Everything

The OECD, quoted by McKinsey, show that the web is driving GDP

According to a report quoted in full below, by Yahoo and McCann in AdAge, it appears that internet shopping has reached a new level of maturity. But the authors’ use of the word maturity is surely lazy or ironic.

What we are looking at here is the end of a generational divide that saw pre-internet shoppers attached to the fetish of bricks and sticks as a symbol of trustworthiness. Of course, that trustworthiness was never resident in the brickwork—it just felt as though it was. Now that the internet’s ubiquity has rendered it cosy, a technological gemutlichkeit, the consumer is happy to trust—and be disappointed—just like in the good old, bad old days. The organized chaos of the internet now seems as familiar as the organized chaos of the street. Perhaps it now feels even safer. Or at least we are projecting safety so that we can reap the rewards.

In this new territory, the hunted have become the hunters. In the game reserve of the internet, it seems we are channeling our fear and aggression towards our fellow consumers, who we see as competitors for the scarce deals hidden amongst the pixels. Good news for brands and the internet as a whole. Good news for world GDP too, according to recent figures released by OECD and quoted by McKinsey. The internet reflects a change in economic activity that may well be evolutionary in impact. It may be a little like climbing down from the safety of the trees to embrace the dangerous plenty of the savannah.

More Shoppers Trust the Internet Than TV
In the Game of Shopping, the Web Is the Source for Facts

By: Edwin Wong and Karen Ring Published: May 24, 2011

Shopping is no longer a chore. It’s a scavenger hunt where the win is defined as consumers finding deals that feel specially tailored for them or when they feel they’ve somehow out smarted their fellow shopper. These new dimensions have opened new paths and resulted in more opportunities for marketers to message and connect with their consumers.

When it comes to shopping, “Winning!” is the word of the day, and not just because Charlie Sheen says so.

Yahoo and Universal McCann worked together on a three-part study featuring a Comprehensive Online Quantitative Survey of nearly 2,500 people who have purchased or intend to purchase electronics, automobile, personal care, retailers, finance and OTC medicine. In addition, interviews with marketers in each category and 45 tech-savvy consumers across the U.S. were conducted.

The study found that with the maturation of the internet as a communication and content platform, usage is universal and has fundamentally shifted how consumers make purchases. Getting a great product at the right price is only one part of the equation to a satisfying buying experience. There’s a renewed energy and passion for shopping, and consumers are having fun.

We call this new dynamic “Gamesmanship of Shopping.” And every marketer, from retailer to packaged goods company, in every category, from pharmaceutical to finance, can benefit from understanding the consumer mindset and what it means for them.

Consumers’ path to purchase has fundamentally changed … again. The internet is no longer viewed as an overwhelming information source, but rather a platform of controlled chaos. This path is important as ever with nearly 4 in 5 consumers open to switching brands before a purchase. Consumers are also no longer confined to heading to a brick-and-mortar location to get the goods they need nor are they confined by cables to computers. Thanks to the mobile Internet and the rise of the social media, consumers can get up-to-the-minute connection to content and communities to help with purchases. All in all, when it comes to shopping, consumers have upped their game and the internet is a key driver in this behavioral shift.

Better Informed: The Internet has become the first stop on the path to purchase. The Internet has earned a level of trust greater than traditional print or television outlets. Increasing familiarity with search and digital articles has enabled consumers to act as their own filters, picking and choosing which sources to rely on and which to ignore. When it comes to media, the Internet comes out on top as 2 in 3 people stated they trust the Internet for researching their purchases followed by 43% for magazines and 35% for TV.

Savvy and Social: With all of these new research tools at their disposal, consumers have become much more price conscious, and their price savvy is a key component to “winning.” Their game plan includes searching for online coupons, sharing discount codes and snapping up group-buying offers. But winning isn’t only about landing the best deal; it’s also about having the best teammates. Thanks to social media, 49% of consumers give advice to others, motivated by a feeling of solidarity with other shoppers. What’s surprising is that consumers aren’t just pulling in friends, family but also strangers to help them play — and win — the shopping game.

Less Impulsive Competitors: All of these factors have led consumers to be less impulsive with their purchases. In fact, 55% of our category buyers say they are less impulsive because of the internet. They’re committed to thoroughly researching products and reading reviews from consumers and experts. Consumers are also committed to finding the best price with the feeling of winning directly related to finding the best price. (Indeed, in our study of 2,500 shoppers 60% said getting a better price on an item than other people made them feel like a winner.)

