The Power of Vulnerability in Marketing
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The document discusses how embracing vulnerability through honesty, transparency, and showing flaws can help build stronger connections with customers. It argues that vulnerability is important for humanity but seen as a weakness for businesses. However, examples are given of companies like P&G and Domino's that were transparent about issues and saw financial gains as a result. The conclusion advocates embracing flaws as part of showing humanity to others.
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The Power of Vulnerability in Marketing
- 1. The Power of Vulnerability: Putting People Before Perfection Michael Lazerow Chief Marketing Officer Salesforce Marketing Cloud @lazerow
- 2. 2
- 3. Date #1 Date #2 3
- 4. 4
- 5. 5
- 6. 6
- 8. “Connection is why we’re all here.” -Brene Brown 8
- 9. 9 http://bit.ly/TzkbmF
- 10. “… the one thing that keeps us out of connection is our fear that we're not worthy of connection.” -Brene Brown 10
- 11. Connected people share one trait “They fully embraced vulnerability. They believed that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful.” 11
- 12. Why do we love goofy? 12 IMAGE: Copyright The Walt Disney Company
- 13. So if vulnerability is so important to humanity, why is it a dirty word in business?
- 14. 14
- 15. 15
- 16. 16
- 17. “Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.” -Mother Theresa 17
- 18. @Lazerow’s Vulnerability Dilemma 1. You need to 5. Honesty & connect with transparency consumers in are messy to a whole new most firms. way 2. Consumers 4. In order to demand be vulnerable, transparency you need to in their be honest and connections transparent. with you. 3. In order to truly connect, you need to be vulnerable. 18
- 19. @Lazerow’s Vulnerability Dilemma 1. You need to 5. Honesty & connect with transparency consumers in are messy to a whole new most firms. way 2. Consumers 4. In order to demand be vulnerable, transparency you need to in their be honest and connections transparent. with you. 3. In order to truly connect, you need to be vulnerable. 19
- 20. @Lazerow’s Vulnerability Dilemma 1. You need to 5. Honesty & connect with transparency consumers in are messy to a whole new most firms. way 2. Consumers 4. In order to demand be vulnerable, transparency you need to in their be honest and connections transparent. with you. 3. In order to truly connect, you need to be vulnerable. 20
- 21. @Lazerow’s Vulnerability Dilemma 1. You need to 5. Honesty & connect with transparency consumers in are messy to a whole new most firms. way 2. Consumers 4. In order to demand be vulnerable, transparency you need to in their be honest and connections transparent. with you. 3. In order to truly connect, you need to be vulnerable. 21
- 22. @Lazerow’s Vulnerability Dilemma 1. You need to 5. Honesty & connect with transparency consumers in are messy to a whole new most firms. way 2. Consumers 4. In order to demand be vulnerable, transparency you need to in their be honest and connections transparent. with you. 3. In order to truly connect, you need to be vulnerable. 22
- 23. @Lazerow’s Vulnerability Dilemma 1. You need to 5. Honesty & connect with transparency consumers in are messy to a whole new most firms. way 2. Consumers 4. In order to demand be vulnerable, transparency you need to in their be honest and connections transparent. with you. 3. In order to truly connect, you need to be vulnerable. 23
- 24. The Result Companies strive for perfection in a world that embraces and rewards imperfection – and do not tap into the power of vulnerability. 24
- 25. 25
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- 28. “...human nature dictates that people have a hard time genuinely connecting with, being close to, or really trusting other humans who (pretend to) have no weaknesses, flaws, or mistakes” - trendwatching.comApril 2012 Trend Briefing Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world's leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide. http://trendwatching.com/trends/flawsome/
- 29. HUMAN BRANDS Consumers turning away from bland, boring brands in favor of brands with personality. Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world's leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide. http://trendwatching.com/trends/flawsome/
- 30. TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH Consumers are benefiting from radical transparency in all aspects of their lives and expect flaws. Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world's leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide. http://trendwatching.com/trends/flawsome/
- 31. 95% Suspect censorship or fake reviews when they don’t see bad scores Source: Report titled “Bad reviews are good for busines.” Reevoo.com Jan 2012 http://bit.ly/Oz8cjL
- 32. 68% Trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores Source: Report titled “Bad reviews are good for busines.” Reevoo.com Jan 2012 http://bit.ly/Oz8cjL
- 33. 67% Higher conversion rate for consumers who seek out negative reviews Source: Report titled “Bad reviews are good for busines.” Reevoo.com Jan 2012 http://bit.ly/Oz8cjL
- 34. P&G Thanks Moms & Embraces Human Struggle
- 35. “Our consumers expect transparency, authenticity and honesty from the brands that they are purchasing.” - Irwin Lee P&G UK & Ireland Managing Director 35
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- 40. $500M+ in sales off the Olympic campaign 40
- 41. Retailers that have activated campaign with in- store displays have seen a 5%-20% sales lift for P&G products during Olympic merchandise period 41
- 42. Domino’s Admits its Pizza Sucks & Embraces Transparency
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- 46. Being vulnerable delivers results 46
- 47. Stock up 4X over competition 47
- 48. Finally, A Personal Story about Embracing Flaws
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- 51. 250,000+ views on Youtube& Facebook. 51
- 52. 180+ countries, including Madagascar, Yemen and Somalia. 52
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- 62. “probably the highest-ranking social media professional in any publicly traded company.” -Forbes Magazine, 5/29/2012 62
- 63. Clients and customers don’t remember the price tag, or the details of the deal. 63
- 64. But they were inspired by the video, and remember me for it. What’s the ROI of that? 64
- 65. The Lessons
- 68. Be generous. 68
- 69. Be flexible. 69
- 70. Don’t fear your sense of humor. 70
- 71. Don’t fear your sense of humor. (Develop one if you don’t have one) 71
- 72. Show some humanity – and your customers, employees and partners will do the same. 72
- 73. And above all else, be humble in victory. 73
- 74. Your goal is not to create flaws.
