Designing marketing for networks of non-rational people, based on the work of Daniel Kahneman, Mark Earls, Alex Bently and Paul Omerod

1. Planning For Networks
Graeme Wood

2. What are Media?
MIT Exec: “you can call it anything you like, as long as you don’t use
‘computers’ or ‘communications’”
Negroponte: “how about ‘Media’”
MIT Exec: “You mean like newspapers and Madison Avenue? Yuck, all yours”
Nicholas Negroponte on naming MIT MediaLab, 1981

3. What are Media?
The MIT Media Lab applies an unorthodox research approach to envision the
impact of emerging technologies on everyday life—technologies that promise
to fundamentally transform our most basic notions of human capabilities.
Unconstrained by traditional disciplines, Lab designers, engineers, artists, and
scientists work atelier-style, conducting more than 350 projects that range from
neuroengineering, to how children learn, to developing the city car of the
future. Lab researchers foster a unique culture of learning by doing, developing
technologies that empower people of all ages, from all walks of life, in all
societies, to design and invent new possibilities for themselves and their
communities.

4. What are Media?
From
To

5. But why stop there…….
"Mixed Media: Oil on Canvas"
So the media used are oil and canvas.
And by looking at what is left when you remove the oil
and the canvas, you can see what they were
intermediating
In this case, nothing physical
They are intermediating a person's view of the world and
place in a culture
Michael Faraday discovered the theory of electromagnetism
His discoveries were of little practical use at the time, as they
were just theories
He gave them practical application by building the first
electric motor
He intermediated them
This gave people access to his work, without having to
understand his theory
The electric motor is a medium for his knowledge
NB. These analogies borrowed from Dr Cesar Hidalgo, MIT Media Lab

6. Media = Content + Community
Idea
+
People
=
Transmission

7. Advertising is the last thing you should do
Brands
promote
stories
Ideas that
solve
problems
Brands
promote
stories
Communities that
tell stories
Brands
promote
stories

8. Content is a medium, not a message
Apes don’t groom to look pretty, they do it to bond
Humans don’t tell stories for aesthetic reasons
We do it to bond

9. Content is a means, not an end
Content’s not king. If you were going to a
desert island & you had the choice of
taking your friends or your DVDs,
you’d take your friends. If you didn’t,
we’d call you a sociopath. Content isn’t
king, content is just something to talk
about
Cory Doctorow
Social networks are about people, not content
The opportunity is to create something to talk about

10. Ideas are spread by people through networks
Strong ties
Weak ties

11. Collaboration is our evolutionary advantage

12.
How Networks of People Make Decisions

13. We are super social apes
We form tribes around shared interests
We change our behaviour by copying others
We rely on other opinions to guide our own

14. Mapping: Different directions for
different decisions
Copying
System 1
(subconscious)
System 2
(conscious)
Individual

15. System 1 vs System 2

16. Individual vs Social

17. How Networks of People Make Decisions
Copying
Is
Human
(adult)
Does
Is
People I know
People like
me
Human
(Infant)
System 1
(subconscious)
Behavioural
Economics
Does
People I want
to be like
System 2
(conscious)
Nudging
and UX
Design
NeoClassical
Economics
Individual
AIDA Marketing

18. How Networks of People Make Decisions
Copying
Is
Human
(adult)
Does
Is
People I
know
People like
me
Human
(Infant)
System 1
(subconscious)
Behavioural
Economics
Does
People I want
to be like
System 2
(conscious)
Nudging
and UX
Design
NeoClassical
Economics
Individual
AIDA Marketing

19. Pulling apart social decision-making
Copying
Unconscious
copying
Conscious
copying
System 1
(subconscious)
System 2
(conscious)
Unconscious
thinking
Conscious
thinking
Individual

20. Different models for different categories
Copying
Fashion
Cars
System 1
(subconscious)
System 2
(conscious)
FMCG
Insurance
Individual

21. Mapping categories by social behaviour
“This is a brand for me” (Category
average)
Fashion
Music
Car
Shoes
House
Holiday
Mobile
Newspaper
Jewelry
PC
Coffee
Cosmetics
Flights
Wine
Purchase Frequency
Beer
Supermarket
Cereal
Deodorant
Credit
Card
Milk
Bank Acct
Detergent
Insurance
Mortgage

