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November 2007
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LEADERS MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE
Rolf Jensen argued some years back and quite magnificently that the we are approaching a 'Dream Economy'. We have moved past the Information Economy to the Knowledge Economy to the Experience Economy and are verging on the Dream Economy. This is worth taking a renewed look at today. The central thesis is that the stories that our businesses tell (and sell), the stories that people tell about us, and the stories associated with our products, services and experiences are how we create the emotional loyalty and engagement that separates us from the price/volume commodity peddlers.
In Denmark, eggs from free range hens have conquered over 50% of the market. Consumers do not want hens to live their lives in small, confining cages. They want them to have access to earth and sky. This means the eggs are more labor intensive, but remarkably, consumers are willing to pay 15-20% more for 'the story behind the egg'. They want to contribute to a story about animal ethics, rugged romanticism and the 'good old days'. This turns conventional economics on its head. Both types of egg have similar quality, but the eggs with the better story are continuing to establish their ascendance!
The most obvious corporate example comes from Disney Corporation. Disney is a storyteller par excellence. Disney was never about a 'mouse' (Mickey Mouse) or a 'duck' (Donald Duck), or more recently about a 'lion' (The Lion King), but stories wrapped around these characters who truly came to life (were literally 'animated') through those stories and associations.
Story telling allows us to try and invent the future before it invents us. The Walkman was a dream, not the result of extensive market research, it was aimed at making lots of possible stories come true. The IPod has trumped it, becoming a part of our enriched 'designer' society. Such stories liberate innovation, they also help to rally and build teams around them.
Teams in turn come together better through shared stories and dreams. Hence team building today often involves interactive exercises, many of them outdoors where new 'stories' and memories can be forged. Teams are guided to say build kites, construct bridges over streams or race one another over rugged terrain en route to an overnight campsite. This strengthens a type of 'tribal community' spirit, it leads to a better exchange of emotional intimacies (ranging from frustration to exhilaration, from exhaustion to laughter). New stories and jointly generated 'visions' and dreams follow. This range of activity could as properly be called 'tribe building' as 'team building'. Of course there are vapid, pointless macho versions of the above and I don't tout these as panaceas. But the above is referring to the optimum value we can get from coming out of sterile hotel rooms and possibly inhibiting paradigms.
Even icon companies from the Information/Knowledge age have cottoned on to this. If you look at the market positioning and communication strategies of IBM, Microsoft, HP, they are all selling 'stories'. For IBM, imagination at work. For HP, some years back, WITH HP, 'anything is possible'. For Microsoft, how they help us 'fulfill our potential'. Stories and dreams par excellence!
Of course companies excel at being a collection of successful stories and appetizing dreams when their products are too. If you want a watch that will keep accurate time, you can get one for $10. If you are after a story, something that will appeal to the heart and make a lifestyle statement, or to signal adventure or even distinction, the price tag could be closer to $15,000. Rolex, for example, has endowed its watches with a story by having the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, which celebrate and recognize people through the Rolex award who exemplify the Rolex story through their own spectacular achievements. Look at all the famous achievers in Rolex ads and you can see this focus vividly. Omega wants to be part of James Bond's adventures. And if you pooh pooh all that, and want not just a watch, but something you steward for multiple generations, then you opt for a Patek Philippe.
Athletic equipment seeks to sell a story, of achievement, focus, determination, esteem, health. How else to get people to voluntarily strain and stress their muscles and glory in it at the same time? Of course this became necessary for wellness in modern times, because no longer does the majority of our energy come from physical toil. Even when we had mills to produce energy for us, we had to work them. Later even when we had cars, or even when we made ice cream, we had to crank like crazy! Back then the story of our physical exertion was donated by the reality of the situation. Today we have to CREATE a story to inspire it. So Nike has for example prospered by selling such a story of achievement and athletic distinction across linguistic and cultural borders.
A motorcycle is a commodity product, except when stories and dreams are stoked, stirred and at least partially satisfied through it and an entirely new life-style sprouts. Grown (otherwise largely conventional) people are now able to dress in leather and ride through towns hoping to 'frighten' people while feeling free and trying to look 'tough'. That life-style on wheels, with all the accompanying paraphernalia, has made Harley Davidson a worldwide business leader and profit superstar.
Trains are just trains, except when stories and dreams get attached. Add the mystique of the orient and create 'The Orient Express', and people will pay untold amounts to be part of the adventure. But this is not just for exotic products or services. Stoves are surely bog standard and utterly unromantic. The English AGA Stove has had no product development since 1922! Yet annual sales hover around 7,000 units at a price point between $10,000-$15,000 a unit! AGA indicates that they don't WANT to be a lifestyle appliance, instead they promise family togetherness. Their customers have a strong emotional attachment to them. Theirs is a story of family togetherness, a timeless dream of ageless values of mutual care that we all yearn to experience anew.
