-fed, urban American landscape and account planning come together. The herd behavior of urbanization is akin to a mass substitution of rural for metropolitan webs of cultural values. That is why I was so struck by the Pynchon quotation I referenced on February 22nd: because it is one of those artistic expressions that pierced my filter of reason and made me aware of the larger cultural webs of which my web is but a part.

And this is the essence of account planning: To recognize the limited webs most of us traverse and that result in recognizable, ritualistically repeated behavioral patterns, and then to inspire people (our customers) to alter their behavior by extend their personal webs to include the webs of our brands.

Put another way, planners must find ways to introduce what may be a foreign or even unwelcome element (our brand) into the well worn behavioral patterns of a herd (our customers) in ways that will inspire it to welcome our brand and make our brand part of their collective lives - to extend one of a gossamer strand of silk from the web that represent the sum total of a herd's significant life experiences to the unfamiliar web of our brand. If the web of our brand resonates with that of the herd, the silk strand will strengthen over time, and our customer's lives will be richer as a result.

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What the Road Really Was & What Passes for Pain: Draft 1

"What the road really was, she fancied, was this hypodermic needle, inserted somewhere ahead into the vein of a freeway, a vein nourishing the mainliner L.A., keeping it happy, coherent, protected from pain, or whatever passes, within a city, for pain."

Who the hell writes like that? I mean who, other than an account planner, of course.

The city, a collective vision made manifest by sheer pluck and will, a beast we ourselves birthed all the while oblivious to the nature of our progeny.

When we were cast from The Garden, were we cast into urbanization? And if so, is urbanization a natural byproduct of being fertile, increasing in number, filling the earth and being its master?

No matter the behavioral model to which one subscribes, on the surface much of our behavior can be explained by the desire to maximize the joys and safety of our social groups. That said, urbanization must at least in part be an attempt to facilitate the joy and safety instincts. We live closer to to our social groups in cities which facilitates communication, indulging in mutual joys, as well as defending one another from outsiders.

But cities are more than the sum of the social groups that dwell within its borders. Cities themselves are beings with their own instinct for joy and protection. Consider the pride a city takes in cultivating a unique culture, touting its one-of-kind attractions, promoting its distinctive 'feel and energy.' Consider the autumnal World Series gladiators half of whom return to a hero's welcome, the other half to jeers of dishonor.

Urbanization is more than the byproduct of the maximization of joy and safety. There is a herd behavior at work that draws us to cities often at the expense of drawing us out of our safety zones. It's as if the architypes of the journey - Odysseus - have been replaced the architype of the city outsiders who overcomes the trials necessary to survive in the modern metropolis. It is always difficult for this hero, who inevitably faces affronts to his very moral fibre on which his urban survial depends.

And this is what passes for pain in the city, the choice between what is right, and what is urban. This pain is what runs through the hypodermic needle that feeds "into the vein of a freeway" that feeds into a city keeping it happy, keeping it content.

The quotation above is from Thomas Pynchon's 'The Crying of Lot 49' and this is a blog about account planning. I haven't quite figured out the connection yet, but I will in the coming weeks

 

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