Challenging your belief or stance

Beliefs are the makeup of our knowledge, views, culture and norms. As individuals or tribes, our actions are a direct translation of our beliefs. For example, you shake hands with another stranger as a belief of goodwill (I hope at least on your part). Brands try to shape your beliefs about them through advertising and other marketing activities.

It is a fact that we depend a lot on our beliefs and took it for granted. Questioning your beliefs can be fundamentally unnerving. Post September 11, it took a while for Americans to change their beliefs about homeland security. Beliefs are sometimes radically shaped by circumstance. Here are some beliefs that have been shaped over the last decade.

1) Commercialization of space travel. Virgin Galactic
2) Electronic books changing the entire publishing industry.
3) Consumers telling brands what to do.
4) You can make a living out of publishing your life online.
5) Designer office chairs that can cost up to S$2,000 each.

You can probably think of more.

Your beliefs or stance of the world is a powerful subconscious inner voice that guides and alters your decisions and actions. At the same time, altering these deep seated beliefs can potentially impact your lives. One of the most powerful result of changing your beliefs is to solve difficult sticky situations and problems. Relationships, careers and health. Taking a alternative discourse to solve them. In short, changing your stance for the better.

In the book Integrative Thinking, Roger Martin challenge readers to review and change your stance. Has it stifled your thinking and vision? If it is, probably time to reassess and think about reshaping it. Your own beliefs might be the single greatest barrier and tool for creative thinking. In the business world, changing stance can help deliver better experiences for customers or tribes. For example, if we change our beliefs that a hair salon can do more than hair related services, this business model will not look for other complementary services like pedicure and manicure services.

Engaging a coach might be a possible avenue. Here is Enrico Varella & Associates where change development is carefully shaped and mentored in the hands of experts.

Please leave your comments, if any.

What can being plain and simple do for your brand?

You probably know some of them pretty well. Muji, UNIQLO and even some FMCG brands found in supermarket have taken into it. Plain, simple without the thrills and spills of loud and colorful designs. Did our sub-conscious mind just hit the refresh button (F5)? What can we learn from this?

Plain can be a platform for promoting consumer self expression!

In my previous blog, I wrote about consumer these days wanting to self express. Having a plain brand fits here. Consumers are able to mix and match their own style to create their own. Consumers are self branding with no brands. Their combination is only limited by their creativity. Are you allowing your customers enough room to create? Probably you did. Do drop some hints, Asians customers need bigger nudges on creativity. This has again given opportunity for SKIN companies who are pimping up your 'plain looking' laptops and mobile phones. DELL has recently gotten into skin designs too.

Simple is the new LOUD
Lets imagine this scenario. Say you are scanning your eyes through the supermarket shelves trying to pick up your pack of BBQ Pringles for your stay home movie tonight. You are busy hunting for it. With Pringles trademark design, you probably can find it with an eye close if not for the clutter of other chips fighting for your attention with their fanciful packaging. While your eye sweeps, you chance upon a plain packaging that stood out from the rest. Minimal graphics, lots of white space, simple and plain colors. A 'relief from the shelve 'fireworks'. You may not pick it up and buy it but it may have successfully 'eye park' you for extra 2 seconds as compared to other brands just because it is plain and different. Kettle Chips is one good example of applying this principle. Even their packaging material feels different and premium. Nudie from Oz is another good example.  Plain to them means simple, fresh and higher prices.

With these principles in mind, doing less visually might just be doing more for your brand. Other sensory dimensions of the brand might need to compensate for this. Kettle Chips did so with its packaging material and premium pricing. Bottom line, your customers still need to get the intent about your brand, if not plain can mean plainly stupid.  Differentiation might not be as hard as it seems. Consult your brand consultant for some insights and ideas. It might be not as complicated as you think. Think different.