31st January 2014

Who Needs Linguists?@verbid

What happened here?

31st January 2014

An exercise for the audience

Language Keeps Changing…

Case Study: Declining Performance

31st January 2014

• A client had based their marketing on the word “performance” for many years

• But recently, they’d experienced a significant decline in marketing effectiveness

• They asked us to look into it.

• What did we find?

• What you say isn’t always what they hear

• “Performance” means different things to different audiences

• “Performance Management” is making people uncomfortable

Why are linguists important?

Who needs linguists?

•Linguists understand language.

•Linguistics is a window into what people think.

•Language changes reality.

31st January 2014

31st January 2014

Language in the Commercial World

Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.

Language in the Commercial World

31st January 2014

31st January 2014

Language in the Commercial World

9 out of 10 brand touch-points are dominated by language

Why is language important now?31st January 2014

• Brands in New media are in a conversation with consumers – whether they want it or not.

• A lot of Brands are suffering from reduced friction – leading to “brand promiscuity”. If we don’t like something, it’s easier to find better options and switch.

• Audiences have new forums to discuss what Brands say and how they say it.

Language will always be important in branding

31st January 2014

And it’s not just a flash in the pan

•For the next 10 years, it’ll be the most important thing.

•Marketers are realizing that language is the easiest and cheapest part of their operation to change.

•New technology will help them pinpoint where they need to make improvements.

Language In…

31st January 2014

How we butcher your science for money

•Text Analytics – Can process huge amounts of free-text feedback that big brands get every day.

•Linguistics – Necessary to interrogate the data processed by Text Analytics.

•Creative Writing – The emotional key to explaining issues to the right people.

… Language Out

31st January 2014

Brand Language: Research and Creation

•Creative writing – To give messages that address the right issues and clarify the brand’s narrative

•Verbal Identity – A flexible set of strategic guidelines that sets out message structure and the brand’s tone of voice.

•Writing workshops – To teach in-house writers how to use these components in their own copy.

Text Analytics: What it Does and Doesn’t Do

The value of text analytics31st January 2014

•Processes info consistently and logically

•Reliably groups that information into themes of discussion

•Does not explain why these themes are important – only that they are important

•Cannot pinpoint emerging trends without an extra layer of interpretation

Microsoft Word Doesn’t Write Novels

31st January 2014

The Linguistic Interpretation

• Text analytics gives us the what, linguistic savvy gives us the “why”.

• The “why” is usually hidden in the specific way that themes in text are phrased.

• Just as language can change reality, the way people speak shows us how they view reality.

• This can be reflected in their choice of vocabulary, phrasing, and even in syntax.

How language can improve the retail experience

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction in Retail

31st January 2014

• A major retail client asked us to look at feedback from 100,000 customers. We were able to give them numbers to back up their beliefs.

• They already knew that the major driver of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction was staff/customer interaction.

• The text data showed that about 98% of people were very happy with the staff.

• But what about the other 2000 people...

The problem with managers is…

31st January 2014

• When people say “The manager was useless”, they’re not talking about incompetence – they’re talking about function.

• Managers are the gods of the store – and there’s nothing worse than an unreliable god.

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction in Retail

• “Manager” also means football manager – and those should be fired as soon as they mess up.

31st January 2014

“The girl was

rude.”

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction in Retail

But is it really about rude girls?

31st January 2014

• “Rude” is bad. What about girl?

•Why is this an acceptable term to refer to anyone over the age of 16 – or any age in a professional context?

• Insight: The problem isn’t that the staff are being rude – it’s that the customer’s assumptions of the staff is different from what they’re getting…

But where did they get those assumptions?

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction in Retail

31st January 2014

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction in Retail

Don’t retrain them – Reframe their relationships

31st January 2014

• Retrain your staff in customer interaction…

• Which takes six weeks for each person…

• And costs more than it could possibly be worth?

• Retitle your staff in line with their experience and responsibility.

• Let customers know through your messaging just how motivated and knowledgeable the “girls” are.

Case Study: Customer Satisfaction in Retail

Not Pictured: Geniuses

31st January 2014

And if it worked for this lot…

So who needs linguists?

31st January 2014

In Conclusion

• Consultancies need linguists for a deeper understanding of what customers are saying.

• Writers need linguists – to brief them fully and competently.

• Brands need linguists to help design their identity and create their “voice”.

• Everyone needs linguists to create the stories which allow them to understand the world.

31st January 2014

Thanks !

@verbid