I’m not talking about weaponized tuberculosis. I’m talking about reimagining the way people and brands interact: One person, one brand and one interaction at a time.
I was inspired to blog about this idea after listening to the latest Freakonomics Podcast that talks about the hugely popular Pandora Radio and the fascinating new education model, School of One, currently being piloted in New York. Both services are designed to ‘learn’ more and more about the user (listener or student) the more he or she engages with it. Through a simple ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ feedback system, each service becomes increasingly tailored to the type of music or learning style that best suits the individual. Facebook’s (controversial) advertising interface utilizes a similar approach, and iAd is poised to take mobile advertising to the next level when it is unveiled as part of the new iPhone operating system.
Where does that leave us? Man, where do I start?!? The possibilities are endless! The more we learn (and continue to learn) about our customers needs, wants, hopes and dreams for healthcare solutions, the better we can expose them to the brands that meet the needs of their practice and, ultimately, better serve their patients. Tablet PC detailing and health resources like Epocrates and WebMD have dipped their proverbial toes in the customized waters, but this is only the very beginning – a glimmer of the huge waves that will rock the one-man boats of the medical community.
As we strive to liberate brands from the ties that bind them, we should always remember that individuality is at the heart of personal choice. The more we learn about our customers’ individual differences, the more we can differentiate our brands in the marketplace.
Universal communications that last (and last and last and last…)
There’s a time and place for everything and healthcare brands are no exception. The needs of the medical community are in constant flux and require our brands to continually adapt and evolve to meet ever-changing needs. Its easy for creative teams to get stuck in the insular world of the products they serve on a day-to-day (and night-to-night) basis, but in order to be a true brand liberator, we have to look above and beyond these worlds. Often, that means seeking inspiration from novels, magazines, TV or the far less regulated world of general consumer advertising – but that’s not enough…not nearly enough.
If we limit our source of inspiration (thereby limiting our thinking) to communicating in the world we live in today, we are forgetting about an enormous (and enormously rich) paradigm that can open our minds to provocative solutions for cutting through the ever-increasing clutter in the marketplace.
In 2006, the US Dept. of Energy was trying to deal with the problem of creating new universal warnings for radiation from nuclear waste. The waste is considered dangerous for 10,000 years and if you stop and think about it, well, there’s a really high likelihood that our civilization will be replaced (perhaps several times over) during that relatively large window of time. Take a look at this story and imagine the kind of mind expanding thought that this creative panel had to engage in to create the most universal, timeless communication they could dream up.
Just because your brand lives in a specific time and place today (or in the near future), you’re thinking isn’t stuck there. When you’re breaking down limits in the name of brand liberation, don’t forget to take down time. You can start by taking off your watch…
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