As consumers play their new retail game, it’s up to us to define our role. We could cast ourselves as opponents, trying to stay one step ahead of the latest technology and information, blocking access to the information consumers are seeking about product and price. Or we could play the role of coach, becoming a trusted adviser who will guide consumers on their path to winning.

Obviously, we recommend the latter, though playing this role will require a new perspective when it comes to consumers, their game and the media they use. As a marketer/coach, you must:

Inform Intelligently. Become a part of the conversation. Use brand authority to become an indispensable resource on a topic. Leverage credible media to aid consumers. Focus less on friendship, and more on trust.
Connect Emotionally. Consumers are playing the shopping game for emotional satisfaction, and your presence in it doesn’t have to be purely rational. Look for approaches that delight on an emotional level.
Reward Effectively. Devise reward systems that make the consumer feel special. Tailor deals to their expressed interests, and encourage viral sharing.

We do not like to use the phrase “win-win” too often. It has become trite, overused and generally untrue. But in the case of the gamesmanship of shopping, we feel it is absolutely appropriate.

Robert Burns' socks—darned by Victorians

Now, my holding Rabbie Burns’ stockings may not strike many as much of a feat; please forgive the pun. But think again. These may be the socks that were muddied and wet when ploughing up the ‘wee tim’rous beastie’ of To A Mouse. Still not impressed? In that case, consider that these hose might be the very same that he wore to woo the female inspiration for A Red, Red Rose. Still underwhelmed by my encounter with 18th century worsted toe-warmers? I suspected as much, reserving my best and Burns’ greatest until last.

Dear reader, these may well be the socks that kept Robert Burns’ chilblains from throbbing on a winter night as he penned the immortal verses of Auld Lang Syne. Yes, now I see the dawn of knowledge alight in your eyes. You recall, I detect, many a New Year’s Eve with glass in hand as bells peal, and the strains of a half-familiar song fill the air:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

What I held so gingerly were the socks of the poet who wrote the most widely sung song in the English-speaking world after Happy Birthday. Scratch that on two counts. Many people sing Auld Lang Syne whose first language is not English. And the lyrics are not English. It is written, if not always sung, in the Scots language.

So you begin to see, I hope, that these are socks of some significance. Indeed, I would venture to say that we all are connected to these socks through the singing of a song that, quite literally, unites the world once every year. Burns would have been delighted. He was all for the brotherhood – and the sisterhood – of humankind.

Now that you are duly impressed, I will let you into a little secret: you can tell a lot about a world-class poet by looking closely at his socks.

First, Burns had socks of reasonable quality. As I said, they are shaped at the calf, as was the fashion. They have a beige trim. The wool is not so rough. You can tell that he had improved his station in society. In Burns’ day, a common labourer might have no socks to speak of. Burns had ambition to leave his plough behind. This much you can tell from the very existence of his socks.

Let us return to the heels. These are darned, with evidence of many repairs. You can imagine many long walks in ill-fitting shoes. You can sense a blister or two. This man had to make his own way on foot. The curator of the Burns Museum, David Hopes, said the darned Victorians meddled with Burns’ memorabilia and repaired the socks. In turn, they replaced previous work, perhaps by the poet’s wife Jean Armour.

Last, but most decidedly not least, we come to the shapely calves of Burns’ socks. These are not the leg warmers of some spindly society dandy. Burns was fit. The physical labour of his young life was not for naught. He was, in today’s parlance, buff. Hence, his socks betray one source of Burns’ attraction to the opposite sex: he had good legs.

These storytelling socks are now safely inside a protective glass case at the newly opened Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, Scotland. Of course, there’s much more than socks to be found in this £21 million storybook. There are Bibles, locks of hair, inkwells, desks, a cast of his skull and manuscripts of Auld Lang Syne, adding up to 5,000 items. Outside, the museum is linked by a sculpture walk to the churchyard where Burns set *Tam o’Shanter*, arguably the greatest ghost poem in British literature. You can visit the memorial erected after his death, the smallholding where he worked as a child and the humble whitewashed cottage where he was born.

The anniversary of Burns’ birthday, on the 25th of January 1759, is celebrated around the world. Auld Lang Syne is world famous. And yet, few people really understand what Burns was saying. Admit it – when was the last time you didn’t hum along to the last verse of the world’s party piece:

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

Fiere is a friend and a right gude-willy waught is a goodwill drink. Burns is strange that way; you may not know exactly what all the words mean but you know how they feel. That, in essence, is the process that the new Burns Museum seeks to reverse. You know how his songs and poems make you feel; here, you can find out what they really mean.

