"In truth, brand value is not determined by the flagship product or main service of an organization, it is determined by all of the factors that affect perception. What affects perception? Everything and anything that a customer perceives and thinks about your business," says Rory Sutherland. At TEDxAthens, he makes a compelling case for how reframing is the key to happiness.
Good Morning Folks,
What a rare treat we have for you this fine Tuesday morning.
Rory Sutherland is Vice chairman of Ogilvy. He stands at the center of an advertising revolution in brand identities, designing cutting-edge, interactive campaigns that blur the line between ad and entertainment.
From unlikely beginnings as a classics teacher to his current job as Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, Rory Sutherland has created his own brand of the Cinderella story.
He is creative, funny and compelling in this amazing brilliant talk opining why looking at our lives through a different lens may be the key to greater happiness, no matter what challenges we face.
Motivating people, our own key to success at FSO, is often about perspective. Really small changes can make dramatic impact of whether something is boring or interesting, good or bad, safe or unsafe, ... you get the picture.
Rory also gives really strong arguments that:
- when making decision we should base it on technology, economics and psychology
- selling our product is not solely about the quality of product or price but also about perception of our service
- if we have a great service/product but perception of it's quality is that it's bad, don't spend money making it better, spend money changing perspective
All of this is supported by high amount of examples. Rory touches on an interesting topic which is mechanistic innovation and blooms into perception…
‘The london underground cost several billion dollars to reduce commutes by 40 minutes.’ – alternatives would have been to serve free alcohol on the trains or hire supermodels to patrol the aisles. Both would have been cheaper and would have changed perception on the trains being much faster”
This is an interesting distinction, the truth is irrelevant, and in many cases, the truth is more costly than changing the perspective of the user or customer. Several times, the truth isn’t even relevant. When users of the London underground were polled after the 40 minute reduction in time, many didn’t care.
When a problem is solved or an innovation is being created, the truth should not be the end goal, but whatever perception aligns with the business in changing customer perception cheaper. When a company listens to the customer and directly affects the perception, it is a powerful differentiator.
A second point, is thinking from a logical and somewhat economical perspective isn’t always what’s needed. The most difficult things in business to replicate are experiences. Ask yourself if Star-bucks had the goal of being the fastest coffee barista, how difficult would it have been for others to improve and replicate?
Although a customer’s time is important, if Starbucks focused on being fast at delivering coffee instead of their focus on overall experience, it would have become an entirely different company.
A third and final point is the value of brand equity in influencing perception. Rory describes a 5-star restaurant with world class food, yet sewage runs throughout the restaurant. The restaurant could spend a high amount of money on making the food even better, yet no matter how much money is spent on improvement, the sewage has a greater negative affect on perception.
In truth, brand value is not determined by the flagship product or main service of an organization, it is determined by all of the factors that affect perception. What affects perception? Everything and anything that a customer perceives and thinks about your business – from a negative yelp review to brand confusion caused by mixed marketing messages, to a change in positioning that has not yet affected perception. All of these misalignments are more powerful then truth, and that folks is the truth.
What a great speech. ENJOY!
After watching this, how can one not be pumped, super excited and ready to rock.
With hat tip and big shout out to the Cleverly Engaged blog for your input.
Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,
Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer
Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.
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