The big idea: The most human company wins. People trust each other far more than they trust ads, so the brands that grow are the ones people want to talk about and belong to.
See it in action
Flip the Message Lab
This ad is all about the brand. Flip each line to make it about the customer, and watch the meter move from “about us” to “about them.”
Flip a line
Who is this ad about?
Key concepts
- Customers are in charge: People skip, block and tune out marketing that interrupts them. Your message has to earn attention instead of demanding it.
- Trust moves person to person: Recommendations from friends, reviews and communities shape decisions more than brand claims.
- Act like a person: Listen, respond, admit mistakes and show what you stand for. Brands that feel human get forgiven and recommended.
- Belonging and meaning: People want to feel part of something. Give them a reason to say “this is us.”
- Marketing is what customers do: The most powerful marketing often happens when customers tell your story for you.
Real brands in action
Cirque du Soleil: Measuring awe
Cirque du Soleil found a super-fan who had seen ‘O’ more than 100 times. Then it worked with a neuroscience lab, fitted audience members with electrode caps and matched moments of awe to brain activity. The goal was to design shows that create more awe, especially for younger audiences.
The lesson: Emotional connection can be studied and designed for, not just hoped for.
Image courtesy of Cirque du Soleil
Patagonia: Don’t buy this jacket
On Black Friday in 2011 Patagonia ran a full-page ad that told people not to buy its jacket. It asked shoppers to think about environmental impact and buy only what they need. Its Worn Wear repair program backs that up with action.
The lesson: Values only build trust when the business acts on them, not just the ads.
Learn more: Patagonia
Nike: Taking a stand with Colin Kaepernick
Nike featured Colin Kaepernick in a campaign, a bold and risky move. It lined up with values that mattered to its core customers, and Nike accepted that some people would walk away. The campaign strengthened the brand with its target audience.
The lesson: A values-based stand means knowing who you’re for and who you might lose.
Learn more: Nike
Brand images are shown for educational purposes only. Each image and trademark belongs to the brand credited, and each credit links to that brand.
Frameworks from class
Personalization vs. being personal
Personalization is a machine putting your name in an email or guessing what you want from past clicks. Being personal is a person understanding your situation and responding with care. Automated “personal” touches, like a “We miss you” email exactly 30 days after a purchase or ads for something you already bought, often feel more intrusive than helpful.
- Personalization: name fields, algorithm picks, demographic targeting
- Being personal: understanding the situation, empathy, responding to the relationship
Be of a place, not just in it
Corporate messages are believed when they show up locally, make a personal difference, and serve the customer’s self-interest. Artisanal marketing is relational, caring, reciprocal and trustworthy. It does not need to be grand.
- Call customers who appreciate your work
- Send a short personal video instead of a form email
- Write handwritten notes
- Show up in person at community events
Create peak moments
People remember the high points of an experience. Find the touchpoints that matter and make them memorable on purpose. Zappos turned returns into a moment of delight. Ritz-Carlton lets staff spend money to solve a guest’s problem on the spot.
- Identify key touchpoints on the journey
- Elevate an ordinary interaction
- Make it personal
- Design it to be shared
Disagreement is data
When you research customers, don’t flatten different views into one average. New hires may love a tool, senior staff may hate it, and managers may say it’s fine. Each view is true and points to a different problem. If everyone agrees, you may not have talked to the right mix of people.
Authenticity is not something you have, it’s something you do.
Mark Schaefer
Class exercise: Design three human moments
Your brand’s trust is slipping and more ad spend isn’t helping.
- List the unspoken needs and frustrations your customers have.
- Brainstorm three human moments that cost little or no money and would surprise, delight or genuinely help them.
- For each one, name the touchpoint where it happens and why someone would tell a friend about it.
- Pick your best idea and explain how you would know it is working beyond sales.
Try it
Pick a brand you’d personally recommend to a friend. Write down why you’d recommend it, then look at the brand’s own ads and posts. How much of what makes you recommend it shows up in its marketing? Write one recommendation that would make the brand feel more human.
Tips and best practices
- Count the yous. Before you publish, count how often the copy says we or our versus you or your. If the brand is the subject of most sentences, rewrite until the customer is.
- Sell the outcome, then back it with the feature. Lead with what changes for the customer, like staying dry or saving an hour. Put the spec right after as proof for the people who want it.
- Borrow the customer’s words. Pull phrases from reviews, support tickets and comments, and use them in your copy. People recognize their own problem faster when it is described the way they would say it.
- Respond like a person. Reply to comments and complaints in plain language, with a name when you can. Own mistakes quickly and say what you are fixing.
- Show values with actions. A slogan about caring means little on its own. Point to something the brand did, like a policy, a fix or a partnership, and let customers judge it.
- Test it out loud. Read the ad as if you were telling a friend about the product. If you would never say a line that way, it is brand-speak, so rewrite it.
Quick check
Think through your answer, then select a question to reveal one.
Why does word of mouth beat most ads?
People trust other people more than they trust a brand talking about itself.
Name one way a brand can act more human.
Listen and respond, own mistakes publicly, or show its values through actions, not slogans.
Go deeper
- Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins by Mark Schaefer (course text)