Note to CMO: Thin Slicing

Dear CMO:

You've read Macolm Gladwell's "Blink", I'm sure. The concept we're talking about here is 'thin slicing.' You look at a person, a situation or a brand and that flash of data you take in is referenced against a lifetime of correllary references somewhere in your cerebral cortex, telling you everything you need to know about what you're going to do next. You may call it a hunch, or your gut level reaction. Malcolm calls it "thin slicing."

Roger von Oech over at Creative Think (who authored the great graphic to the right) asked me to comment on this idea, specifically on how I would thin slice whether a brand is hot or not. Here's what I said on his excellent blog:

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Thin slicing hot (and not very hot) brands? There are a lot of thin slices you can take on a brand – how you react to a brand presentation at a boardroom level, how you react as a consumer, etc. So here's a very thin slice – your potential customer’s first second of recognition when exposed to your new brand, hot or not:

Hot brands evoke one of two visceral reactions. First is The Eyebrow Arch, accompanied by the ‘ooh’. This is the “that’s very cool” reaction you want with anything you just launched at the show in Vegas. The second is The Buddha Nod and the “aah”. This is the “I’m so glad you came along and fixed this mess” reaction you want with the service you just launched.

The “not very hot” brands also prompt visceral reactions. Just different ones. You remember Nipper, the RCA dog who cocks his head to one side, hearing his master’s voice – or, perhaps he’s saying, “You do – what – exactly? And why do I want this?” The other is The Hanging “And”, so identified by the listener’s continuing rapt attention to a statement that has long since finished, whose unfulfilled expectation is that an “and” would come along to make it all finally makes sense. This is the proverbial “6 Minute Abs” video.

People can’t help being interested when they are and can’t fake it very well when they’re not.

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You know, my comment above may sound a bit flip, but it's not meant to be. I try to bring a bit of levity to the subjects I cover because that's how I communicate serious stuff. But the underlying truth here is that the observational, behavioral side of customer insight is more powerful than a handfull of questionnaires filled out by bored shoppers. You have to get this feedback when people are willing to be engaged in the experience you're selling, which is why intrusive advertising (let alone research) is so appallingly bad. But watch people and they'll tell you what you need to know. That's my point.

I want more input on this. Here's who gets tagged next:


Ann Handley at The Fix: Tell us about the "thin slice" data points that guide you as you balance the personal with the professional in building The Fix community. You are walking an edge -- what are the "thin slices" that help you keep your balance?

John Moore at Brand Autopsy: What are the "thin slice" images that come to you when you see a company that may have just stumbled upon that intangible that turns them into a unique, transformational customer experience? What are the triggers you see when you think you might see something terriffic emerging?

Spike Jones and Team at Brains on Fire: What are the "thin slice" images that come to you when you're looking at a group of people and determining whether you're successfully moving them out of their comfort zones and into brave new worlds? I don't care whether this is a team meeting, a community retreat, or getting the boardroom to understand that it's not just about Super Bowl spots.

Cam Beck at Chaos Scenario: Clearly, let's talk about the important stuff here. What's the "thin slice" on life priorities right now, given your newly honed skills at diaper management? (Get the Diaper Genie, by the way).

Willow Baum at Small Planet Partners, whose blog we are anxiously awaiting: What 'thin slice' data are the triggers that tell you how to spot, smell, and dig a buzz generating opportunity out of the ground?


If I didn't tag you, just chime in anyway. And if I did tag you and there's something more important on your mind, go ahead and answer the question you want to answer. That's what they teach us in media training, isn't it?

What are the triggers that drive you forwards? Which ones drive you away? What tells you at the gut level, "there is something here... let's dig further..." and what tells you (before others catch on) that "there is no 'there' there..."?



Regards.


Copyright (c) 2007 Stephen Denny