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Meta Communication is a multidisciplinary communications consulting firm that brings together strategy, design, writing, content, and research and applies these capabilities to external, internal and leadership communications challenges.
Meta's core competency is assessing and synthesizing multiple perspectives to identify opportunities for leverage and transformation without added spending. Meta believes most organizations can enhance their communications through more informed strategy, simplified messaging, and enhanced leadership communications.
In a world operating at hyperspeed and overload the harsh reality is most messages will never take hold. We are now in a world of short form communications, shrunken attention spans, hyper–information creation, and skeptical minds.
In such an environment content is conforming, quickly mirroring what is around it. Conformity is the ultimate by–product of a networked, data–driven, hyper-information environment. It is why brands, politicians, news, culture, and corporate leaders are homogenized and undifferentiated.
The answer is not better "packaging." The solution is found at the core and meaning of your organization's culture and value in a changing world. Tapping into that and communicating it in a human, authentic, creative way is your only option.
IT HAS NEVER BEEN SO EASY TO COMMUNICATE AND SO HARD TO PERSUADE. SO EASY TO CREATE AND YET SO HARD TO STAND OUT. THIS IS THE PARADOX OF A TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN, HYPER-SPEEDED, COMMODIFIED INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT. GAINING LEVERAGE FOR YOUR MESSAGE AND UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR CONTENT REQUIRES SEEING THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
The chief by-product of a high velocity, globally connected information environment is conformity. Products, solutions, services, ideas, and content are quickly copied and commoditized. Ideas move in packs, in step with competition and trends. The result is a war of better “packaging” that blurs differences and homogenizes communication. The tools of packaging from design to advertising, photography and public relations are also commodities. Everyone can look good. And the same.
Resisting conformity is a significant challenge. The same focus groups yield the same results. More data and information is shared instantly. What one might call the mirror effect results in a sameness of solutions. We are all different together.
Conformity reflects a lack of a point of view, a dated understanding of branding and a changed communications environment. It is the result of specialists understanding the mechanics and components of communications but not the importance of trust and empathy in today’s environment.
Big data, more information sliced and diced, delivered by algorithms and ubiquitous technology will compound the problem and soon drive all marketing and customer experience.
The technology will find the customer but what will it communicate on arrival? Most people can’t recall, or choose to ignore, virtually all of the messages they receive each day. And it is unlikely the human brain can keep up with the sensory tsunami headed its way.
Connection is not just a social media exchange. The ability to connect has changed how we view time. A totally connected world is a 24/7 world where roles blur, where meaning changes, where the lifespan of information contracts. As well, technology has made information more accessible to everyone.
This environment has challenged communicators’ ability to “shape the message” and to stay ahead of the customer – givens in an old branding paradigm. In the new paradigm the requirements are candor, consistency, continuity, and trust. Leaders, as they seek to connect with employees, customers, influencers, and the larger community, must reflect a consistent point of view rooted in empathy and honesty. In this new environment trust is the most important currency.
Smart organizations have always valued content; the smartest have also seen the value in sharing it. And that is the leap here, not just recognizing value in your content but the value in sharing it. Content is the path to dialog with customers, employees, media, and other stakeholders. If we think of branding as an on-going conversation with our stakeholders, then content is both the catalyst and the meaning of the conversation. A sharing mindset is now a competitive necessity.
Context communicates. Information out of context invites skepticism, and misinterpretation. The power of context is that it reduces complexity, thus it persuades faster. More important, context engenders trust because information in context explains why, not just what. Leaders, communicators, marketers and organizations often leave out the why of a decision or why they are the better solution. Instead, they describe their situation or their capabilities or services, rarely getting to the core rationale, difference or impact. Compounding this is that in a world of short form communications – texts, tweets, sound bites, slogans, 15 second commercials – almost all information is presented out of context. Context is increasingly missing from most communications - news reports, web content, advertising, corporate communications, and web sites. So consumers fill in the missing context with their own existing perspective. Context is a key component of persuasion and requires an understanding of and empathy with your audience.
In today’s hyper-competitive information environment, strategy, insight and creativity are the only difference makers you have. All of the other tools are available to everyone. The commoditization of tools that make everyone a publisher, and the tsunami of information we are all confronted with each moment, make strategy, insight and creativity decisive in how you communicate with employees, customers, the media, and the broader community. Most corporate and marketing communications are islands unto themselves, seen and executed as stand-alone, discreet projects, untethered from the organization’s culture, reacting to a constantly changing market. The result is a series of ad-hoc actions lacking continuity or consistency. Campaign after campaign, slogan after slogan. In this framework more and new is always seen as better. The problem is the communication is often detached from a core vision and point of view.
Branding has left the marketing realm and is now more about corporate behavior, corporate vision, and organizational culture.
The best way to think about branding is as the ongoing conversation you are having with all your stakeholders. What are you talking about? Why is it relevant? Are you just spinning and selling and doing damage control? Or do you have a point of view – a working vision with the customer’s interests at heart? There is a very simple way to tell if you do – you can charge more for your product than your competitors.
peter@metacommunication.us | (617) 549-9293