THE COMPETITIVE REVIEW IS DEAD.

Cultural Relevancy is the new Competitive Advantage. 

Culture is the “way of life especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”.

                                                                        (Cambridge English Dictionary)

We are in a state of flux.  Corporate culture is in flux as long-term planning practices of yore recede into the distance and decision making is increasingly managed in the moment, adapting to quarterly, monthly--even daily—shifts in the market.   Media culture is in flux, transforming via cutting the cable cord in favor of on-demand streaming content, from scheduled press conferences to ad hoc tweeting, and from “fair and unbiased” journalism to “fake” news. Social culture has also been disrupted with language and ideas from the fringes. No longer do leading ideas only trickle down from the elite to the masses and from cities to small communities, but with the democratizing effect of social media, the voices from the rural outposts are marching into the city centers, bringing with them an unpolished veneer and a suspicion of science that is heralded as “authentic”. Ideas from the Outside In.  Always on.   Authenticity over Artifice.

For marketers, competitive advantage was once gained by outperforming your competitive set.  Superior stain removal.   Faster acting.   Better connections.  This competitive review should be replaced by a cultural review; cultural relevancy is the new competitive advantage.  One's competitive set is no longer defined as those within the same functional category but brands that share cultural DNA. 

The first step is to understand changes happening in culture and decode them. The second step is to act with purpose and intention to establish a cultural advantage for your brand.  

PROGRESS DOES NOT TRAVEL IN A STRAIGHT LINE. 

Progress moves forward as a rowboat does, propelled forward through a series of movements and counter-movements, progressing from shore to shore, from embarkation to destination.  For the best chances of success, it is important to dip the oars on both sides of the boat.  One-sided paddling will only result in traveling in circles.  It's the same with culture.  There is risk in staying inside one's own echo chamber.  

Many say progress moves like a pendulum swinging.  This observation is most often accompanied by internal frustrations when change is foisted upon you and appears arbitrary.  But it is not arbitrary.  That our world is changing is a fact.  And it is human nature that people will respond to change differently.  There will be people who embrace change and those who reject the change. Together, this embracing and rejecting creates a cultural dialogue that propels us forward. 

MAKING SENSE OF IT REQUIRES A CULTURAL HEDGE FUND

Having a point of view gives your brand or business “roots” (what you stand for) and “shoots” (what you are aiming for).  We identify Movements and their Counter-Movements each with examples, keywords, themes, visuals and some thought starters for brands who seek to position themselves in either cultural stream.  This exercise enables business leaders the scenario planning tools to best understand the opportunities and risks that lay ahead.   It can underscore a decision to change or stay the course, it can provide texture for potential new business streams or innovation paths , and it can hedge against an unforeseen disruptive competitive event by defining and giving name to both a movement and its counter-movement. 

FIVE FORCES SHAPING OUR CULTURE TODAY

THE SINGULARITY.  

We are experiencing explosive technological growth.  Siri, Alexa, bots and cookies.  Will we embrace AI businesses, services and entertainment and all things virtual?  Or will we turn to authentic analog experiences like summiting Mt. Everest?  

POPULATION GROWTH.

In 1800, 3% of the world’s population lived in urban areas.  In 1950, 30% of global citizens were urban.  By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will be urban (Fastcodesign.com).  Will we flock to these urban hubs or strike out for the countryside?

MARKET CONSOLIDATION

It’s a small world, with global monopolies dominating the business news.  Will we accept the popular wisdom that “bigger is better” or seek out instead the little luxuries that ‘come in small packages?” 

EARTHLY RESOURCES.  

The environment is decaying, with poor air quality in China, devastating Hurricane events in the United State and Caribbean, as well as droughts and forest fires as proof points.  Will we find new ways to unleash the power of earth, wind and fire, or will we conserve, protect and safeguard earth’s precious resources? 

THE NATION STATE.

The role of the nation state has never been more tenuous, as global media, global corporations and global citizens fly above the fray (the 1%) and influence policy, while the 99% beat back against the current.  In the US, the divide is also driven by patriotic values:  is equality the national driver of policy or is freedom (from policy/to participate) the driver? 

WELCOME TO THE ERA OF CROWD SOURCED CREATIVITY

DO IDEAS BUBBLE UP OR TRICKLE DOWN?

“The sanctity of the ad agency creative department used to be the exclusive domain of very special people. Super creatives dwelled there, using secret handshakes, runic noodling with pencils and cryptic eye movements and gestures to create advertising that was often overtly conceptual. You had to be a genius to understand it.”

(Mike Tittel, ”Redefining the Creative Team” Forbes)

IMAGE SOURCE:  http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com/2016/05/13183-clio-charting-cluelessness.html

The declaration above was written in 2011.  The author announced that the period of creative ‘apartheid’ was over, ushered in by the democratizing effect of technology where people were no longer bound by television, print and radio to be passive receptacles of creativity but now with new interconnected technologies they had the potential to be active, engaged, contributors of creativity.  Welcome to the era of crowd-sourced creativity. 

And so, what has happened since this pronouncement?  We're in the middle of it now:  fundamental changes to marketing, media and advertising are happening in real time.   These changes can feel destabilizing, disruptive and destructive, especially for those established entities now being forced to adapt and respond to changes in the marketplace in real time (creative agencies, digital agencies, global marketers).  Or they can be liberating, opportunity-expanding and paradigm shifting business opportunities for those less tied to the processes and rhythms of the past (start-ups, crowd-sourcing platforms, artists).  

