The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer

“The job of leadership today is not
just to make money. It is to make
meaning.” – John Hagel

The pyramid
is a cube

Self-
actualization
Self-esteem
Sense of belonging
Safety needs
Physiological needs
The pyramid
is a cube

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse.

“In the old days, brands
wanted everybody to pay
attention to them.
Now brands need to pay
attention to everybody else.”
- Anonymous

Your brand is what other
people say about you
when you’re not in the
room.

A brand is a small town
that never sleeps.

The conversation
is the message.

“Brands must have
an argument to win.”
– John Battelle

“There’s something unique about the human voice
that sets conversations apart from all other forms of communications:
the ability to create empathy by tonality. We can feel and we can
express empathy because of the way a voice sounds, both in verbal and
written acts of communication. That’s why an authentic style is substantial
in engaging people in conversations.”
- Washio Kazuhiko

Empathy vs.
knowledge

Creative
convergence

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.

Vibrational attunement
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4121100569
/

The world is small.
Life is short.

Micro-cars

Only 48 seats

Only 48 seats

Only 48 seats

Only 48 seats

Shorter
Hyper-
attention
connectivity
spans
Economy of
micro-scale
Miniaturization of Hyper-
content, products, transparency
and services
Only 48 seats of
Fragmentation
demand and
supply

When your brand is a
vector, your base becomes
a movement.

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.
3 Activate your customers.

“Brands aren’t defined by campaigns
anymore, but by the consumer ecosystems
we nurture to support them.”
-Mike Mendenhall, CMO, Hewlett-Packard

Mash-up ergo sum

The more control you give up,
the more influence you gain.

Marketing Hardware Marketing Software
Brand architecture Live brands
Messages Conversations
Sales brochures Endorsements
Feature lists Expertise
Destination sites Distributed/social web
Tradeshows Mobile applications
Trademarks Goodwill
Pull Push
Packaging Revelations
Out-of-the-box Insights
Status Experience
Point-of-sale Point-of-views
Closed Open-source
Look and feel Interaction
Direct mailing Connections
Billboards/ads Customer service
Print collateral Widgets
………. ……….

If you have something to show, hide it!

Create a new reality

Activate dormant networks

Social content

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.
3 Activate your customers.
4 Think and act like a media company.

“The first rule of the Fight Club: Don’t talk about the Fight Club.”

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.
3 Activate your customers.
4 Think and act like a media company.
5 Give more than you take.

“Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
To gain influence and status, you have to give away your
expertise and content. And you must do it quickly; if you don’t,
someone else will beat you to the punch – and garner the credit
that might have been yours.” – Gary Hamel

“You make a living by what you get.
You make a life by what you give.”
– Winston Churchill

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.
3 Activate your customers.
4 Think and act like a media company.
5 Give more than you take.
6 Be the change.

“Giving is the New Taking, and Sharing is the New Giving.”
– Trendwatching

Free sharing of
abundance vs.
monetizing
scarcity

“If a for-profit company did the type of work that non-profits often do, but did it more
efficiently, would people trust it the same way they trust non-profits? What if
everything the company did was completely transparent? What if it was open
source? If we can create this kind of company, and succeed, how many other
companies would follow our example? Along the way, could we change the face of
the business world itself?”

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.
3 Activate your customers.
4 Think and act like a media company.
5 Give more than you take.
6 Be the change.
7 Be yourself.

Authenticity
trumps image

“It has to be based on truth. Has to have a sense of wonder.
You must bring something to it that no one else has because of who you are.
What’s interesting about you is you.”
– Alonzo King

The Seven Rules of the
Chief Meaning Officer
1 Listen and converse (and converge).
2 Atomize your brand.
3 Activate your customers.
4 Think and act like a media company.
5 Give more than you take.
6 Be the change.
7 Be yourself.

Adapt Transparent Open Mi
ive cro
Conversations Everything is visible
Easy to join Content
instead of messages to everyone
The more you
Easy to co-
Feedback = creation share, the more you Distribution
create/hack
will receive
Permanent beta Authenticity Easy to share Timing
Only 48 seats

SOCIAL PERSONAL DRAMATIC DISRUPTIVE RESPONSIBLE
Team
Connecting Only for you Making sense Making you think Doing good
Community Customizable Cohesion Provocation Citizenship
Belonging Relevant Convergence Divergence Social responsibility
Identity Actionable Morale Deconstruction Eco-friendliness
Like-minded User-friendly Consistency Surprise Ethics
Affinity Direct Empathy Shock Human rights
New people Instant Imagination Unlikelihood Values
Status Micro Entertainment Challenge Family
Compassion Interactive Cultural relevance Uniqueness Nation
Fun Characters Attention Common Good
Love Suspense Immediacy Earth
Friendship Comedy
Hobbies Tragedy
Fans Identification
Marketing with meaning
Social networks One-to-one marketing Ads (print, TV, radio, web) Ads (print, TV, radio, web) Donations
Social media User-generated content Viral campaigns Micro-blogs Cause-related marketing
Viral campaigns PoS Books Push-communications Non-profit/profit partnerships
Events Permission-based Branded entertainment Viral campaigns Code of Conduct
Community Blogs/Micro-blogs Guerilla/ambush marketing Community service/volunteering
User-generated content User-generated content
Flash mobs
PoS

The desire to connect

tim.leberecht@frogdesign.com
http://www.frogdesign.com
http://designmind.frogdesign.com
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http://twitter.com/timleberecht