CD-Roms and other new tools and technologies, even the Internet, have perhaps not captured everything they might have, because storytellers for these media are just evolving. Wanted: stories and dreams! Sheer technology, by itself, will never do.
Even in companies, we much prefer the dramatic and emotive power of the title selected by the Tom Peters Company of 'Chief Inspiration Officer' to the far more bland 'Chief Knowledge Officer' that is becoming par for the course in lots of organisations.
So, how can you and I benefit from these insights and apply them to our own business success? It is important to find the key market 'story' profiles and find which ones are most relevant to our business, its positioning, the experiences and solutions it offers, and then help that story become REAL as passionately as we can. Here are the key story and dream profiles as identified by Rolf Jensen:
The Adventure Story:
Mountaineering comes to mind as something that is a prospering industry in this vein, skiing, horseback riding, water sports, and all the resorts who weave them together as part of their suite of offerings. These adventures can even be marketed as therapy or education. Mountaineering for example is even being used in half-way house efforts to help young criminal offenders to readjust and learn new focus and discipline.
Movies and other forms of entertainment sometimes cater to the adventure story element obviously. Think of the Bogart movies. In a more contemporary vein, consider James Bond. 007 often 'provides' an extraordinary story to help distinguish products via association. Think of Bollinger champagne, the Aston Martin, the Omega watch, the Brioni suits, and British Airways getting itself plugged as the airline of choice of the world's most suave secret agent.
The Togetherness Market:
Long distance telephone companies come to immediate mind. They sell stories of staying in touch, of togetherness, of calling our loved ones before they go to bed from half-way around the world.
The bar and club markets come to mind here, togetherness is really what they're selling. Guinness is a great beer, but their story is one of camaraderie, bonhomie, the strengthening of social contacts. Hence Guinness along with the Irish Pub Company is helping to sell 'Irishness' around the world, replete with Irish bartenders, musicians and decor. They are opening close to one new pub around the world at least every week!
In France, we see this phenomenon with bistros and cafes. Along with Italian trattorias, such intimate dining environments have literally exploded in popularity around the world. Starbucks took that cafe concept of a meeting ground for friends, dialogue and togetherness, blended it with some zany coffees and launched an entire industry. Today, the coffee market in the US is worth over $6 billion (about $50 for every adult).
We can see the togetherness market in event management, seminars, etc. This makes event destinations hugely popular, and cities like Chicago who gear up for this, or Las Vegas which partially exists for this purpose, can reap huge dividends by providing all forms of different 'togetherness' options that people can enjoy.
A subset of this is the 'love' market, a type of 'exponential togetherness'. We can find this expressed in the gift industries, particularly jewelry. Love is what we're selling there, not cut stones. Of course, products or services can be part of more than one market. Jewelry can also be part of the 'Who I Am' market (described below). However, the love front, is its greatest leverage point.
Many other products and services come to mind as part of this subset. Perfume, romantic novels, romantic movies, a large range of the music industry in particular, certain holiday destinations, patisseries, flower shops and more.
The Care Market:
Insurance companies and the stories and dreams they offer, cater to this quite evidently. Certain hotels have added this as part of their story too, by providing transportation to doctor's visits, in-room nursing, support and companionship and more. In the non-profit arena, the International Red Cross comes to mind, a wonderful story and a dream of humanity looking after its larger family.
Companies not positioned as part of the care market, nevertheless get benefit from participating in it by enriching their core stories accordingly. McDonald's, clearly not in the care business, awards over $150 million in grants to organisations serving children through the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Another flourishing organisation is the Salvation Army (active in over 100 countries, functioning in more than 140 languages, with 352 hospitals and clinics and over 2000 food distribution centers), steeped in tradition and lore. Books have been written about their values, principles and leadership -- a great story and a wonderful living dream.
The overall health market obviously tries to sell dreams of well-being, recovery, or at least humane care. Another offshoot of this market is the now booming alternative medicine and therapy market. This runs the gamut from meditation, to natural remedies to homeopathy, to wellness centers.
With the mapping of the human genome, we are looking at an upcoming vibrant industry of more automated care (which could even include customizing pills for our genetic structure). Relative to hospitals, proposals include chains of international hospitals that provide 'best practice' in terms of care, processes, talent management, with a thoroughly tested overall care concept. These will be great stories to bring to life and will take 'pride of place' as a dream offering for people in distress.
To some extent the religion 'industry' if we can call it that, also participates in this Care market as well as the 'Conviction Market' that we'll look at below.
The 'Who I Am' Market:
Louis Vuitton with its signature travel gear is a key player here. The story? A posh person, gliding with ease into the most elegant of environments, stylish to the core, doubtless with chilled champagne awaiting their arrival. Speaking of champagne, it plays wonderfully to this market as well as the love submarket obviously.
Ralph Lauren is all about distinctive style (a declaration of 'This is who I am!') -- romance, innovation and design across various boundaries. It's a story and a dream that's obviously seductive, they rack up close to $5 billion in annual sales!
