Unlearning 101

Paris, Big Mamma and Ineffective Advertising

I recently had the pleasure of going to Paris on vacation and happened to use the city's fine subway system on a daily basis. One of the things that struck me as odd was the large number of advertising posters for Martin Lawrence's new "Big Mamma" movie. Now, to be honest, I can't imagine why anyone would want to see the movie in English, let alone French. This, however, is not the point of this post. Rather, it is to question why Hollywood continues to take such a wasteful, shotgun approach to advertising.

We live in an era of targeting advertising. With little effort, Hollywood could find out that I am more likely to enjoy the "King's Speech" or "Waiting for Superman" than "Big Mamma" and then find a way to pitch me on the Internet or, perhaps, my smartphone.

Alas, before businesses and industries can learn a new and better approach, often they must first unlearn the old, ineffective way.

I know Hollywood can grasp this message. After all, we are no longer watching silent, black-and-white movies. Why then is Hollywood still advertising as though it -- and its customers -- are living in the past?

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Unlearning Hollywood

 

The Fruits of Unlearning

Yesterday, after delivering the opening keynote (on future trends) at Beyond 2010 in Edmonton, I had the pleasure of also delivering the closing remarks. Not surprisingly, I discussed the importance of unlearning. In between, however, I had the immense pleasure of listening to a wonderful speaker, Peter Hinssen, who is the author of a new book, The New Normal.

At one point, he showed this video clip from Blackberry:

It's a great ad. Unfortunately, in this era of accelerating change and social media advances, the competition can punch back--quickly, cheaply and effectively as this Apple response demonstrates: My take-a-way is this: Whenever you have a problem, always consider how it might be turned into an opportunity. If you do this you can reap the fruits of unlearning -- be they blackberries, apples or any other fruit.

Unlearning is Like Changing the Oil in Your Car

Once we learn something it is hard to unlearn it. This is especially true if we learned it in our youth. To this end, ever since I began driving in the early 1980's, I was told to change the oil in my car every 3000 miles. While I haven't been a stickler about the rule, I have tried to follow it closely. Imagine my surprise then when I "unlearned" today that oil should be changed somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500 miles. (For precise details, I refer you to this article.)

Old habits die hard but if you want to save some money and do what's right for the environment, unlearn and start changing your oil less frequently. Of course, you could--as the photo above suggests--also accomplish both goals by driving less and biking more.

 

I'll Drink to a New Approach to Underage Drinking

Like many people, I consumed my fair share of alcohol in college. Now that I'm a parent and my own kids are approaching high school age, I have a decidedly more conservative perspective on the consumption of "adult beverages." The one thing I am convinced won't work is relentless lecturing about the many risks associated with drinking. (Of course, this still won't stop me from emphasizing these risks to my own children.)

What I have more faith in is peer-based advertising. To this end, the University of Minnesota is now running ads that were created by students for students. Rather than approaching the topic of drinking from a moral or health perspective, the ads instead address how drinking can ruin a person's reputation. (See the two ads to the right). One addresses how young women's reputations can be harmed, and the other shows how even nice guys can become "creeps."

Will these ads work? I don't know. But my "unlearning" instincts tell me that they'll be more effective than a bunch of old-timers moralizing about the evils of drinking and lecturing kids about how alcohol will harm their livers.

Remember, often, the way we see the problem is the problem--which is why older people should consider getting reverse mentors. We might just end up finding more innovative solutions to age-old problems.

Screw the Majority! Unlearn!

Take a look at the image to the right. It is a visual display of Everett Roger's famous model of diffusion. I, however, want you to look at it differently. Consider it, instead, "an unlearning curve." Conventional wisdom tells us that it is safe in the middle. Advertising and marketers frequently target their message toward the "early majority" and the "late majority" in the middle. What they are really doing is focusing on the "average" person.  I say screw that! Unlearn!

The true innovators go after the fringes. If you have a cool new product target it toward the "innovators" or the "early adopters." Those are the people who really care about your product. If they love it, they will tell their friends and anybody who will listen.

