We jogged past the Matheson Hammock tidal basin and reached the bay just as half of the giant sun poked above the horizon and Biscayne Bay reflected a brilliant orange carpet straight to the shore. Neither Bob, Tim nor I had our phones with us so the scene will have to live in our memories exactly the way it seared across our optic nerves.
Of course we're all old enough to be okay with that. But if we were millennials the experience might not have had much value if we couldn't upload it to our favorite social media sites. It's sort of the 21st century version of the old riddle about a tree falling in the forest with no one there to hear it: If something great happens to you and you can't post it on Facebook did it really happen?
Millennials are searching for authenticity and reality and some of that need is satisfied when they share their lives online. But I think this also heralds a larger phenomenon that we are all feeling – regardless of age.
A host of realities have combined (conspired?) to change the world we live in so quickly, so profoundly, and so comprehensively that many of us are still wandering around wondering why our old habits no longer succeed. Quite simply, a lot of the old techniques that once assured personal and professional success simply don't pay off anymore.
- Thanks to the great recession, many companies don't need the bloated bureaucracies they used to require.
If you were a well-paid middle manager and you were laid off, you're probably finding that the jobs you used to interview for are nowhere to be found.
- Thanks to technology, many companies can produce products of market-acceptable quality regardless of where they are around the world. If you've been selling your products based on how they function or how good they are, you might be discovering that your sales are slipping or have fallen off completely.
- Thanks to the ubiquitous reach of the Internet and faster and faster delivery services, consumers can buy whatever they want from wherever and whomever they want. If you're a bricks and mortar business that relied on foot traffic, you might be waking up to the new reality that your customers are using you as a hands-on showroom before they purchase online.
If you've experienced any of these situations, you're probably wondering what to do to build — or rebuild — the business you want. What is becoming clearer is that today's consumer is looking for ways to find authenticity and real passion in a world full of digitally homogenized pabulum. The answer is what we've discussed so many times before in this blog — that is that while a good brand makes people feel good, a great brand makes people feel good about themselves. Consumers want brands that deliver what they promise while also delivering a good dose of positive experiences. This is the concept of Tribal Equity™, the value of a person or organization's identity to the tribe(s) that matter most to them.
In the case of brand phenom Harley-Davidson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer Mark-Hans Richer told The New York Times this about the iconic motorcycle's fist electric vehicle: “To be a true Harley… it has to be cool. It has to make you feel something important about yourself.” When asked about the technical descriptions Richer added, “We're not getting into spec wars at this time. The point is how you feel riding it.”
The way to create this feeling is to deliver the true essence of what it is you or your company provides. Harley's Tribal Signature™ is not a trumped up, over-hyped, generic facsimile manufactured to be all things to all people, but their simple truth. What people want is what they get from the artisans at their farmers' market, the engineers at Tesla, the musicians in The E-Street Band, the chefs in that exciting new food truck, the software engineers at Adobe, the athletes on the US soccer team, the pilots in the Blue Angels, and yes, the gear heads at Harley-Davidson. The truth.
If it's just another product, consumers may or may not work harder to get it, may or may not spend more to buy it, and probably won't pursue it if it's not readily available online. These products or services may in fact cost more and you may have to work harder to get them (walk down the alley, wait in line, get on a waiting list…whatever). But consumers will pay more and work harder to get it because that's what the magnet of truth does.
Lucky for you, it's already there. Like the rising sun we enjoyed this morning, your truth already exists, hidden in plain sight. All you have to do is figure out how to identify it and develop it. The rest is easy. If you're interested in learning how to do it, stick around. I'll address that soon.