National traditions fall into this camp too. The market for traditional clothing, traditional handicrafts, traditional ceremonies are obvious examples. The Scottish Tartan Society has registered 2,400 different patterns of tartan plaid. Whether told through taxis or Grand Prix racing cars or as part of clothing or some form of design, the story conjures up images of proud Scots clans, of loyalty, independence and tradition, all rolled together!
Accessories feature prominently in this market -- hats, sunglasses, watches, belts, bags, home furnishings. Cars can trade on this market too, as Peugeot has to women wanting to express and perhaps even flaunt their rightful independence.
The essence of 'Who I Am' is a challenge/opportunity for all brands frankly, at least partially. We want people to link a part of their identity to who we are and what we offer, we want it to be a valued part of their life experience.
The Peace of Mind Market:
We can begin controversially with booze and cigarettes. Think wine, scotch, Marlboro's. Certainly they trade on this advantage.
Certain types of soothing music emphasizes this advantage too. Spas showcase this and quite rightly. Great hotel groups offer this in exotic locations. So I can travel to Sharm Al Shaikh in Egypt because there is a Four Seasons there, or to a quiet location in Indonesia because there is an Aman Resort there, or to Cambodia because Raffles has planted its flag there. More adventurous types will denigrate such luxury, but for a huge segment of the population, this very 'peace of mind', makes the 'adventure' palatable. The Four Seasons, for example, have found one particularly powerful distinguishing factor for this market through their legendary Sealy beds, the threadcount of the sheets, the intoxicating softness of the duvets and pillows. You KNOW you're going to get as peaceful a sleep as possible.
Small towns and regions that market themselves successfully often emphasize this, from rustic villages in Tuscany or the Provence, to remote islands in the Pacific, to ski villages and nature retreats. Rural romanticism seems to be a currently highly popular story and 'dream' in the Peace of Mind market.
The financial sector also trades on this distinction. Banks have veered away from this story to their detriment, trying to talk about 'efficiency' and 'technology'. Overall, this has left customers cold. Financial institutions that have reaffirmed in addition their ability to customize, work with you, safeguard your life's investment, put you at ease in your financial life, are flourishing and rightly so. As technology becomes increasingly trivial (being omnipresent), the 'peace of mind' story will become that much more profound in the financial sector.
Aspects of the consultancy industry have to play to this as well. We can see what happened to Andersen Consulting when the 'trust' attached to their assessments came into question. Certain types of consultancy in particular are contracted with to provide such assurance, through their expertise, methodology, experience and/or range of coverage.
Finally, while the automobile industry can feature in both the Adventure Market (mostly for sports cars) and the 'Who I Am' market, it also needs to excel here in terms of safety, reliability and performance.
The Conviction Market:
This final market is about consumers and customers wanting to do business with companies who share some of their convictions and commitments. Body Shop comes immediately to mind in terms of ecological awareness and animal rights.
Companies who factor in social costs and have to actively demonstrate their contributions back to the larger society (due to the nature of their industries), also have to be visible in this regard and make this part of their story and aspiration. Consider the oil and gas companies and think back to communications strategies and ads we see ranging from Shell to BP to Mobil.
An important survey conducted by futurologist John Naisbitt identifies a new trend called 'cause related marketing' (CRM). He indicates that in households with incomes above $50,000 in the developed world, 82% of consumers would switch brands if a company was at least roughly comparable but was associated with causes important to them!
Muhammed Yunus won and earned the Nobel Prize for pioneering micro-enterprise to empower Bangladeshi women and overall entrepreneurs. The wonderful story of empowering people to come out of poverty and into productive businesses has allowed him to expand and spawn partnerships around the world. In fact, as of this writing, he will be introducing micro-enterprise of his type to the US!
Greenpeace sells the dream of it being a type of 'ecology police' asking us to report 'crimes against the planet' to them. It's a great story that they are trying to bring to life. Convictions and causes will matter more and more, as we face all kinds of global thresholds and as values other than just lowest common denominator thinking rise to the fore, often keeping pace with rising standards of living around the world.
Learning and Application Review:
As a leader, help decide what your story is, and what primary dream you are offering. Make that a cornerstone of your vision and mission, as well as your values and key strategies. Identify the key dream and story markets most relevant to your brand and key value offering. Ensure that everything you do, everyone you hire, all your communications, and most critically the actual experience of dealing with your company not only verifies the story but also trumpets the dream which you as a leader seek to inspire the entire organisation to ever more fully fulfill. Your job as a leader is to make sure the story is irresistible and the dream comes true, at least partially, EVERY DAY!
Omar Khan,
Senior Partner, Sensei International
Phone: 1 (212) 295 2191, Fax: 1 (212) 295 2121
e-mail: omar@sensei-international.com
Omar Khan is a globally acknowledged leadership development innovator and success coach. He is a sought after change catalyst and a pioneer in transformational learning. He is the author of the acclaimed book SYNERGY as well as the newly released and much awaited, TIMELESS LEADERSHIP.
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