Imagination roaming

Maybe it's because I have a good imagination, because I allow my dreams free wing, or perhaps just because I get bored easily... Whatever the reason, I can see more clearly now why I was so ready for this change of direction in my life.

I've talked in previous posts about tribes and the new movement of New Brand Tribalism I am so interested in. I've been reading more on the subject this week and am understanding why it resonates so clearly with me and my Muse. It's about not being afraid of rocking the status quo. In fact, the more you shake and disturb the better...

Take this piece of art for example. At school I was a sheep. I did what I was told unquestioningly. When Mr Bailey said paint landscapes because you're good at that and they always come up in the exam, that is exactly what I did. (There wasn't a landscape option in the exam, but that's another story!). I would never have dreamed of producing anything like this and for decades after A levels I still only ever painted landscapes. I would doubtless have been told this wasn't 'proper art'. I'm certainly more proud of this than any piece I produced at school. This is an expression of my imagination. It comes from the heart and soul. I never had the guts or even comprehension that life could be like this. I have been a sheep for far too long. I am casting off my woollen comfort blanket and running free on the fells.

Sounds a bit mad I know. I've been thinking, maybe my last job, the one I hated, was in a strange way the a good thing for my career. It required me to be a sheep and I finally realised that I was no longer capable of bleating and following tails. I want to be the wolf! I looked at the rules and I didn't believe in them any more. I like to challenge, in fact I love to challenge and I want to make a difference. I know there is another way, there are other believers not afraid to let their imagination roam and 'colour outside of the lines'.

This post was doubly inspired. The picture by Inspiration Avenue's weekly challenge - 'Imagination' and the words by Seth Godin's Tribes which I am nearly through reading. I had planned two separate posts but as I was thinking what to write about the art, the whole thing fell into place. I realised that my imagination is one of my most powerful assets. I just haven't used it enough up to now because I was too busy being a sheep.

Artwork started as acrylic on watercolour paper. I then transferred a magazine image which is the right hand side of the face. I drew in the left eye and the rest of the mouth and jaw line. I collaged and added more acrylic. I used soft and oil pastels and did a bit of printing and I flicked some paint about a bit.

Back to Seth... Have a look and listen...

Other posts on tribes:

here and here and here with more information on New Brand Tribalism here.

On tribes and drawing boards

"Despite current ads and slogans, the world doesn't change one person at a time. It changes when networks of relationships form among people who share a common cause and vision of what's possible. This is good news for those of us intent on creating a positive future. Rather than worry about critical mass, our work is to foster critical connections. We don't need to convince large numbers of people to change; instead, we need to connect with kindred spirits. Through these relationships, we will develop the new knowledge, practices, courage and commitment that lead to broad-based change."~Margaret Wheatley

I came across this quote while blog-hopping and it yelled “look at me – more on this tribalism topic you are suddenly so interested in!”. I liked the sound of this Wheatley woman so I travelled hundreds of miles to a suitably-sized academic library and spent hours researching to find out more… or did I just google?

In other work she talks about the pitfalls of the ‘same old, but better’ techniques employed by many companies when planning their business strategy or even Governments with public policy. What’s missing, she suggests is room for a creative approach, something to shake up the entrenched thinking. It’s about doing the ‘unthinkable’, being brave enough to step outside our conventional ways of working.

She had me jumping up and down in agreement there. I left my last employer for this very reason. As a right-side of brain creative thinker, I feel particularly uncomfortable with the same old, same old – particularly when it is linked with death by powerpoint presentations. Where making it ‘better’ actually meant give me more slides, with more information on a slide (that the participants already know anyway). This company was just not my tribe.

My experiences at the New Brand Tribalism workshop earlier this month gave me a reminder (as if I needed it!) that it doesn’t have to be this way.

We are no longer playing by the same rules. When I began my career in the early 1990s, if I’d come across an interesting quote by Margaret Wheatley, I would have needed some serious intent to go and research about her. Today, having stumbled upon her completely by accident, sitting in the comfort of my own home, I was then reading her articles within seconds. The world shifts. Economies shift. Business shifts. Employee relationships shift.

Scientists concur that the only building block in life is relationships. How well do you understand the relationships, or tribes, in your organisation? What social networks are building behind your back? Interesting food for thought.

Leaping about a bit (well, it’s my blog, I can do what I like!), I wanted to somehow bring these thoughts around to blogging too. When I started this back in February, I had absolutely no expectation of joining any tribes. I just thought I’d write an online diary of musings. And yet here I am, regular participant in various blog art and writing challenges, making new friends across the globe, joining in debate and offering support on topics close to my heart. We’re forming new tribes all the time and I’m more than happy to be a member of many great ones (see also new blog badge for new brand tribalism on right hand banner!).