22. Marketing paradigms by category
Copying
Highly visible social cues
Low level of rational
thought
Social cues linked to
value. Rational processing
linked to cost
System 1
System 2
Low social cues
Branding offers a
substitute for actual
popularity
No social cues
Begrudging rational
thought
Individual

23. Role of friends, acquaintances and experts
Copying
Weak tie network copying
1. People I know
2. People like me
3. People I would like to
be like
System 1
Classical purchase funnel
decision making. Social at
awareness level (eg
aspiring to status
symbols). Strong tie
networks an influence on
purchase
System 2
Low interest in product,
so network spread
requires aligning brand to
a related category that
people do care about
Influence by experts and
people we don’t know (eg
review sites).
Individual

24. Navigating by the map – Media imperatives
Copying
Media Creation
Media Distribution
The brand is a part of the cultural
category it operates in, so product
news is inherently spreadable.
Friends are a key source of influence
Eg: ASOS, Burberry, Converse
High value purchases that define how a
user portrays herself to the world. Media
dramatises the brand lifestyle, and
product fans are a media channel.
Eg. Audi, Xperia, KLM
Conscious
Unconscious
High frequency, low value, habitual
purchases. Few category cues to copy, so
advertising is a proxy for actual popularity.
Low product interest/high category interest
means media should be made in partnership
with the things people do care about.
Eg; Peroni, Cravendale, Coke
Media Partnership
Low frequency purchase, but in market for
short time: hence begrudging rational
thought. Low product differentiation. Experts
are a key source of influence, therefore are
the media that should be optimised. Eg.
AMEX, Money Supermarket
Media Optimisation
Learning

25. Navigating the Map – role of media and community
Copying
Product focus
Entertainment
Brand already has a
role in consumers’
interest
Unconscious
Brand offers
social value
Existing
Community
Created
Community
Brand finds a role in consumer
interest via partners
Inherent in
culture
Lifestyle/
Aspiration focus
Utility
Learning
Brand offers
rational/price value
Inherent in
product
Conscious

26. Implications for marketing
Advertising
Strong Ties
Weak Ties
Experts
PR
Reviews
Price
Conscious
Copying
Aspirational
emotive cues –
lower weights
required to
maintain
popularity
Practical rather
than social
impact (more
relevant inmarket)
Purchase and
usage help
define personal
brand
People like me
> actual
expertise
Limited role in
generating
awareness or
trust without
greater
personalization
Reading
reviews:
practical >
social. Leaving
reviews, social >
practical
(Audi, VW,
Skoda are the
same car/
different badge)
Conscious
Thinking
Low levels of
category
awareness give
ads a key role in
shortlisting –
but awareness !
= trust
Actively request
information
from known
experts
Social stigma
attached to
seeking
information
personally:
limited role of
Twitter
Huge
importance –
either genuine
experts or
forums
Primary role in
awareness and
shortlisting preresearch
Key in defining
perception of
post-purchase.
Importance
dependent on
category
Low level of
category
interest makes
pricing the
default
discriminator
Unconscious
Copying
Largely used for
speed of
spread, or to
create stories
for catalysts
Belonging to a
tribe, and
projecting a
personal brand
(as part of that
tribe)
The source of
cues to copy
May be tribe
catalysts -
May be tribe
catalysts
May be tribe
catalysts
n/a
Unconscious
Thinking
Lack of other
social cues
means
advertising is a
powerful but
expensive proxy
for popularity
Post-purchase Potential to
generate low
level loss
aversion by
switching
Almost entirely
media-based –
eg celeb chef
Journalist and
blogger impact
limited to
category fans,
with limited
potential to
spread further
n/a
The default for
this sector
n/a

27. Role of media/communications
Media creation
(using talent and
experience to create
ripples from fans to mass)
Helping personal brand
curation
Media distribution
(stimulating and
distributing mass
advocacy) – splits down
by in or out of market
Media Partnership
(finding areas of
association with things
people do care about)
Media optimisation
In market: (ensuring the
right experts are heard).
Out of market: NPD to
turn usage into comms

28. Ambition: what are we trying to do
Copying
Tell stories outside of the
purchase cycle
Create culture
System 1
System 2
Find the thing people care
about (react to culture)
Individual
Create products to turn
usage into media