Herd - the hidden truth about who we are

Billie Piper, Sir?

You fancy her, don't you? Don't you, Sir? Billie Piper, Sir? 

Rose is back properly (Correction) shortly (but if you were paying attention) you saw it here first. 

)

More neurononsense

Hat tip to Gareth: 

Nice piece in Wired touching on misuse of neuroscience technology...

Unlike the speech I did a couple years ago at the 4As- Herd fans might remember that it got me into a bit of trouble - this one is written by a real live doctor who knows what he's talking about (but it's essentially the same argument) 

Love the headline ("Brainscans as mindreaders? Don't believe the hype") but think this comment sums up what you need to know about neuromarketing today

"Biomedical imaging methods such as fMRI, PET, SPECT, MEG, and TMS are useful tools for basic research...(but) Like any technological breakthrough, functional imaging technology has the potential to be abused by entrepreneurs who take advantage of people in need"

The HERDMEISTER in the Big A

Pic c/o Gadget

While I was in NYC recently, I did this video with the ChiefJuicer, the delightful and award-winning John Kearon of Brainjuicer - just me and him and a couple of cameras operated by the lovely and talented Sacha of Scribemedia.

Have a look and see what you think - if you're like me you'll find it hard to watch yourself...but I think it shows that at least we enjoyed ourselves

How stuff spreads (4) the bottle-glass trick

Great new format for a breakfast meeting yesterday - hosted by the redoubtable Steve Moore.

Interesting chats by Jeremy, Kevin and Matt, each attempting to define "what's next?" in their respective worlds. Lots of great insights and ideas. Wish I'd had a tape running.

That said, the story that stays with me is one Matt told of some current work C4 are doing about how teenagers are using media today.

Seems one girl the researchers were following was hanging out online doing amongst other things a spot of the hi-speed Instant Messaging that only the young can really manage for any length of time.

She had sorted all her contacts into 6-7 or seven groups - schoolfriends, family etc but also "bitches" "wankers" and so on. What was striking though was the way in which she switched contacts between the groups in real time. Even if the members of her different social networks remained mostly consistent over the short term, their roles were in constant flux. And those are just the small set of folk she is in regular contact with regularly...

Something to bear in mind the next time you here talk about how stuff spreads through social networks and how there are some folk through whom information and influence flows. If only it was that simple...

In reality, it's like watching the great Tommy Cooper do - in his inimitable shambolic stylee - the trick here.

Things are - or seem to be- constant motion...whenever you lift the cover, the thing you expect is not there. Bottle or glass?

If you're going to San Francisco...

photo by Robert W Klein @ AP photo

...in July make sure you join Piers and his merry band on July 17 2008 at Fort Mason for another PSFK jamboree (not quite a free festival, sorry).

Speakers booked so far: Adrian Ho, Zeus Jones; Andrew Hoppin, NASA; Chris Riley, Apple; Ed Cotton, Influx Insights; Eric Ryan, Method; Jean-Marie Shields, Starbucks; Mark Lewis, DDB; Rohit Bhargava, Ogilvy PR.

Cool peeps, cool topics (where technology, sustainability and start-up culture meet).

Almost worth going all that way just for that, methinks

How things spread (3) puppetmasters all

pic c/o puppetsinmelbourne

Just a thought:

Most folk I've worked with are happy to go looking for the new and the emergent and possibly significant from the young and the unspeakably leading edge before it becomes big and popular and yet the same grateful professionals seem to believe that behaviours they see in the mass of the population (in the mainstream, if you like) can only arise arises from what they (marketers, politicians, managers) have done.

We, up here in the Big Chairs, like to think that it's what we do to the little people out there that makes the difference, that without us nothing much will happen.

Like we're actually puppetmasters, pulling the strings.

Just like the popular (and not so popular) press fears.

Oh, if only...

Truth is, most things spread without us and the best that most managers, marketers and politicians can do is work with the underlying dynamics. Understanding and describing these is the real challenge now for folk doing strategy of all sorts - assuming the world works without us and the best we can do is work with
the ordinary folk out there who shape it together.

Of course, the mistake they/we make is claiming responsibility for the good stuff; seems fair that we take the rap for things that are bugger all to do with us, I guess...I suspect this might turn out to be a large part of the Gordon problem.

A message to you...

Whatever you think about the recent election competition for the Mayor of London job and whatever you think of either the winning or losing candidates, the most striking thing of the aftermath is the kneejerk default of spokespeople of the defeated Labour Party:

"we're not getting our message across..."

Again and again I've heard it in the last few days, the same few words.

Bet you've heard this any number of times before though, from disappointed managers, marketers as well as politicians: "The message" and "getting it across".

As if what shaped behaviour was "messages" and their transmission from one person to another.

As if it was just a matter of finding the right information and sending it - like an arrow through the air - to hit the right person...and that'd be enough to change things

What kind of bonkers model of mass behaviour is this?

Oh, yes that's the one that we in the communications world've been using for ever...that presumes we humans are mere information processing units....

As if messages ever changed anything...

As if audiences were passive...

As if it's what we in marketing or politics or management do to people out there...

Today's free gift: go here to hear the original version of the song in the picture, here to here the more famous Two Tone cover featured and here for Shane and the boys' effort

BTW Think Iain's piece on experience has some important clues as how experience might do the job we've been pushing on messages