What's More Real than Reality TV?

It's no secret that Reality TV isn't really about reality at all - offering (at its best) hyper-real versions of people's real world existences and, at its worst, carefully scripted and acted, fully dreamed up facades.

Well, fame hungry cynics finally have access to some help, introducing the New York Reality TV School.

For a small fee of $329 one can learn how to get cast on the show and make the most out of it. 

I'll see you there...

Mutualism

There’s a biological theory called mutualism, which is about two distinct organisms, usually of different species, working with each other to the benefit of both

It’s the symbiosis of bee and the flower...both need each other to survive and their  contributions are equally critical to the success of their relationship.

I far prefer mutualism to parasitism, in which one organism benefits at the expense of the host. I think we'd all be happy to avoid leeches and other nefarious bloodsuckers.

 The way that businesses concern themselves with customer relationships often fall somewhere on the mutualism to parasitism paradigm. I think it can be summed up pretty simply - does your business see a customer or prospect as potential revenue or as a human being? Take the  Comcast customer service debacle that went viral in July. Here's a company that would seemingly abuse the customer relationship in order to hold on to that $$$.

Things are changing, though. There's an evolving relationship between customers and companies – a movement away from the transactional nature of “hey, here’s our product” and “ok, here’s my money” to one that is more mutualistic in nature. 

The Google’s and Apple’s of the word are building their business around a mission statement and a vision for how they add value to the world. Then they consider the products, services and experiences they need to deliver to make good on their mission.

 It's why Patagonia gets away from saying "don't buy this jacket. They are focused on driving positive environmental change. On reducing waste - it's a "values first" campaign.

It’s why people lined up when the first Android phones arrived – even though Google had never delivered personal technology or an operating system, people understood the promise and were open to anything Google would offer. It’s why people trusted Apple with iTunes – their first foray into the music business. It’s why people will give the Apple Watch real consideration.

There’s a flipside to mutualism in the business world, and that’s the value that customers give back to businesses, and it goes beyond their hard earned cash. As valuable, and sometimes more, is customer advocacy. But even more than that - their feedback; suggestions; input. One of my favorite examples is My Starbucks Idea, a community of Starbucks customers voting on suggestions for improving the company's business. 

I begin just about any client strategy by probing into their mission - what do they stand for that adds real value to people's lives. As interesting is the question for their customers - what do YOU want to do in return, to add value back to the business?  For companies that are focused on creating value in the world, I've fond people are very willing to contribute (beyond financially). The best companies, and the best marketing, build this mutualistic relationship - benefiting both the company and the customer (two very different organisms!).

The Art of Anticipation

John Green wrote in his successful novel, Paper Towns, "the pleasure isn't in doing the thing, the pleasure is in planning it." And in Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen similarly mused, "...that sanguine expectation of happiness which is happiness itself."

These sentiments ring true for most of us, particularly if you have a family and are in the habit of planning family vacations.  The "doing" certainly can be enjoyable, but the building anticipation is a huge part of the experience.  In the months and weeks leading up to whatever you've got planned, everyone is getting really psyched up.

Of course in the day of social media sharing,  trips also become fodder for social media posts during and after the holiday (today's version of the family vacation slide show).  Memory creation and sharing is a big part of the fun, too.

But today I want to focus on the art of anticipation.

In my new role at Sparks I think a lot about creating valued experiences for audiences of an event or some kind of live activation.  I want to make sure what we deliver with our clients is perceived as really worth the attendees time.  Sometimes I forget, though, that the perception of value isn't only delivered in the day or two of an event - but that the building of anticipation is as (and maybe even more) crucial.

How can event marketers leverage anticipation in the time leading up to the event? If you think in terms of story-telling, when a writer develops a story they are often building the anticipation of the reader with an expected pay-off at the end of the dramatic arc.

 Psychologist's offer a couple of tips that I think experiential marketers can leverage:

• Leave people hanging: tease content that will be featured at the event but don't give it all away
• Create tension: highlight a conflict or issue that will be addressed at the event

Every "One More Thing" moment

You can build anticipation by setting a precedent - an expectation that something big will happen based on past events. An example of this is the famous "One More Thing" announcements that Steve Jobs would end his keynote addresses with.  This kind of kitschy dramatic trick really worked the more times he did it, getting people excited before every major speech he'd give.


Event marketers should consider building anticipation through the before-during-after of an event.

• When the attendee registers - what message are you delivering to establish that they have just registered for something that will be high value (or super fun)?
• In the time leading up to the event - how can you tease what is going to happen at the event do keep their interest?
• At the event - creating moments of anticipation and satisfying conclusion as content is delivered
• Post-event - using what happened to continue the dialog, and looking forward to the next event

As I work with clients on their event programs I starting to take the art of anticipation more seriously.  For, as told by A.A. Milne in Winnie the Pooh, "Although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were."