difference

differenceBernadette Jiwa

Difference thinking is more than the ability to connect the dots – it is about recognizing the truth, seeing the opportunity and then acting on it.

Classic route is Idea-Develop-launch-market

The new route is Truth-people-Idea-launch

Starbucks didn’t invent coffee and apple didn’t invent the smartphone. These companies created new experiences for the category.

Fifty years ago the focus of business was dominance. Today, it is to matter, to make a difference but to do something that creates a difference.

The truth is you cannot change how people think or do without changing their feelings.

You need to create ideas and experiences that give people reasons to care and to belong, not just to choose.

People who make a difference show..

1. They practice empathy

2. They have a clear sense of change they want to achieve

3. They are patient about strategy but impatient about tactics.

4. They ask the right questions, they listen more than they talk.

5. They watch what people do and don’t just believe what they are told.

People who make a difference show..

6.They are innovative at the edges

7.They tell a story to their constituents

8.They work hard to change how people feel, they make an effort to reach out to as many people as possible.

9.They build trust in the organization and the stakeholders.

In Europe, there was a need to have a second vegetable. The Spanish grew potatoes to feed livestock.

The potato had been cultivated in south America for centuries but had not been adopted in Europe.

In France, it took a royal seal of approval to grow potatoes and the sight of King Louis xvi and Marie Antoinette wearing potato flowers as decorations tipped the balance to grow potatoes.

Frederick the Great in Russia, grew potatoes and got his guards to guard the farm. Citizens thought that this must be valuable and stole some potatoes, and that’s how potatoes came to be grown in Russia.

Economists have estimated that the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in old world population between 1700 and 1900.

Figuring out what people want and finding ways to delight one person at a time so that the person is thrilled to talk to others about it is the new order.

Marketing has always been an art, we’ve tried to turn t into a pure science with focus groups and big data.

We spend $500 billion globally on advertising in 2013. We spend more money to interrupt people, more often, with more messages.

What makes a brand unique now is the difference it creates. How it affects peoples lives and becomes a part of their story. Creating a difference is harder to replicate for competition.

People tell us who they are, but we ignore it , we want them to be who we want them to be.

Great brands disrupt people, they change the way people feel about something, in a way they change how they behave.

Marketing is not a department, it’s the story of how we create difference for our customers.

Peter Drucker famously remarked “ The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said”

Focus groups can give you an opinion, but they cannot tell you how to make meaning from it. You don’t find the truth by simply asking for answers. You uncover it by listening and observing.

Chobani went to billion dollar business by innovating at the edges, by making an authentic Greek yogurt without thickeners.

The great brands of the future will be built by those who have worked hard to gain the insight that enables them to whisper ‘we see you’ to their customers.

The truth is people don’t fall in love with ideas, they fall in love with how those ideas make them feel.

People don’t buy features, they buy promises.

A metric of any kind feels have, but it has deniability built into it.

Impact,connection,loyalty and love cannot be measured easily, which is why business has never focused on these metrics.

A growing class of high value consumers is powering the economy and reshaping society.

Consumer behavior is nor predicated on demographics anymore. You have to dig deeper.

Empathy and business people don’t go hand in hand. Business people rarely navigate their own web site to see how they do.

The difference model is built around six pillars : Principles, purpose, people, personal, perception and product.

Principles are fundamental truths.

Principles can be classified into three groups – the truth about you, the truth about the industry and the truth about people.

What your customers believe abut you far outweighs what you can tell them. Beliefs drive behavior.

Fill a void in people’s lives, that’s what great marketing does.

What separates a good from great is the heart in it.

Good products work, great products become part of our story.