For the end users (marketers), however, these changes offer intriguing solutions both for their cost-savings potential and as a means of beta-testing a new communications business model.  Marketers are turning to platforms that crowdsource creativity as alternatives to the creative agency model:  companies like Designhill, 99Designs, CrowdSpring, Tongal and Boom IdeaNet provide design and creative solutions via user-generated, crowd-sourced models.

Where do we go from here?  Is there potential for amplified or expanded creative services building on the user-generated model? What is the quality of the work?  Is this the end of the on-going agency-client partnership?  To explore these questions and to solve a short term business need (e.g. business cards), Sugar Hill Strategy crowd-sourced help in designing a logo to fill the void while our long-time and cherished design guru was vacationing in Tuscany.  A brief was uploaded to the on-line platform, a payment was made and the logo design contest was off and running. 

IN THE BEGINNING:  Where we started.  Sugar Hill Strategy under construction.  

OBSERVATIONS:

BUBBLE UP CREATIVITY REFLECTS AND CAPTURES AN AUTHENTIC, POPULIST MOVEMENT AFOOT IN OUR CULTURE TODAY. 

It's long been said that "a good idea can come from anywhere."  Whether it goes anywhere, on the other hand, is up to the discretion of the most senior creative person in the room.  The collective intelligence platforms are inherently more democratic than the ‘trickle down’ approaches employed by fashion, architecture and advertising hierarchies of the past.  Collective intelligence provides strategists, marketers and researchers the opportunity to start broad, to ”cover the waterfront” in their assignments.  The promise is that in opening up a creative assignment, we might uncover the surprising and new at the creative fringes that would have otherwise been invisible, or considered outliers unworthy of inspection.    There are a lot of fish in the ocean, and a cornucopia of possibility was exciting. 

 THERE IS STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY  

There is a competitive advantage in crowd-sourcing proto-types over traditional commissioned design.   By definition, crowd-sourced creative is an amalgamation of diverse perspectives from a diverse population dispersed across diverse geography.  We received 33 designs for review in less than 24 hours, and 141 submissions over the course of our three-day contest.  The majority of the designers hailed from Southeast and South Asia.  There was a wide range of expressions and design capability represented, as well as a variety of ways in which the brief was considered.  Some literally copied the logo examples provided but changed the name.  Others submitted designs that appeared to have no relationship to the brief.  As a user, I reveled in the diversity, even if much of the output was off brief. 

THE BREADTH OF OUTPUT MADE THE PROCESS OF NARROWING DOWN AN ESPECIALLY VALUABLE AND FRUITFUL EXERCISE. 

The top ten logos were selected, and an on-line poll was then conducted asking influencers and/or stakeholders to rate the logo options using a 5-star system.  Additional input was provided with open-ended comments for each option.  There was no clear-cut favorite as different people had very different perspectives. 

The design my husband chose as his favorite was described as being “appropriate for a fertility clinic” by a trusted ex-colleague.  Another marketing friend submitted her own logo treatment for consideration.

Some polled liked the approaches that used a vibrant maple leaf in iconography--consistent with the Sugar Hill name--and though memorable, it is an icon of endings vs. beginnings.

 In the end, the “winner” was chosen because the iconography and approach best reflected the business focus (front end marketing and brand strategy, "the action before the action"), while recognizing the history of Sugar Hill--in both Upper Manhattan and New Hampshire--was rooted in maple syrup production. 

Having said that, one influencer had this to say of our final option:   “Just no.”     

The feedback served as an aid in decision-making, a way to check strategy through rough execution, and to test in-going assumptions as to what a logo should and could communicate. 

 A CROWD-SOURCED CREATIVE PLATFORM CAN SERVE AS VALUABLE AND STIMULUS-RICH RESEARCH,  AMPLIFYING A STRATEGIC TERRITORY PRIOR TO MAKING A FINAL DECISION ON DIRECTION.

Briefs that are too open-ended tend to result in tears or slammed doors.   Without a brief, your communications and creative resource could wander aimlessly through the idea woods without a compass. The chances of hitting on a creative solution narrow the more open-ended your challenge.  This collaborative creative platform enables you—through prototype designs--to narrow the strategic field and scope of the work through closer-to-final creative stimulus.  It helps you provide clear navigation to future creative teams or partners.

ARMED WITH THIS LEARNING, YOU CAN FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS THEN ON TAKING AN IDEA FROM GOOD TO GREAT.  

Yes, a winner was chosen and business cards were printed up, but my trusted design guru friend is back at her desk and so I’ve used these designs as a brief to her.  I was able to more cogently explain (hopefully!) what I was envisioning and why; this experiment gave me added context for how logos would be used in business cards, social media, presentations, and on premium promotional materials.  

Why then, did I also seek out the services of a more expensive, time-consuming approach?    Trust.  Craft.  Experience.  Ability to anticipate my needs before I do.  Will tell me the truth.  Mostly, its about partnership.  I know this person wants me to succeed.  

IN SHORT:

• Creative diversity is the big advantage the crowd-sourced creative platforms have;
• Narrowing, synthesizing and weighing options sharpen your point of view and strategic focus;
• These platforms might also be repurposed to provide helpful research and strategic refinement in addition to being economical creative and design tools;
• Research is best used as an aid to judgement vs. an end unto itself
• Garbage in = Garbage out.  The brief is crucial.  Know what you are trying to accomplish and why;
• Trust is earned over time and is a powerful motivator.