December 29, 2010

The Human Factor

It's not long ago that Leo Burnett published a new book called "The Human Kind". The book presents several campaigns done for McDonald, Nike, Heineken, Canon and World Wildlife Fund. All which had a certain impact and touchdown moments in regards to active participation with the consumer. 

I like the introductory video related to the book so much that I want to share it. The video focus on participation, "Acts not ads", which first and foremost is about connectivity. This brings me back to yesterdays posting of "11 consumer trends for 2011"where trend nr. 9 is categorized as "Planned Spontaneity" ("'expect to see consumers in 2011 rushing to sign up to services (the PLANNED part) that allow for endless and almost effortless mass mingling") The video itself gives you a feeling of something instant and it points elegantly towards humans as individuals with individual experiences against the framework of a fragmented and connected world. And most importantly our vulnerability. 

It is a lot of focus on emotional marketing these days; like we woke up recently and found out we forgot about the human factor. It's always been there, but in the near past we may have gone astray a little in our quest for digital global domination. It's like we all got a little "pixelated" in every walk of life. It's just an observation and only one point of view: The more digital and technological advanced our world becomes, the more obvious will our vulnerability as humans appear; from our mortality to our ability to make mistakes. But as humans we also have the unique ability to dream, smile, make miracles happen and....connect. This is what makes us special; the human kind. Writing about this subject made me think of a classic;  Bjork's "Human Behavior" from 1993, which has been around for quite a while for all marketers, and Bjork points her finger right at it in her lyrics:

"....to get involved in the exchange
Of human emotions is ever so satisfying"

 
Bjork - "Human Behavior" 1993


View Leo Burnett's video: "The Human Kind"

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