Make a list of the cultural trends that influence your consumers’ behavior. You can make this list on paper and by using a pencil. Or a pen. Or you can make this list by drawing in dirt on the ground much like our Native American people did, or much like how we think they did thanks to movies and TV shows. Take your time; all of the items on this list will not be immediately apparent. Stay with it, and you will gradually observe more and more.
Be a good observer. To do this, keep your eyes open. If you’re a fan of people watching, this will be easy for you. And probably even kind of fun.
Remove yourself from your own cultural perspective. Look for the absurdities, the incongruities, the things that don’t necessarily make sense. A good way to force this is to cross dress. Or wear a Mexican Wrestling mask. You will begin to laugh as you start to see the culture from the outside. (Laughing is a good sign.) For an example of laughing and what it means to laugh, visit www.laughing.com
Find out what’s really beneath the existing trend. Is the truth under the truth? Use the And1 example: Was it that NBA stars sold sneakers because they were in the NBA, or because they were famous ball players? If it is the latter, then any famous basketball player can sell shoes. So let’s make somebody new famous. Let’s create the fame to create the sales. This is one example. What are others?
In your business, what is the accepted cultural convention? If you get the right fix on this, you can flip it on its head and make it your own. Or flip it on its ass and slap it like a newborn. Choose your metaphor, y’all.
Post Revisions:
- November 9th, 2009 at 7:39 am by sobiecki
- October 23rd, 2009 at 11:55 am by mariuszdrozdz
- October 13th, 2009 at 5:00 pm by evanfry
- September 28th, 2009 at 7:09 pm by enomali
Why does this blog not have more dialogue between Bakedin readers? Let’s spark some convo!
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