So, pop up has been hot for a while.

Stores, more recently food outlets. In disused retail spaces, warehouses, trucks, vans, tuk tuks. See a recent round-up care of Flavourpill here.

Why do we get so excited about them?

According to several theories on emotional branding (e.g. emotional branding, lovemarks, brand jam and others) it is a sense of exclusivity and mystery that helps us connect with brands. We feel special and therefore we choose to connect to the brand which makes us feel that way.

Beyond fashion and food, how can we apply the pop up excitement in different ways, different industries?

Here's some different frames to illuminate the potential for other ways this technique can be applied to your brand. And incidentally, how you can give back to your customers.

• Translate physical to virtual - can you create a virtual pop up experience or offer?
• One to many - Instead of one pop-up, can you multiply locations, people, offers? Imagine doing a mass pop-up around the city, a mass pop-up of your product or service taking over a disused or ordinary space.
• Pop up to serve - If you have a service, can you pop up right where you're needed? Think massages at the end of a race, accounting or life advice for individuals affected by organisational collapse?
• Crowd-source your pop-up - Engage your customers who can vote where you pop-up and fun details. You never know, you could be popping up on the top of the Empire state building dressed as sailors, with your customers along for fun.

For my business, virtual desktops, we could take the benefits - being able to work anywhere, on any device, and create pop-up co-workings spots in ingenious locations and styles. You just have to be in the virtual desktops user club to know.

One of the best examples of the notion of pop-up that I have experienced is 'Secret Cinema' in London. You register, receive an email outlining only what to wear and an oblique clue. One booked you are given a location and a time to meet. It is a fairytale experience of delight that does not publicise but now gets 500 - 700 people per event. Harnessing the magic of mystery to not just promote a brand but create one.

Stories Shmories

Stories are one of the most potent ways of communicating meaning (such as a brand essence), as agreed in books such as Lovemarks, Emotional Branding and The Culting of Brands. As is shown by thousands of years of knowledge sharing amongst indigenous communities.

Recently at a trade show I saw this in action, with a stallholder engaging countless new customers with her story and the story about how the products she was selling came about. It was all true, but she realised the power of the story and repeated it with every customer. Yet every customer felt it was the beginning of a unique and personal dialogue. Which, it was, just done in a clever way, designed to fast-track that relationship building. Her impressive sales results were a tribute to that skill!

Also at the show was a very different brand with a different, often younger, take on products. This brand also had a very interesting story of origin, evolution and meaning. This worked well with the younger audience, closer to the experience…but was almost meaningless to the older, more conservative majority of customers.

My learning? You can’t assume that a story is enough. Part of the telling of the story is the people listening, absorbing and placing the stories’ meaning within their own context. It is from that is derived personal meaning and connection. If there is not some element of personal context – the magic of communication and connection doesn’t happen! The story becomes meaningless.

When using the powerful brand lever of stories, consider the audience, their context and tailor the telling for them. The story and message can stay true even when told from a slightly different perspective.

Try it will your next sales call / pitch / meeting / conversation with your wife…and let me know how it goes!

(22 Feb, 2009)

emotional branding – a cheap makeover or the revelation of self?

Thinking about and researching emotional branding today.

The role of emotional state in brand perception and loyalty has been proven in several studies, with the fundamental premise that emotional thinking is faster, therefore proceeds and frames logical, cognitive thought. Also that cognition drives conclusions whereas the parts of the brain that register emotion drive action. Presumably sales in this case.

The human need to make decisions on an emotional basis has also been clearly shown, driven by:

• Increasing selection and commoditisation making choice both more time consuming and difficult. People use emotional linkages to brands (such as loyalty) to increase the speed of selection.
• Increasingly technically complex product decisions. Emotional connection is again used as a surrogate for cognitive understanding, with different brands eliciting different perceptions of trust, competence and quality.

The thing is – who in marketing and business actually walks the walk?

Many people pay lip-service to concepts such as emotional branding and Lovemarks when discussing brand with peers. However, how many organisations or brand experts have really identified what this means beyond a list of principles? There are emotional tactics used in advertising, events and communications – but is this overt yanking of emotional levers? Or a true revelation of their brand and its essence as an authentic start to creating a dialogue and relationship with customers?

There is a large gap between words and actions particularly in this space, and also recent revelation in thinking. This could be driven by corporate short-term profit imperative and the fear instilled in many organisations from the risk entailed by being authentic.

However, I believe- no risk, no reward. If a company is afraid to reveal their essence and start an authentic converstaion with consumers as a starting point for real connection – that is a fundamental weakness of that company that will eventually need to be addressed once the company drifts to commoditisation.

It would be great to hear about examples where an organisation actively considers emotional connection with their brand, internally and externally. Comment and let me know your thoughts!

(20 Jan, 2009)