![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.therightbrainstudio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/RecordStore-4.jpg\" "\\"RecordStore")
<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nThe kids just want the hits but we keep trying to sell them albums.<\/p>\n
Now I happen to love albums and feel terrible that Millennials and every generation to follow will miss out on the record store experience. But when I start to reminisce, I\u2019m reminded of an early episode of The Simpsons when Bart encounters an older man walking the other way. \u201cWell now,\u201d he says pompously. \u201cWhat do we have here? Who are you, young man?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, the trademark reply: \u201cI\u2019m Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?\u201d\u00a0 The man chuckles condescendingly, before chastising Bart. \u201cYoung man, back in my day, young people didn\u2019t talk like that to their elders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it\u2019s not your day anymore, man!\u201d<\/p>\n
Nope, not your day anymore. Not my day either, and that goes for anyone else in marketing over 30 and many, if not most, of the 20-somethings as well. The kids just want the hits, but it\u2019s not just the kids who cherry pick. Everyone does.<\/p>\n
We live in the age of the narcissist, where everyone is special and the individual is more important than any given institution, philosophy, political framework or religion.\u00a0 Forest Gump was wrong – the world is not like a box of chocolates. It\u2019s more like a Starbucks, where we are able to customize every little detail to our individual whim. Caffeinated or decaf, soy milk or cow\u2019s milk, skim, 2% or whole milk, regular temperature or extra hot, latte or cappuccino, and most important, a foam to milk ratio that\u2019s absolutely perfect.<\/p>\n
Conventional wisdom was always that that Starbucks sold \u201ccommunity\u201d as much as coffee, but catering to our vanity has got to be part of their mission, consciously or not. It\u2019s not unlike how Facebook provides the illusion that people actually care about cute pictures of your pets, what you\u2019re listening to on Spotify, what kind of mood you\u2019re in or photos of your dinner entree.<\/p>\n
This need for attention, customization and validation forces us to think about marketing very differently. Social and digital media offer the promise of a personalized dialog with consumers, but mainstream brands still rely on mass marketing and branding practices where the Holy Grail is a \u201csingle-minded brand essence\u201d targeted to some \u201cuniversal aspiration\u201d of consumers.<\/p>\n
At my company, The Right Brain Studio, we often conduct what we call \u201cValues Research.\u201d This consists of therapy-like, in-depth interviews focused on \u201claddering up\u201d from the everyday activities and attitudes of respondents until we arrive at a \u201cterminal value,\u201d something that they stand for or aspire to over everything else. Examples of terminal values might include \u201cfreedom,\u201d \u201csecurity\u201d or \u201cbelonging.\u201d<\/p>\n
This kind of work helps understand our consumers on a very deep level, uncovering an overall framework for thinking that transcends mere brand choice. But what happens when the values of individuals become more relative than absolute, when people stop buying into \u201cbig ideas\u201d because it\u2019s just not convenient for them any longer?<\/p>\n
Committing to an idea bigger than oneself takes, well, a commitment. Who needs that<\/em>? How much easier is it to start with an egocentric view of the world and then order little bits off the philosophical menu to suit your lifestyle and needs. Kind of like a metaphysical tapas bar.<\/p>\n Here on the Left Coast, the response to a straightforward question like \u201cwhat do you like to eat\u201d or \u201cwhat religion do you practice\u201d often grows into what seems like a mini-series.\u00a0 Rarely, does one say, \u201cI\u2019m a vegetarian\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m Catholic\u201d and leave it at that. Take a look on Match.com or any of the dating sites and see how people describe themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cI was brought up Jewish, and I\u2019m still culturally Jewish, but I\u2019m really into Buddhism now. I guess I\u2019m more spiritual than religious.\u201d Here\u2019s a person who loves his bagels and lox after yoga class, but what does he stand for? Do terms like \u201cculturally religious\u201d or \u201cspiritual\u201d really mean anything if we\u2019re just choosing two from Column A and two from Column B?<\/p>\n We see this kind worldview in politics as well. A recent story the New York Times talked about the trend among young, G.O.P. voters to accept Mitt Romney\u2019s economic view of the world but to soundly reject his thinking on social issues. The article points out, \u201cWhat has become the norm, some experts say, is for young Republicans to take a cafeteria-style approach to issues that are important to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Kristen Soltis, the communications adviser to pro-Romney “super PAC” aimed at young voters is quoted as saying, \u201cMy theory is that, just as young people don\u2019t have to buy a whole album on iTunes and can pick and choose just the songs they like, they can customize their political views \u2014 and they do.\u201d<\/p>\n The kids want the hits, not the whole Mitt Romney album. Just the songs they really like. The fact that these young Republicans will have eventually have to listen to all the other songs as well \u2013 the foreign policy, support of gun rights, the social agenda, etc. \u2013 doesn\u2019t seem to bother them. Along with the highly evolved skill of multi-tasking, perhaps we are developing a much sharper ability to compartmentalize and erase cognitive dissonance from our lives.<\/p>\n Maybe capitalism has functioned too well<\/em>. We have over-marketed to our consuming public. They have been over-served and are drunk on mind-boggling choices.<\/p>\n The traditional solution to creating brand preference has been to infuse our brands with aspirational values that transcend functionality. Find that singular, compelling message that touches just the right emotions, stay focused and consistent in your communications, and you will be successful in getting your brand to stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not my day anymore, man. Seems that we\u2019re selling whole \u201cconcepts\u201d to people who just want the bits that best suit them at any given moment. The kids want the hits, and we\u2019re selling them albums. Time to start thinking differently.<\/p>\n