Small data and our Pr life
BIG data is a hugely important trend that we must monitor. It is a term that describes the large volume of data—both structured and unstructured—that swamps a business on a day-to-day basis. But it’s not the amount of data that’s critical. It is what organizations—including PRbased operations—do with the data that matters.
Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves. Branding expert and best-selling author Martin Lindstrom, however, gives a different answer. To him, it’s small data. In a world obsessed by the power of Big Data, he works like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, collecting tiny clues to help solve a stunningly diverse array of challenges. He describes the task as that of “a detective whose goal is to create a narrative.”
In his tome, Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends, Lindstrom provides two broad lessons. One is the deliberate kind; the other is accidental. The deliberate and purposeful lesson says that we must not overlook momentary, but educational signs of human behavior in our hurry to download and analyze ever larger throngs of hard facts or cold information. As the author wrote, “If we want to glean real insights, big data and small data should be partners in a dance.” The accidental, fortuitous lesson states that companies are still ready to give a large expanse of time, effort and presumably, money to planning and executing programs on how to attract their next customer.
One thorough Lindstrom investigation delved on how to design a car for the Chinese market, which entailed “a global study of doors” and a Lego-based experiment with children on three continents about their understanding of speed. Another assignment took Lindstrom deep into Mumbai and New Delhi, to explore the politics of the modern Indian family, for a global food maker that wanted to work out why its popular breakfast cereal was losing market share.
Lindstrom’s research derives certain principles from anthropology and ethnography. As the intro to the book said, he spends 300 nights a year overseas, closely observing people in their homes. His goal is to uncover their hidden desires and turn them into breakthrough products for the world's leading brands. Lindstrom connects the dots in his globetrotting narrative that will fascinate not only marketers and brand managers, but anyone interested in the infinite variations of human behavior. Here are interesting discoveries that we can appropriately apply in our PR life:
Insights from a tube of toothpaste
If someone crushes a tube of toothpaste and tosses it away without a cap, experience tells us they are prudent about saving money, though at the end of the day, they will spend money on themselves, as if to compensate for their earlier inattention. Consumers who discard a toothpaste tube with its cap screwed down tightly seldom allow themselves to relax, and are reluctant to expose who they really are, or to indulge themselves with a luxury. Consumers who throw away a half-full toothpaste tube are, in general, less secure than people who wait until the tube is depleted.
Our favorite sport defines who we are
A Study carried out by Mind Lab found out that bicyclists are “laid back and calm” and less likely than runners or swimmers to be stressed or depressed. Runners tend to be extroverted, enjoyed being the center of attention and preferred “lively, upbeat music.” Swimmers, the study concluded, were charitable, happy and orderly, whereas walkers generally preferred their own company, didn’t like drawing attention to themselves and were comparatively unmaterialistic.
There are 10 basic common attributes religions have in common
IN order of importance, he found that these features include: A sense of belonging; storytelling; rituals; symbols; a clear vision; sensory appeal; power from enemies; evangelism; mystery; and grandeur. When you think about the world’s most powerful brands—among them Apple, Nike, Harley-Davidson, Coca-Cola, Lego—you realize they all make use of some, if not all, these pillars. The author discovered these data after interviewing 14 leaders of the Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist and Islam religions.
People have two ages: chronological and emotional
Men typically conceal evidence of their younger selves in drawers or buried inside online folders, whereas women are less embarrassed about publicly showcasing their younger selves and express it openly.
The story of two scripts—one blue, one green
MOST remember Hitchcock as a skilled storyteller, but what few know is that the director shot his movies using two separate scripts. The first, known as “the Blue Script,” was entirely functional. In it were all the tangible onscreen components, including dialogue, props, camera angles and set descriptions. The second script, which Hitchcock referred to as “the Green Script,” chronicled in fine detail the emotional arc, or “beats,” of the film he was shooting. Hitchcock relied on both scripts, but the Green Script reminded him how he wanted moviegoers to feel and at what point.
In doing PR, we must have an ‘entry point’
IT refers to those times in our lives when our identity is either challenged or transformed, among them marriage, pregnancy, first parenthood, buying a home and the empty nest syndrome. During these periods, audiences are especially vulnerable to new perspectives, as well as new narratives and offerings. We should always find an entry point, and use that to get into the heart and minds of our publics.
Bringing a new element in a room could change the course of a PR conversation
IT can also change the narrative—to either a rational or emotional one. This insight have strong ramifications for rebranding. What audiences say about a brand can be controlled and in some cases, reduced to a preprepared pitch. In doing PR a brand, this is critical. Imagine: 10 words that represent the heart, soul, and essence of a brand are no longer controlled by print ads or TV commercials, but by audiences who are strongly affected by “influencers” and by “aspirations.”
Assimilating universal ‘moments’ in your PR story can bring wonders
THIS is very much like Kodak owning the idea of taking photographs, America Online having “you’ve Got Mail,” Apple holding on to the left-to-right “Slide to unlock” finger-swipe concept, Volvo holding on to “safety,” and Google preserving the “search” image. We must understand the essence, and the weight, of every single moment between our PR product and the publics we are targeting it to.
Our perception of the world is almost always local
IT is focused exclusively around ourselves, neighborhoods, traditions and beliefs. But who influences us to support a certain product helps us form an opinion or exposes us to a brand we later use ourselves—a wrist watch, a musical genre, a facial moisturizer, a wine label? It’s not something we often think about, but when we ask this question to people online and offline, the answer is invariably pointing to celebrities.
Every culture has its own default topics of conversation, a default scripts of subjects, ranging from the weather to sports to food
When two people meet for the first time, what do they talk about? How do taxi drivers greet passengers across the world, and what do they discuss during the ride? What do neighbors say when they meet in the lobby or on the sidewalk, or mothers when they meet other mothers in the park? People exchange compliments, or talk about their favorite topics, but when they deviate from the script, what causes them to stray are the objects surrounding them.
Selfies, it seemed, were even more important than the event or moment they were supposed to memorialize
A selfie can tell us more about a person than anything inside a meticulously arranged bedroom. When a girl shows another girl a photo on a smartphone, the first few things she seeks out are, in order of importance: Am I in this picture? How do I look? Who is standing beside me? Does the person standing beside me in this photo lend a halo effect of popularity, or is standing beside this person a social liability?
The faster we go, the slower, in some respects, we will become
AS always and whether they know it or not, human beings seek balance. It may not always be conscious, but unconsciously, we are all seeking to redress acceleration with idling, velocity with patience, chatter with quiet. How do we know this? Because small data is everywhere, if we know where to look.
Most people are rarely inside the present moment
“being present” is important. We spend a disproportionate amount of time plotting the future or revisiting past events. But when we swim or shower or take a bath, we have little choice, but to position ourselves in the present, giving our thoughts room to float and wander.
Creativity comes out of being bored because that’s where you’re forced to create a story. But it also allows us to be observant, to be present. from a PR perspective, that lack of presence means that we don’t see things around us, and we missed out on the relevant, insight-filled small data we will need to do a great PR job.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Bong R. Osorio is a communications consultant of ABS-CBN Corp., SkyCable, DentsuAegis Network, and government projects among others, after retiring as vice president and head of the Corporate Communications Division of ABS-CBN.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.