This is the first museum in the U.K. to be fully interpreted in Scots (though English translations are available.) Should auld acquaintance be forgot? Absolutely not. You should, at the very first opportunity, visit the new Burns Birthplace Museum and reacquaint yourself with the man behind the world’s favourite Scots words.

For more information, visit www.burnsmuseum.org.uk

This article was first published in Senior Living Magazine.

Perhaps it is not always so, but in our case the choice of subject matter for posts and even the style in which they were written cast revealing light on differences of opinion. Without the blog, we might have gone on for a lot longer in the false belief that we shared a common vision.

My advice is that you should try to write a blog on behalf of your business. It will force all of the partners to reveal what they want the outside world to think of them. But be aware—you may find yourselves having some very heated debates and uncovering deeply buried fears and desires. Nevertheless, much cheaper than therapy.

Javier Puig continues to do great work as Persona. And I am now a senior writer with Braun/Allison. I feel that now is the time to revisit this blog under my own steam—hence the new livery and the new title.

Just yesterday, I was told with a smile that print might soon be dead but that writing will live on … what a relief to an ancient scribbler. And yet, the evolutionary impact on narrative by interactive media is not something you can ignore. As a recent video by IDEO suggests, the book as we know it could be the last branch of the species Libris papyrus. Once books were successful and thriving; in future, will they be marooned on an island of time, like Tasmanian devils or Komodo dragons?

I think not. An important aspect of the experience of reading is being overlooked, or simply ignored: the cultural iconography of the book as a sign of learning. The paper book is the ultimate physical expression of linear narrative, the author’s ultimate authority over the story. On Kindle, Winnie the Pooh and War and Peace have equal heft. But the reality of the books tell you something significant about the projects of Tolstoy and A A Milne. This cultural spinelessness is an acute drawback for new forms of reading. It’s not enough that we should read for ourselves. Books and newspapers tell us a great deal about what other people think and feel. They are one of the few genuine glimpses into the depths and shallows of being human.

As David McKie puts it, writing in The Guardian, we have an “obsession with spines.” There is an exquisite voyeurism in studying a fellow subway passenger’s paperback choice. Or earwigging a conversation between two prospective book buyers in Chapters.

Perhaps even more disturbing would be the loss of the library shelf. As a manifestation of self-worth, what home does not possess a line of well-thumbed tomes, speaking to an erudite past or a well-informed present? Cookbooks in the kitchen, management manuals in the office, children’s classics in the rec room: the books themselves tell a story without opening a page. You know a home by the books that sleep on its shelves. (They also have excellent acoustic properties.)

Perhaps we will return to the fashion of past centuries when the lazy reader bought empty books by the yard to fill unused libraries. Such faux folio services still exist. My sense is that it will take many generations to ween us from our hard-wired attachment to simple narrative, be it in paper or digital form. Interactivity suggests an entirely new form that really isn’t a book, bringing a sense of the temporary to what was once forever. These new multi-layered stories will be more like games or self-directed artworks. Perhaps the future is Paint-by-Numbers spliced to an e-book: a do-it-yourself Shakespearean comedy or a self-assembly Moby Dick. The output, I fear, would not last the test of time.

Instead, as digital formats blink into being, we will find ourselves yearning for the sensuous pleasure of turning the paper page, of turning the corner over to keep our place or turning back time with an old pencil note from our college days scribbled in the margin.

Lots of little capitalists have more fun ...
Copyright Parker Bros

Shoshana Zuboff’s McKinsey article suggests that, especially in business, we should become more aware of those quiet, distributed forces that carve out a new society rather than the louder, centralized voices that draw so much attention to themselves.

Zuboff outlines what distributed capitalism can mean to business beyond the digital sphere, where the movement away from the centre is already manifest. Much more difficult for FedEx or AT&T to constantly reinvent itself than Facebook or Google. The goal of every sustainable companies should be to maximise value through solving what she calls the ‘premium puzzle’: goods or services that are relatively expensive but are desired by many more than can currently afford them.

The premium puzzle exists because the systems required to create value in the past are now a barrier to creating it in the future. Some businesses react through radical, revolutionary measures: merger, acquisition or unbundling. A more evolutionary approach is to embrace partnership, experiment with new business models and mutate. In other words, splice the company’s old DNA with the new. Where to find that new genetic material? Not amongst other older companies, that’s for sure. Instead, she urges us to look to the consumer, the individuals with the best insights into where the future is going. Shareholder value will be created not using economies of scale but rather economies of breadth.

That’s why it’s called distributed capitalism after all. It’s literally all over the map. What’s really hard about leaving the Fordist model of capitalism behind is not just embracing digital technologies and social media. It’s more about re-wiring the corporate brain to think like today’s consumer.