Alternatively, if you want to innovate try looking at the laggards. That's exactly what Nintendo did when they began considering video games for the elderly. The result was the Wii remote and guess what? Not only did seniors love the easy-to-use hand-held stick so did middle-age parents and even younger kids.

If you want to unlearn, screw the majority. Focus on the fringes!

Buckle Up and Unlearn

This past weekend three young women between the ages of 13 and 16 died in a car crash in my home state of Minnesota. They weren't wearing seat belts. (On Sunday another six died in a separate accident. They also weren't wearing seatbelts). If you still don't wear a seatbelt, please watch this emotionally powerful video. As I wrote in this piece last year one simple strategy for unlearning is to fold your hands differently. For a more powerful reminder consider a loved one folding their hands differently in order to save your life. Please buckle up ... because someone loves you.

The Art of the Lasting Impression

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to give a presentation on "Unlearning 101" to 100 or so professionals in the Minneapolis area. Afterwards, as commonly happens, I received a thank you gift from the event's sponsors. Unlike every other such gift I have ever received (and I've received plenty), I will not only proudly display this gift on my desk, I actually want to show it off to people.

Why? Because it is incredibly personalized and the team which put it together -- from a company called Hillarys -- took the time to really get to know me as a person. The result is a gift that reflects my interests as a futurist, author, speaker and, most importantly to me, a father. (I have posted a picture of the gift above).

While the details of the art work may be hard to discern from the photo, the piece (which is no more than 6 inches wide and 6 inches high) contains my favorite quote; a photo of my family; the covers of a few of my books; and even the name of my son's basketball team -- which I coach. 

Moreover, the gift also subtly reflects my passion for the future; unlearning; as well as my family.  In short, the gift truly achieves the company's tagline: "The art of a lasting impression."

I am currently in the process of reading Seth Godin's excellent new book, Linchpin, and from my perspective Hillary Feder and her company embody and exemplify both the spirit and the message of the book to a "T." They infuse their work with passion, creativity, art and, dare I say, even love.

The result is that Hillarys has taken a standard, throw-a-way event for most speakers -- the presentation of a token gift -- and created a meaningful piece of art which will stay with me (and, hopefully, my children) for a long, long time. 

I've Got a Secret and I'll Kiss & Tell

10 Things Marketers Should Consider Unlearning

Tomorrow morning I will be giving a presentation on unlearning, the topic of my forthcoming book, to the Executive Marketing Guild in Minneapolis.

As a hint of what I'll be saying, here are 10 things marketers should consider unlearning:

#1: The "Tipping Point" or the idea that marketers can "influence the influencers." (See "Unlearn the Tipping Point.)

#2: More choice is better -- it isn't always.

#3: The value of experts -- when they're wrong, they're really wrong.

#4: Marketing executives are a good judge of talent -- they are not! (Neither is anyone else.)

#5: First Impressions -- more often than not they are wrong.

#6: People know what will make them happy -- they don't have a clue.

#7: Young people have short attention spans -- The truth is much different.

#8: More information is better -- not always.

#9:  The idea that marketers can spot a "star" product -- they can't, but that's OK.

#10: It's OK to be comfortable in your own skin -- it's better to be uncomfortable in your own skin.

Unlearning the Tipping Point

In Fast Company a while back there was an excellent article entitled "Is the Tipping Point Toast?” by Clive Thompson. I’d strongly recommend that marketing executives and anyone else interested in the idea of unlearning read it.  

What I like about the article is that it challenges conventional wisdom and provides further evidence that common sense can often be misleading. In short, the article -- which is based on the research of Duncan Watts -- challenges Malcolm Gladwell’s tantalyzing idea that “mavens” and “influentials” are often the key to getting ideas or products to reach the “tipping point.”

Alas, marketing is not that simple and unless a great many marketing professionals “unlearn” their over-reliance on trying to “influence the influencers” they could end up wasting a great deal of time and money.