One tribe I am still desperate to join is that of ‘selling artist’. I had a stall at the my son’s school’s festive fayre last night. Half my stand smelt sweetly of hand made soap. The other looked ‘pretty with pictures’. Perhaps the customers were just a grubby lot, because the soap sold, but the art, despite admiring glances, did not. Perhaps it was not the right market. Oh well. As they say, back to the drawing board… !

Up the revolution

Did you ever wish you were part of a revolution? Wouldn't you have loved to be pulling down walls in Berlin, dying your hair green or embracing free love?

I'm afraid I didn't do any of those things. The closest I've ever been to becoming a revolutionary was walking through Trafalgar Square about five minutes before the peacefull Poll Tax protest turned into an out and out riot, but those crucial five minutes ensured I missed even that!

But hey, you know what? I have the opportunity to be in at the beginning of something new, a trailblazer and banner waver. What? What? I hear you cry and is it legal?

Yesterday I attended a New Brand Tribalism workshop. Get used to this phrase because I believe it's going to become much more commonplace in the years ahead. Not wishing to steal the thunder of those who came up with the concept, why not pop along to their website to find out more.

In short, these clever folk believe:

"Brands don't belong to corporations anymore, they belong to the people, the customers, the employees, the media, the analysts, and the activists. We are now all part of a myriad of sub-tribes and can choose at any moment to act, to comment, to contribute, to participate, to consume - or not.

We call this new reality New Brand Tribalism™ which is the biggest challenge for companies and organisations to address when they want to manage; sustainable, responsible, relevant and successful brands in the next 5-10 years."

Tribes create a sense of belonging. Today we associate that with the brands we buy and support or even the TV programmes we watch - who has been on the X-Factor forums? You're a part of that tribe. A brand is no longer just about image and identity - culture is moving us way beyond what has always been the norm. Brands are creating association and building communities - often out of the control of the very companies themselves. In five minutes, for example, I could nip onto Facebook and create a fan site for any brand of my choosing - powerful stuff.

As I understand it, brands today stand on a tipping point. Increasingly redundant are the companies still thinking "20th century" who focused on being a complex functional organisation. Change was slow and structured. Strategy was black and white. What's happening today as the world shrinks and new markets emerge is a more fast and fluid approach that shifts with the tides and fashions. Interpretation is open, involvement from consumers and suppliers becomes an essential component of the mix. Just think of Apple - whose suppliers for their ever popular Apps are most times the very consumers they sell to. Who would have imagined this even a few years ago? This is a fundamental shift in business where we see consumers no longer buying just the product but the experience too and likewise employees are demanding more - what does it feel like to work here? What am I getting out of it? Right now we are just seeing the start... now just imagine the possibilities! What's important to remember is that after such major corrections, the world is never the same again - look what Rock n Roll did to pop music! Management of brands going forward therefore must be based on different notions.

For an internal communications professional like me this is incredibly exciting stuff which sends all my creative bells a-clanging in a deafening fashion! If companies get this right and align passion for the brand with their employees and their consumers then a bit of magic happens - what the new brand tribalists are calling the 'sweet spot' where fully engaged employees and consumers drive loyalty by building a tribe and, by default, increase business value.

It's all about creating authenticity in both your brand proposition and culture. We spend far too many hours of our week at work for it not to have some meaning for us. Bringing your employees into a tribe and creating a sense of belonging is therefore key. Work no longer has to be about turning up, getting the job done and going home. It can be much more than that. It is our job as communicators, marketeers and HR professionals to ensure that the meaning and experience our colleagues and customers take away is really something quite special.

What excites me most is how it ticks all the boxes of how I like to work, gets my creative juices positively gushing. This is all new thinking so we can invent as we go along, trying on until we see what fits and having a lot of fun in the process then adjusting and adding to keep up with the world around us. It's not prescriptive but joyfully multi-levelled, holistic and dynamic. It's never going to be about a uniform approach, one size fits all again. I can't think of a better time to be involved!

If you're interested in finding out more pop along to http://www.newbrandtribalism.com/ or contact my buddies at The Alternative.

Experiencing life

Jamie Ridler's spell around the dream pot this week invites us to announce what we wish to experience. Well, with your permission I will comply but with a little digression along the way. If it's alright with you I'd like to interpret this question from another angle. Could I perhaps discuss what I experienced today instead? It's more than one thing, so bear with me and be patient!

