Richard Merrick

Stories and permission marketing

Brand Personalities and Mission Statements are mass market. They convey a uniform image that is supposed to be universally attractive. Like a Marks and Spencer suit. you do not get to tailor, take the bits you like and leave the bits you don't.

Stories are different. They are 3rd person. you can watch from a distance, and choose which bits you want to identifiy with, and which bits you don't. You give the story permission to influence you. It's a unique designer suit - you have the only one of its kind. And you can build a wardrobe.

Why look like somebody else, or follow the herd, when you can be you.

Stories, not Brands.

Getting it....................

I've seen a whole load of activity recently, includng this weeks debate on brandchannel regarding the impact of social media on marketing. It's taken me a while, I confess, but I am now firmly of the view that those who think we have to "adapt to social media" just don't get it. Social media simply changes all the rules. We cannot persuade, market, flannel our audience any more. If we are not what we say we are, we will be exposed. A problem for brands who say one thing, and do another.

Good to see that Gary Hamel gets it, and his typically lucid and insightful comments can be seen here

Have a look. Be sceptical - but take it seriously.

Authentic Brands

At the heart of non-directive coaching is the principle that we all have two "selves" - our "self 1" which directs how we behave in order to comply with expectations of us by others and our environment; and our "self 2", which is our authentic, unique self. The argument is, we are brought up and encouraged to operate in "self 1", but our unique contributions, and motivations and joy can only really be realised in our "self 2". For those who crave more, see Gallweys "inner game"
I would argue that the same applies to businesses. We can try as hard as we may to "align" people and brands, but unless there is real connection, it's always going to be false. So maybe the trick is to identify what in us - as individuals, groups, businesses is genuinely unique, and build what we do round that - not the other way round.
As we determine - with a great Coach (!!) what we want as individuals, and businesses, I suggest we are likely to be left with two key gaps. Firstly, how we access the information, expertise and perspective in such a way that whatever we decide we need and come up with will be truly ours (not a "solution", or a "benchmark" or "best practise"). Secondly, when we have decided - how we convey that to our audience.
As a coach, I'm reasonably comfortable and confident with helping a client achieving the "what and how", but the second, the storytelling, is a distinct and different craft. It has (in my view) to obey the same tenet as coaching - it has to tell the clients story, not a consultants version of the clients story. It is a form perhaps of "ghostwriting", with an end result that the client recognises, and that reflects, precisely, who they are.
To come up with a compelling story is easy. To come up with a non fiction version, using the genuine material available, less so.
It requires at the outset a willingness and ability to identify the truth, then, an ability to take key elements - without distorting them - and craft the context, identify the emotions, and assemble them into a great story that underpins the individual or business. It cannot be aspirational. Aspirations are fine, but they have to be part of the journey, not a pretend current state.
We can do this if we have a shared commitment to using what we do in the service of the client - rather than try to "reinvent" them.
More difficult perhaps - but wouldn't it be far more fun??

Using Time

FT.com / Columnists / Luke Johnson - When a packed diary betrays a busy fool.

The human is the only animal that runs when it is lost. This truth resounded in my head when I noticed Luke Johnsons article today. How much of our time to we spend mentally running, rather than giving ourselves some space to think before we move.

Nancy Kline wrote a great book calles "Time to Think" which covers this in detail. Time spent thinking with support is never wasted, and I have paid increasing attention to the ideas she espouses. Seem painfully obvious on the face of them - but I think if they were, we wouldn't run when we are lost............................

Hypnosis

Coming back from Brussels, read an interesting article on Hypnosis. Like many of us, I have always associated it with people doing embarrasing things against their will. Seems I might have been right.
It argues that hypnosis is more to do with how we see the world. Rather than being cast into a hypnotic state, in many cases we are already in one - a state defined by how we have been brought up, educated and trained. it is this frame of reference that largely governs our approaches and actions.
In changing times, being stuck with one frame of reference, when the World requires we change, can lead us, well, to do embarrasing things. Like not addressing change, or questioning ourselves.
the role of a coach can help address this. An outsider looking in. Unbiased and on your side, someone who will question the status quo.
And help you avoid those embarrasing moments.

Play to win

Attending an early years education conference as a lay outsider is fascinating, and a bit humbling. Once you lay aside the normal political and bureacratic baggage,the overwhelming sense of purpose is about causing the condittions in which children grow into happier, more fulfilled adults. Some mission statement.

The role of play is much talked about - it's recognised as a key part of socialising - but it seems that the likelihood is it is far more important and far reaching than that. This recent film posted on TED  gives a real insight into the role of play into adult life, and it really drove home for me the vital role of relaxation and play in innovation, renewal and overall sense of purpose.

As Coach and business developer, there are really important lessons to learn here. If play  - real play - is absent from your business or executives, you have a real problem.

Watch the film - see if the Polar Bear reminds you of any CEO's you know, and listen for the part about the rats who were deprived of play. Then reflect on the recession.

The film is 18 minutes. It's worth it.

Head over the parapet

When buying "stuff" was commonplace, an accepted part of life we could all get away with being conventional - fitting in, being respectable, part of the group. There was enough "stuff" being bought to keep us all going - some better than others, but mostly, there was enough.

Not now. The impact of cumulative impact of significant changes has left us where we are. Frozen markets, leaky cash flows, nervous consumers and financial institutions belatedly remembering what risk is, and over reacting to a situation they have substantially helped bring about.

So now, we have to do more with less. We have to stand out.  We cannot, modestly, hide our lights under a bushel. WE NEED TO BE SEEN

And  it's not just me. See Seth Godin, - always interesting.I

I've been carrying Chris's bags at an early education conference in Brussels this week, and have been really impressed by the the power of story in helping children address challenges.

So it strikes me that when we're seen, we need to be quickly understood. We need a story - and it must be our own, not something we've copied from someone else. The good news is, most of us are much more than we allow ourselves to think we are - we just can't see it. And we have a story - most of us are interesting for something - history, experience, ideas, dreams.

So find out how to tell your story. Work with a Friend. Find a Coach. Go for a walk --it's Spring and time for renewal. But do not wait for the siege to be lifted.

Get your head over the parapet. Tell your story.