Scott Goodson's Cultural Movements Blog

UPRISING. How To Build A Brand And Change The World By Sparking Cultural Movements.

UPRISING. How To Build A Brand And Change The World By Sparking Cultural Movements. By Scott Goodson. $16.98 on Amazon

“ Uprising is a must-read for anyone who wants to start a mass movement like Macintosh. Whether you’re one person with an idea or a global brand, Scott can show you the way to enchant, evangelize and enroll followers. ”

GUY KAWASAKI, AUTHOR OF ENCHANTMENT AND FORMER CHIEF EVANGELIST OF APPLE

“ Scott Goodson and his StrawberryFrog colleagues have found the secret to plugging into Purpose with a capial P: find out what moves people to action, then create a way to support and enhance that movement with your product, service or craft. I call that a winning strategy.”

DANIEL H. PINK, AUTHOR OF DRIVE AND A WHOLE NEW MIND
“ One of the smartest thinkers on branding on one of the most important developments in that critical intersection between culture and marketing. For any challenger needing to change the conversation about their category, Scott’s blueprint for creating, enabling and respectfully flourishing in a movement is essential stuff.”

ADAM MORGAN, AUTHOR OF EATING THE BIG FISH: HOW CHALLENGER BRANDS CAN COMPETE AGAINST BRAND LEADERS

“ Until now, cultural movements have been sporadic and random. Uprising reveals an insider’s look at how these movements actually occur — and, how to make them happen for your brand and your purpose.”

SALLY HOGSHEAD, AUTHOR OF FASCINATE AND CREATOR OF HOWTOFASCINATE.COM

Q & A with the author of Uprising, Scott Goodson:

Q: Why should marketers care about Movement Marketing? - (and is it different from social media marketing?)

Anyone with an idea or new product or brand should care because now anyone can create mass movements that can accelerate a brands rise to dominance with a Movement Marketing approach. It’s proven and it now can propel a brand or an idea across the globe.

Marketers should care because it is, in many ways, the future of marketing. For a variety of reasons discussed in the book – having to do with the rise of social media and other changes – conventional advertising is losing effectiveness. Brands must learn how to build a passionate following, AKA a movement. This involves much more than just doing social media marketing—though that is certainly one of the primary tools in the toolbox.

Q: Will Movement Marketing work in a country in which the primary electronic communication is conducted on a smartphone?

Movements need to be sparked with an idea on the rise in culture. Then tools can be used to spread this idea to a wider audience. In some societies this was done by word of mouth. Now mobile social media enabled phones makes it easier. Marketers and entrepreneurs can learn from the Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Social media is mobile today. Most people access their social media via mobile not desk top.

Q: What should we take away from your experiences in Movement Marketing?

That it works. Every brand we’ve done this with – from a small Japanese athletic shoe brand all the way up to Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo – has seen the results of creating movements, and many of these companies have begun to shift their marketing models, based on this. Anyone can learn from this- a small entrepreneur starting a new social media brand or someone running for politics, a marketer or a CEO or people who want to be leaders in their community or their business.

Q: What was the biggest surprise writing the book?

The biggest surprise was that, as I was writing it, events happening all around the world seemed to be echoing the themes in the book. There were “uprisings” happening everywhere from the Middle East to my own town, in Manhattan with Occupy Wall Street - the Uprisings recently in Moscow. And while most of these were social movements, not marketing movements, they reinforced much of what I’ve always believed and known about movements in general. There’s a lot that marketers can learn from the events going on all around us today

Q: You’ve used the term “revolutionary times” to describe the period we’re living in – what does it mean for businesses to be operating in such a volatile environment?

It means they must embrace the change that’s happening – in these times, people will look to brands to be leaders and change agents. People will pay attention to how you conduct yourself, what you believe in, what you’re willing to take a stand on. If they like what they see, they’ll rally around your brand.

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Creating Brand Lust and Product Heat This Valentine's Day

It’s Valentine’s Day 2012. It is no secret that if you want people to love your brand these days. Adriana Lima’s Teleflora’s TV commercial aside, you’ve got to generate lust for the brand that leads to deep love. And I don’t mean David Beckham‘s HUGE skyscraper poster of him in his underwear for H&M overlooking 7th Avenue in New York.

Creating love for the brand is a vital yet bloody emotional thing. In the old days, when you were interested in someone, you called, sent flowers and a card, and then asked them on a date. Today, when you meet someone you have all the complexities of social media. When do you respond? How and how often? Not easy. Brand lovin’ is sort of the same.

You can no longer deliver a simple emotive message. Forget about shouting what you’re selling. Today’s savvy consumers want something more meaningful. They want to feel real love. Because if they don’t… they won’t trust or want to be associated with you.

Technology and the Internet have made all this possible. They have brought brands and customers closer together through high impact social media and the digital revolution. People can now talk directly to brands and vice versa. It has created a new kind of relationship. It’s a direct connection that’s built on trust and loyalty.

How you grab people’s love is by igniting their passions and sparking a movement that tickles them daily? One that listens to them, makes them laugh, or shows them that you care. You have to be transparent, trustworthy and honest. And if you say you believe in something, you have to mean it right from the very heart of your operation. Otherwise, people will see through your insincerity.