Today was most refreshing, invigorating, inspiring... I think you're getting the message. I was ensconced in a room surrounded by a tribe of like-minded individuals. Many of you may experience this every day but believe me, when you've been out of this environment for six months it's like finding a bar of chocolate at the back of the cupboard when you were scrabbling around in the hope of a dry biscuit at best!

I was with over 100 'new brand tribalists'; thinkers on the same wave length. I'll tell you more it tomorrow when I've time to digest and cogitate. Right now it's been a long day and I've a couple of units of very fine alcohol racing around my bloodstream, a full belly and a boyfriend that needs to be cuddled (whether he likes it or not, though as Arsenal are currently 2-0 up at half time he's in a good mood for receiving affection).

After my experiences at work these last few months, you have no idea what a breath of fresh air this has been. I met some great people today, both old acquaintances and new. My newly-sprouted wings are fairly fluttering with excitement.

So, that dear readers was experience number 1. I'd like more of this please - more exciting, forward-thinking engagement, more visionary thinking, more joining in with the revolution (cue T-Rex). It's great stuff - I promise! Come back tomorrow and read all about it!

Then, experience number 2 comes down to location location location. I was in London. Regular readers will be well aware I LOVE THIS CITY! I lived and worked her in my 20s. I miss it. Walking the crowded streets between train/tube and venue today was like filling my veins with narcotic. It was my City. It still is my City. I need to experience it again and again - I need my fix. I might not live or work there anymore but that's no excuse. It's a mere hour away by train.

The workshop I attended today was masquerading by day as a corporate venue. However, at night the Latin fairies come out and reveal its true persona. The bands arrive and beat out a Cuban rhythm; Argentines tango out their passion across the dance floor and Londoners transport themselves to Havana with a sip of Mojito. I want to go dancing, let my (short) hair down, flick up my tail feathers and.... EXPERIENCE!

If you're interested in learning about New Brand Tribalism, you might like to check out my previous posts here and here or just turn up tomorrow, notebook in hand.

Brand spanking...

I always like to put a bit of thought behind my post titles, but this one just made me smile in a naughty kind of way! Tonight, I shall mainly be blogging about... you guessed it... brands and I shall be very gentle and cuddly with them - no spanking or smacking up - the title was purely artistic licence!

This post is specifically a reaction from a rather delicious little book wot I read by those lovely chaps at Innocent. If you are unfortunate enough to be reading this blog and living in a country where you can't enjoy the world's tastiest smoothies (and thickies), then book a ticket to Europe post haste and head to the nearest food emporium. My current favourite tipple is a pomegranate, blueberry and acai superfood smoothie - rarely is anything so tasty this good for you, so make the most of it!

I won't blather on about the book because frankly if you are interested in the company then you should definitely read it. As business books go, it's about as easy and entertaining a read as you're ever going to get and, if nothing else, is guaranteed to send you out in search of the nearest smoothie before you get half way through. (Yes, I did actually make a trip to Tesco yesterday JUST to buy a carton of my fave - and ended up spending an additional £23 on various other things that just hopped in the basket, but that's another story!).

Finally we get to the point. The power of brands. One of the first words my son learnt to read was a brand name. "That's Carlsberg" he yelled from the back of the car as a lorry drove past. Before anyone reaches for the phone number of social services, the reason he was quite so familiar with a beer brand was because I worked for them at the time - we consequently had lots of branded items around the house of a non-alcoholic nature (as well as a few cans of lager) - shirts, magazines, glasses etc... Next up on the reading was Weetabix. Beer and food, looks like he's got his priorities sorted already.

He is also a big fan of Innocent though he doesn't actually know their name, but what he does understand is their brand! When the book arrived in the post and he helped me unwrap the parcel he took one look at the cover and said "that's the nice drinks people, they're really good for you Mummy, very healthy".

He's 5. He is just learning to read. He can just about manage 'in' - the 'nocent' would be a bit beyond him. He recognised the brand from the logo and plain packaging on the book cover, he understood the natural values and somehow he's picked up (from me presumably, but I don't recall mentioning it) that it's a people company. When we're in the fruit juice aisle in the supermarket he seeks out Innocent from among all the other brands and sneaks it in the trolley (it usually stays there, I let him think he's got one over on me while salivating in anticipation). Innocent conjure up an image of trendy young things hand-squeezing mangoes and mashing bananas to a soundtrack of Paolo Nutini and possibly Kid Creole and the Coconuts. Vast factories just don't figure in your smoothie dreamings (a £100m turnover probably squashes these thoughts but hey ho...).

