TEDGlobal 2012
Tim Leberecht: 3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand
Filmed:
Readability: 5.2
1,029,270 views
The days are past (if they ever existed) when a person, company or brand could tightly control their reputation -- online chatter and spin mean that if you're relevant, there's a constant, free-form conversation happening about you that you have no control over. Tim Leberecht offers three big ideas about accepting that loss of control, even designing for it -- and using it as an impetus to recommit to your values.
Tim Leberecht - Business romantic
A humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work. Full bio
A humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
Companies are losing control.
0
642
3160
00:19
What happens on Wall Street
1
3802
1605
00:21
no longer stays on Wall Street.
2
5407
2331
00:23
What happens in Vegas ends up on YouTube. (Laughter)
3
7738
3886
00:27
Reputations are volatile. Loyalties are fickle.
4
11624
4216
00:31
Management teams seem increasingly
5
15840
2576
00:34
disconnected from their staff. (Laughter)
6
18416
3024
00:37
A recent survey said that 27 percent of bosses believe
7
21440
3525
00:40
their employees are inspired by their firm.
8
24965
2644
00:43
However, in the same survey, only four percent
9
27609
2147
00:45
of employees agreed.
10
29756
2443
00:48
Companies are losing control
11
32199
2050
00:50
of their customers and their employees.
12
34249
3642
00:53
But are they really?
13
37891
2250
00:56
I'm a marketer, and as a marketer, I know
14
40141
3297
00:59
that I've never really been in control.
15
43438
3027
01:02
Your brand is what other people say about you
16
46465
2643
01:05
when you're not in the room, the saying goes.
17
49108
3195
01:08
Hyperconnectivity and transparency allow companies
18
52303
4131
01:12
to be in that room now, 24/7.
19
56434
2881
01:15
They can listen and join the conversation.
20
59315
2475
01:17
In fact, they have more control over the loss of control
21
61790
3200
01:20
than ever before.
22
64990
2390
01:23
They can design for it. But how?
23
67380
3050
01:26
First of all, they can give employees and customers more control.
24
70430
3566
01:29
They can collaborate with them on the creation of ideas,
25
73996
3396
01:33
knowledge, content, designs and product.
26
77392
3378
01:36
They can give them more control over pricing,
27
80770
2448
01:39
which is what the band Radiohead did
28
83218
1960
01:41
with its pay-as-you-like online release of its album
29
85178
3074
01:44
"In Rainbows." Buyers could determine the price,
30
88252
2948
01:47
but the offer was exclusive, and only stood for a limited period of time.
31
91200
4850
01:51
The album sold more copies than previous releases of the band.
32
96050
3959
01:55
The Danish chocolate company Anthon Berg
33
100009
3197
01:59
opened a so-called "generous store" in Copenhagen.
34
103206
3182
02:02
It asked customers to purchase chocolate
35
106388
2419
02:04
with the promise of good deeds towards loved ones.
36
108807
3499
02:08
It turned transactions into interactions,
37
112306
2914
02:11
and generosity into a currency.
38
115220
2553
02:13
Companies can even give control to hackers.
39
117773
2961
02:16
When Microsoft Kinect came out,
40
120734
2451
02:19
the motion-controlled add-on to its Xbox gaming console,
41
123185
4151
02:23
it immediately drew the attention of hackers.
42
127336
2936
02:26
Microsoft first fought off the hacks, but then shifted course
43
130272
3893
02:30
when it realized that actively supporting the community
44
134165
2863
02:32
came with benefits.
45
137028
1759
02:34
The sense of co-ownership, the free publicity,
46
138787
3236
02:37
the added value, all helped drive sales.
47
142023
3017
02:40
The ultimate empowerment of customers
48
145040
2329
02:43
is to ask them not to buy.
49
147369
3093
02:46
Outdoor clothier Patagonia encouraged prospective buyers
50
150462
3927
02:50
to check out eBay for its used products
51
154389
2969
02:53
and to resole their shoes before purchasing new ones.
52
157358
3567
02:56
In an even more radical stance against consumerism,
53
160925
3238
03:00
the company placed a "Don't Buy This Jacket"
54
164163
2093
03:02
advertisement during the peak of shopping season.
55
166256
3500
03:05
It may have jeopardized short-term sales,
56
169756
2802
03:08
but it builds lasting, long-term loyalty
57
172558
2654
03:11
based on shared values.
58
175212
2170
03:13
Research has shown that giving employees more control
59
177382
3220
03:16
over their work makes them happier and more productive.