There are plenty of examples where brands are struggling with brand love. Some used to understand the importance of love but have since forgotten. Some are doing better than others. Bud Light and its new Rescue Dog campaign makes us smile. Hyundai inspires and plays on people’s love of Rocky with its latest commercial. And Toyota talks about our emotional ‘connections’ with its Camry model and asks ‘What’s your story?’.

But real brand love, like in life, is reserved for a special level of brand engagement and emotional impact. Chrysler’s Clint Eastwood movement comes to mind. It’s bigger than the category. It talks to everyone about themselves, his or her individual plight, challenge, and opportunity and stimulates a lust for a relationship that stirs you deep within.

What other brands have taken it there?

How do you think Audi did with its recent attempt to capitalize on the famous Twilight saga? Did it connect with its audience?

Or what about GoDaddy.co? Its ‘Body Paint’ and ‘The Cloud’ adverts were supposed to be sexy and provocative but did they connect with a huge percentage of its market, i.e. women?

Or what about Coca Cola’s advertisement where two polar bears enjoy the soft drink in a cave?

But there are those times when people can break up with your brand because they’ve fallen out of love with you. Something might’ve damaged your reputation or put you in a bad light. For example, brands like Starbucks have gone through interesting times over the years. Starbucks is now rekindling our love for their brand experience with all sorts of initiatives…doing rather than simply talking.

Above all, brands have got to accept that they’re now in a relationship with their customers. And like any successful relationship, it has to be built on love, trust and loyalty. If you don’t have that, then you’ll suffer much heartbreak to come.

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Why movements are like marriage

Companies spend hundreds of millions creating brand heat and product lust. They are highly protective of their reputation and brand, so isn’t it remarkable to think that just 140 characters can make or break it?

Social media may have got us ‘talking’ but it certainly has a lot to answer for. Because now, nothing is private. Everything is shared. All is passed on from one to the next. And with Twitter being on track to hit 500 million users by March – up from 200 million this time last year, there really is nowhere to hide.

Think about it. Annoyed about something? You don’t vent with your friends and neighbors. You tell the world one tweet at a time.

Want to make sure a company pays attention? You don’t email or write them a letter. You post on their Facebook wall. Because this public global shaming is very effective in making them respond double-quick to your gripe.

In this world, the anonymous comment has taken the place of the lewd comment on the restroom wall.

Social media has given us unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to big brands and companies that we’ve never had before. Now we can see what really goes on behind closed doors, and it’s forced many brands and businesses to change by becoming totally transparent when it comes to their pledges and promises. Every day this is becoming more and more so.

As a brand steward – as the CEO of a house of brands – how do you thrive in this space? When folks just won’t take your word for it?

They’ve become truth seekers. Truth junkies if you will. They enjoy the truth as much as the drama of obtaining the truth. They feed off of solid, tangible evidence. Brands can no longer simply say they taste better. They need to stand for something bigger, something that guides their every move. Against this, folks will still say – prove it.

It’s why Movement Marketing – what I call Cultural Movements - is fast becoming the brand building strategy of choice. It is an emerging new trend in Marketing that can be found in the US and around the world. It's more of a brand building and activation strategic model rolled into one. A model that leads to perpetual brand momentum versus the traditional paid advertising awareness ups and downs associated with the on and off media spend.

Movements maintain that crucial open dialog. They instantly and directly tap into what makes us tick to provoke debate and change. They give us the answers and proof we seek.
They are about you, the individual. And you the individual are the media channel.

But above all, they’re the ultimate in the sacred relationship between us and a brand – the definitive way for a brand to prove they’re totally, 100% committed to the cause and the beliefs we share. A Movement is good marriage, if you like.

And just like in a good marriage or partnership, when we become loyal followers of a brand, it’s when the vows have been taken. We invest time, effort and energy into the relationship, we give and we expect something back in return. If we get nothing but empty promises, if a brand breaks their vow, they’ll face separation-by-social media – an instantaneous severing of ties which the whole world will know about in seconds.

Just look at what happened to Toyota and its clumsy response to safety problems back in 2009, Kenneth Cole’s dumb tweet about the unrest in Egypt or BP’s handling of the Gulf spill five years ago. Social media is still talking about these examples.

Then Netflix, on-demand streaming provider, ignored its customers’ complaints after it announced it was raising rates and changing its service. Despite 11,000 comments on social media, protesting against the decision, Netflix merely brushed off the criticism and five months later, people are still angry with the brand.

And finally, this weekend, Susan G Komen set an unprecedented example of how one of the largest brands in the land can reverse a major policy decision as a result of listening to its movement, which was riled into an uprising short of a frenzy.

Obviously Social Media is not a brand movement but a movement strategy does include a Social Media strategy.

And the interesting thing is suddenly movements are springing up everywhere. And marketers are trying to figure make sense of it--what does mean to them, how should they respond.

What is the relationship between brand building, social media and the rise of movements?

For marketers there's no way to remain separate from this cultural phenomena if you want to be relevant to what's going on in the world.

So you see, as in all relationships, it really does pay to be honest.