I am sure that my son is by no means the only 5 year old evangelist of this brand and it got me thinking again about brand tribalism. Seeing as my last post on the subject was such a cop out, I'll try and weave it in here again to give my buddies at The Alternative another plug! Reading the book just reaffirmed my opinion on the guys that run this business. They refer to and pretty much treat their customers as an extended family or at the very least jolly good friends; their chieftains inspire and lead with passion and engagement is as natural as their ingredients; their history, though short is celebrated, with totems treasured (wait til you see The Tapestry); they recruit like-minded people that they know already live their values and enter whole-heartedly into the Innocent mindset. They listen to their customers and their colleagues and allow them to help form the future of the tribe - and they do all this while 'behaving themselves'. Yes, they may be a cog in the giant wheel of capitalism but their grease ensures things go a little bit smoother for those way back in the fruit & veg chain and they do their best not to leave a nasty stain on the environment (which is pretty impressive considering the amount of purple berries they use - have you ever tried to get blueberry juice out of a white t-shirt?).

Well there you go, it's getting rather late and I want to go to bed now. I can't leave this post however without my quick claim to fame. More years ago than both he or I probably care to remember, I did actually work with Adam, one of the founders of Innocent in his McKinsey consulting days. I think I may still have the wooden spoon he presented me and my team with as the worst treasure hunters on a corporate day out. We may have got lost more than anyone else but I doubt anyone else had as much fun that day... Ah memories... Remind me to tell you about the random golfer standing in a country lane we accosted and my kidnapping debacle.

New brand tribalism ... and some other stuff

This is going to be a really tough assignment. I'm about to blog on an event I attended on Wednesday knowing full well that the guys who created said event (and then proceeded to get me drunk afterwards - hic!) will be reading this with a critical eye. "Hello, by the way and great to meet you yesterday!" Before I go any further, I must tell you that I have already quizzed one of the commercial directors at work on the subject of pride as we discussed yesterday. In fact, I put him on the spot in a room packed full of new recruits eager to be inducted into the world of broadcasting. My card is no doubt now marked as a trouble maker! There the poor chap was answering nice safe questions about what his area of the business did and patiently trying to explain what a Mux is, when some smart arse in the second row asks him how challenging he believes it is to instill pride in a brand that few outside the company have heard of and is actually made up of such a complex mixture of legacy companies that sometimes it feels like working for about ten different businesses. The poor fella looked like an apprentice in headlights facing Alan Sugar in his roller. Well, perhaps that's a slight exaggeration, but he did try and bat the question in the direction of the internal communications department. "Aha," says I. "That's me! You see I think that the business is facing a real challenge in this area but it's one that we can overcome and have a lot of fun in the process". [see the man back slowly out of the room wondering why he ever agreed to present at induction...]. Was fun. We had a very nice chat later and I was not quite as bossy as this may sound and nor was he in fact the slightest bit scared! This tone may be because I have just watched Mr Sugar's mates grilling the poor candidates on the Apprentice and boinged straight from TV to PC. Curses to my company though. Having missed the programme on Wednesday, I thought I would watch it on Catch Up TV naively believing I could somehow avoid discovering who left the show with their tail between their legs. Naturally this was not to be as I wandered into some sort of TV monitoring studio at work to see the three of them appearing on This Morning with the newsly skinny Fern and dashingly silver Phil. Tish!

As an aside, I'm a bit worried about the sadistic nature of my company. They put people in dark rooms for 12 hours a day and force them to watch daytime TV, poker and Eurosport.

Speaking of being ensconced in a dark room all day, perhaps I should return to the original point of my post. It was actually a real joy to spend my Wednesday with such like-minded thinkers and believers. Creative people are good for the soul dear readers. I advise you all to hang around these right-brained thinkers.

Tribes... that's what we talked about, more specifically new brand tribalism. It's about recognising the basic need to belong whether as an allegiance to a football team or a bunch of engineers who fit transmitters. How do these tribes behave and how can we use them to form the right culture for our business? They brought the theory to life with an inspirational case study from Lynn Arrowsmith -Head of Internal Brand, Communication & Culture at Orange. But do you know what, I'm not going to write anything else about the day because I guess that would defeat the point. The team at The Alternative are developing some great new ideas for communication, engagement and culture. Why not let them tell you all about it and experience for yourselves some of their drive, energy and creativity!