Apart from my own personal learnings from the session (namely, we may have ordered too much food and hanging out with people in person at an event is fun), Megan provided me with some much more helpful takeaways. For those who weren't able to be there on the day, they were:
Facilitate Connection
As humans, we have a fundamental need to bond and connect. The need to connect transcends people and more than ever, this extends to organisations and brands as well. Megan highlighted this point by taking us back to Psychology 101 and sharing some theories of human motivation and what it takes for brands to truly connect
Trust = Meaningful Connections
Trust is a prerequisite for forging a connection, however, institutionalised trust is eroding rapidly, further accelerated by fake news, privacy breaches and recent world events. This volatility leaves us craving authenticity and realness. Brands need to acknowledge this and be as real as possible with their customers.
Be a 'human’ brand
So how do brands 'keep it real'? Simple. They adopt human traits and characteristics. They show true empathy. They are honest and transparent. They demonstrate a future mindset. Megan shared how this can take a few forms including:
- Authentic Storytelling - we all know storytelling helps to create an emotional bond to a product but increasingly consumers want to see the truth behind the product. As a result, some brands are going a step further and lifting the veil to show how something is made in order to guarantee authenticity. A pioneer of this is clothing retailer Everlane who adopts radical transparency toward a more ethical fashion industry by sharing the true costs of the goods, including their mark up.
- Customisation (Plus One) - the new frontier is about hyper-personalisation with a human touch. Digital-only UK bank Starling leverages technology to enable customers to connect with them on their terms, using Google Home to enable its customers to carry out balance enquiries and payments through voice commands. The result? Well they’re winning on customer experience, voted Best British Bank in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
- Sustainable future vision - It’s not about simply relying on past achievements and brand heritage to build trust, it’s demonstrating a commitment to the future by finding solutions for real problems we face - either as individuals or as a society. In the world of luxury vehicles, where legacy traditionally comes from past performance, Tesla is a good example of a brand anticipating future needs. Their goal isn’t to sell cars but to transition the world to sustainable energy.
Leveraging digital
In some ways, it might sound counter-intuitive but digital plays an increasingly important role for ‘human’ brands. Whether it’s facilitating two-way conversations (FYI, meaningful connection can’t be formed in one direction!), increasing transparency, helping to deliver ‘made for me’ experiences or empowering people to be the brand, digital tools and technology is often at the heart of it.
---
As Connect The Dots has moved to an in-person format, it’ll also become a quarterly series and the next session has been earmarked for late September/October with service design partner STCK.
Further details will be confirmed in the coming months (including which city will play host - Sydney or Melbourne) but to be kept across that, and future Connect The Dots events, please sign-up here if you haven't already.