60
180602
3769
03:20
The Brazilian company Semco Group famously
61
184371
2969
03:23
lets employees set their own work schedules
62
187340
2670
03:25
and even their salaries.
63
190010
2012
03:27
Hulu and Netflix, among other companies,
64
192022
2271
03:30
have open vacation policies.
65
194293
2452
03:32
Companies can give people more control,
66
196745
2918
03:35
but they can also give them less control.
67
199663
4272
03:39
Traditional business wisdom holds that trust
68
203935
2747
03:42
is earned by predictable behavior,
69
206682
2709
03:45
but when everything is consistent and standardized,
70
209391
2645
03:47
how do you create meaningful experiences?
71
212036
2923
03:50
Giving people less control might be a wonderful way
72
214959
3467
03:54
to counter the abundance of choice
73
218426
2262
03:56
and make them happier.
74
220688
1682
03:58
Take the travel service Nextpedition.
75
222370
2813
04:01
Nextpedition turns the trip into a game,
76
225183
3205
04:04
with surprising twists and turns along the way.
77
228388
3572
04:07
It does not tell the traveler where she's going
78
231960
1824
04:09
until the very last minute, and information is provided
79
233784
3069
04:12
just in time. Similarly, Dutch airline KLM
80
236853
3983
04:16
launched a surprise campaign, seemingly randomly
81
240836
3185
04:19
handing out small gifts to travelers
82
244021
2792
04:22
en route to their destination.
83
246813
2162
04:24
U.K.-based Interflora monitored Twitter
84
248975
2833
04:27
for users who were having a bad day,
85
251808
2510
04:30
and then sent them a free bouquet of flowers.
86
254318
4091
04:34
Is there anything companies can do to make
87
258409
2013
04:36
their employees feel less pressed for time? Yes.
88
260422
3107
04:39
Force them to help others.
89
263529
2925
04:42
A recent study suggests that having employees complete
90
266454
3334
04:45
occasional altruistic tasks throughout the day
91
269788
2811
04:48
increases their sense of overall productivity.
92
272599
4069
04:52
At Frog, the company I work for, we hold internal
93
276668
3669
04:56
speed meet sessions that connect old and new employees,
94
280337
4601
05:00
helping them get to know each other fast.
95
284938
2960
05:03
By applying a strict process, we give them less control,
96
287898
3322
05:07
less choice, but we enable more and richer social interactions.
97
291220
4734
05:11
Companies are the makers of their fortunes,
98
295954
2856
05:14
and like all of us, they are utterly exposed to serendipity.
99
298810
4263
05:18
That should make them more humble, more vulnerable
100
303073
3605
05:22
and more human.
101
306678
2820
05:25
At the end of the day, as hyperconnectivity
102
309498
2846
05:28
and transparency expose companies' behavior
103
312344
2310
05:30
in broad daylight, staying true to their true selves
104
314654
3634
05:34
is the only sustainable value proposition.
105
318288
3551
05:37
Or as the ballet dancer Alonzo King said,
106
321839
2645
05:40
"What's interesting about you is you."
107
324484
3010
05:43
For the true selves of companies to come through,
108
327494
3054
05:46
openness is paramount,
109
330548
2631
05:49
but radical openness is not a solution,
110
333179
2992
05:52
because when everything is open, nothing is open.
111
336171
3410
05:55
"A smile is a door that is half open and half closed,"
112
339581
4917
06:00
the author Jennifer Egan wrote.
113
344498
2054
06:02
Companies can give their employees and customers
114
346552
2580
06:05
more control or less. They can worry about how much
115
349132
3487
06:08
openness is good for them, and what needs to stay closed.
116
352619
3658
06:12
Or they can simply smile, and remain open
117
356277
4241
06:16
to all possibilities.
118
360518
1617
06:18
Thank you. (Applause)
119
362135
4111
06:22
(Applause)
120
366246
2955
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tim Leberecht - Business romanticA humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work.
Why you should listen
In his book The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself, Tim Leberecht invites us to rediscover romance, beauty and serendipity by designing products, experiences, and organizations that "make us fall back in love with our work and our life." The book inspired the creation of the Business Romantic Society, a global collective of artists, developers, designers and researchers who share the mission of bringing beauty to business. Now running strategy consulting firm Leberecht & Partners, he was previously the chief marketing officer at NBBJ, a global design and architecture firm, and at Frog Design. He also co-founded the "15 Toasts" dinner series that creates safe spaces for people to have conversations on difficult topics.
More profile about the speakerTim Leberecht | Speaker | TED.com