I am sitting with a young entrepreneur at the Intelligensia coffee shop in Venice, California, discussing ways to tell people how terrific their new product is. Suddenly, I realize that we are going at this all wrong. If their product is terrific, people will discover it themselves and tell everyone else about it.
The real challenge is to create a community, and to do that we need to communicate other things related to their new enterprise that might excite people.
The questions are simple:
What aspirational things do we value that other people value, too?
How do we act and interact with others that represents good behaviors that inspire others?
Have we created something that will truly improve our time and people’s lives on the planet?
What things do we celebrate that others will celebrate with us?
Beyond understanding simple product or service functions, people have grown accustomed to being spoken at, even lied to, by corporations and their representatives. The latest reveal by Volkswagen is only the most recent example. From Enron to Kashi, we have come to realize the many ways some brands can betray our trust. In the end, they betrayed themselves.
Corporations used to watch human behavior, today people are watching corporate behavior.
Trust is the fundamental understanding between two people. It is the beginning of belief and the foundation of human community: Are we safe together? If I can’t trust you, there is no go-to point: I don’t want to be with you, I’m certainly never going to recommend you and, worse, I will warn others to beware.
The result of corporate betrayal is consumer doubt. Corporate boards today understand that and, to prevent further disaster, they respond quickly. The CEOs of BP and American Apparel lasted weeks and months before they were removed. Martin Winterkorn, the offending former CEO of Volkswagen, lasted only hours.
People care less and less about what corporations have to say about their products and services, and more and more about what others have to say about them. Watchdogs and trolls abound. Peer to peer reviews take place on Yelp, Airbnb, Uber, Glassdoor and even in workplace reviews. According to one survey, 88 percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. 84 percent of Millennials rely on consumer opinions. And according to a PwC survey, 62 percent trust brands less today. Importantly, no one trusts traditional advertising.
The authority of public opinion is creating communities of confidence. As someone else has written, we may not trust the corporate voice but we do trust the aggregate of strangers who lend their opinion to consumer surveys, blogs and other resources.
This dictates that we simultaneously broaden the band of enthusiasm regarding our brand to things outside the circle of traditional advertising. How can we generate positive buzz about the products and services we create on a monthly, weekly and daily basis that rally people around us and thrill our community because of who we are and what we do, rather than what we make? It’s like walking into a party and braying your job title and how much money you made last year. Nobody cares. What else have you got?
In an era where true differentiation is a short-term prospect (many items can be imitated and put on shelves within six short months), most “good”, “better”, “best” advantages are quickly reduced to price of entry.
Stop talking about yourself and ask about me.
Ironically, once you shut up, people actually start listening.