- 75. But embracing them is critical.
- 76. 76
- 77. Thank you! Contact us at www.salesforce/marketingcloud.com or: facebook.com/buddymedia @BuddyMedia/ @lazerow
Editor's Notes
- LOOK NO FURTHER THAN MY YEARBOOK PAGE FOR EVIDENCE THAT I SPENT THE FIRST 18 YEARS OF MY LIFE TRYING NOT TO BE VULNERABLE.
- I PUT THE ONLY 2 DATES I HAD ON MY PAGE … FOR MY WIFE AND KIDS TO CHERISH FOREVER!
- The lowlight is this picture of Donald Trump with the following quote next to it. “I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.” Who puts that on their high school yearbook page?
- The pressure to be perfect got to me. I actually got a stomach ulcer in high school.
- It wasn’t until college that I started to embrace the idea that “I am who I am.” It wasn’t until I was able to put myself in vulnerable positions that I actually started to live.
- The power of vulnerability has been popularized by Brené Brown, Ph.D.,a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame.Her 2010 TEDxHouston talk on the power of vulnerability is one of most watched talks on TED.com, with approximately 5 million views. In it, she talks about the power of vulnerability.
- She has spoken to thousands of people about the topic. And she makes a case that “CONNECTION” is why we’re all here.
- And we can’t enjoy what makes us special as human beings without coming to terms that we are vulnerable. And while we can’t guarantee the outcome of most actions, we’re better off trying anyone.
- And, like much of what we do, we’re our own worst enemy when it comes to connecting.
- In her research, Professor Brown found that the one shared trait of nearly everyone she met who was great at connecting was that they embraced their vulnerability.
- How did a dog who wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants that don’t fit,white gloves, and an old Fedora become a close friend of BOTH Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck? Why is this dog one of Disney's most popular characters? (Walt Disney didn't like Goofy)
- So if vulnerability is so important to humanity, why is it a dirty word in business?
- Vulnerability in business is often, if not always, seen as a weakness. I couldn’t find one example in my research of businesses using the term “vulnerable” in a positive light.
- If a company is vulnerable, a company is weak, we are told.
- Mother Theresa talks about how honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Consumers demand these traits in your business, above most else. But the only only way to truly be honest and transparent is to be OK with the idea that your business is vulnerable – you are open to attack, exposed to outside forces you can’t control. Was Mother Theresa really championing the power of vulnerability to power profits?
- We’re starting to see hints that the future is all about exposing your flaws. Trend Watching, one of the world's leading trend firms, sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide. In April 2012 it coined the term “FLAWSOME”
- How many people in here have friends who are perfect? Perfect jobs? Perfect kids? They are beautiful. Talk about how their marriages are perfect and sex is better every night? None of you. We hate perfect people. Don’t you think the same applies to brands?
- There are two trends driving this. #1. Human brands. We love brands with personality.
- And #2, what Trend Watching calls “Transparency Triumph”
- Look no further than Reevoo’s “Bed reviews are good for business” report earlier this year, that shows that the lack of negative reviews causes consumers to question the validity of all the reviews, even if many of the reviews are 100% honest and transparent.
- And they sell a lot of brands. So how do you expose what you believe?
- P&G is selling the bond between families.For P&G, the world’s largest advertiser, it’s the biggest global marketing effort in the company’s 175-year history.
- Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/p-g-s-pritchard-touts-digital-social-olympics-push/236590/
- Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/p-g-s-pritchard-touts-digital-social-olympics-push/236590/
- And the day we signed, I decided to create a personal video about death and the overwhelming feeling I had that I was so lucky to be alive and living the life I’m living.
- And above all else, be humble in victory. Tomorrow is another day and defeat is right around the corner.
- Your goal is NOT to create flaws. If you’re perfect, run with it.
- But embracing them is critical and makes good business sense.
- This is one of 2 pictures of FDR. He succesfully hid his flaws and went down as one of the greatest presidents. Would he have been even greater if the world saw his true condition?