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Last year I began a new practice – I dedicate the first part of my morning to my own sanity. Rather than jumping directly into a strong coffee and org
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Last year I began a new practice – I dedicate the first part of my morning to my own sanity. Rather than jumping directly into a strong coffee and organizing the day’s busy schedule, I’m taking the time to work on improving myself.
It begins with gratitude. By taking a moment to reflect on what I’m thankful for, I start each day with a positive thought. Then after a glass of clean water, I head out for some physical exercise to bring up my energy level. I follow it with some reading on philosophy. And lastly, a few minutes of silent meditation to clear my head.
The truth is that it was awkward at first.
Taking time away from my responsibilities made me anxious; my mind was never able to stay focused on what I was doing. But by continuing to “practice” the same routine, I found that it became easier. The motivation required to repeat the behaviors become easier once a disciplined effort is made.
Now, those same activities that were so difficult to perform are more natural. The result of taking the extra time away from work has actually contributed to more productivity. The practice of a healthy, daily ritual is helping me perfect my life.
I know I’ll never achieve perfection, and that’s alright. It keeps my attention on the practice, not the results. Those come naturally.
What’s your daily practice for success?
Happy March. Happy First Tuesday
-Jamie |
{ Part 1 in a 2 part series }
People thrive on routine. Although we seek new experiences to break predictability, and delight with surprises, having regularity is essential for long-term happiness. Since our routines are the basis for regular, predictable behaviors, marketing professionals see them as the holy grail for consistent and predictable sales.
When consumers associate brands (or even rely on them) in their routines, it establishes tremendous opportunity for long-term loyalty. This requires a deep and accurate understanding of the how consumers form routines, their fundamental needs and the benefits that are unique to your product or service. Brands that find meaning and relevance in these routine behaviors are rewarded with lifetime customers.
Some routines are habits while others are rituals. Understanding the difference is essential in brand positioning. |
According to Charles Duhigg, author of The Power Of Habit,
• Habits (at least from the evolving neurological perspective) are behaviors that are self generated. A habit is a decision that someone makes at some point, and then stops making but continues doing. So, for instance, the first time you ate a donut at work, it was a decision. The 45th time, it was a habit that occurred, essentially, unthinkingly.
• Rituals, by contrast, are almost always patterns developed by an external source, and adopted for reasons that might have nothing to do with decision making. Someone might celebrate thanksgiving with a turkey not because they love turkey, but because society has indicated that's what we eat at thanksgiving.
In part one of this two-part series of essays, we’ll focus exclusively on Habits and how brands function within them. |
This May Be Habit Forming
Scientists believe that the cognitive process behind habits form in the Basal Ganglia, the part of the brain responsible for instinctual reactions. “Flight or fight” and other automatic responses come from it, which occur without conscious thought. When engaged in habitual behaviors, higher thought functions are not required. This frees up your conscious mind to focus on other complex thoughts. It explains why you can drive a car safely, which is extremely technically complex, but barely recall the trip if you’ve been having an important conversation during the ride. |
THESE MECHANICS ARE DESCRIBED AS A "HABIT LOOP" MADE UP OF THREE DISTINCT COMPONENTS. |
 You're not you when you're hungry |
The Cue. “Cues” are considered “triggers” that are instantly recognized and then prepare your mind to relax and enter an “automatic” mode. This could be a time of day, a color or a sound but they all have one thing in common- they get your attention, but they can be subtle.
Think about your product or service, is there a specific cue you can identify that signals the behavior required for your customers? Once you can identify a series of cues, then a solid communications strategy will align your messaging to be relevant to those moments in consumer’s lives.
Initially the cue is learned either intentionally or spontaneously. For this reason, brands can associate themselves with feelings that occur during normal life. Snickers is aligning itself with the aggressive and illogical behaviors that happen when people get too hungry. One bite delivers the protein and glucose people need to be themselves again. |
The Routine. The behaviors that follow the cue are what people usually consider the habit itself. It’s important to remember that habitual behavior happens without much conscious thought. It’s a highly practiced, regular activity that’s easy to perform because it’s been done so many times prior.
Ease of access during the routine is critical since there isn’t much conscious attention available while it’s happening. Any requirement to source or acquire your offering in the midst of routine behavior is doomed to failure, because you must exit the habitual behavior to do it.
Mobile applications are extremely applicable to routine behaviors for this very reason: they’re right in your pocket and available with a click of a button. Uber is a perfect example. Instead of the effort to call a taxi or hail one, the app does all that work for you. |
The Reward. A payoff of something pleasurable at the conclusion of the behavior ensures you remember it in the future. It’s a simple mechanism to encourage repeat behaviors, and is the basis for most training methodologies.
But there’s an important and sophisticated element: the reward doesn’t have to come directly from your brand. That means that your offering doesn’t need to intrinsically deliver the reward, but instead can facilitate the consumer receiving it. |
GoPro doesn’t make you a hero, that comes from taking the device along the journey and then editing down the volume of footage into something worthy of sharing. The product itself is simply a tool for making something extraordinary occur, but for anyone who’s owned a Hero camera they’ve had to learn this the hard way.
Without the cue, these behaviors don’t happen automatically. Since we are normally surrounded by a series of familiar cues, it can be difficult for new habits to form. In fact, the best time to form new habits is when you are on vacation– the normal cues aren’t present and you are receptive to new cues that signal alternative behavior patterns. This explains some of the motivation brands have in leisure activities and why shopping is so integrated into traveling.
Figure out the cues and rewards to help shape the a behavior pattern. This is the golden rule of habit change: find a new behavior that provides the same reward that the cue indicates. Think of the cue in terms of craving, and it’s easier to frame your approach. Febreze began as a product to remove bad smells, but failed when it was strictly an unscented odor eliminator. By recognizing that people tend to crave a good smell when things are clean, they added scent to the product making it a billion dollar business for P&G. |
Timing is everything.
Market research shows there are specific times in life where consumers are more receptive to brands, and are open to forming new habits.
• Moving to a new home or relocating
• Starting new relationship or ending one
• Having a baby or adopting a pet
Look for opportunities to establish a relevant foothold during these significant times, and the result could be the key to a shift in your brand positioning, messaging and communications strategies. It must be authentic, and honestly contribute to connecting the cue and resulting behavior to a reward. Remember it’s all about consumer perception, not your claims, that result in memorable experiences.
Next month we’ll explore rituals and the deep cultural connections that are the foundation for their multi-generational consistency. Rituals are characterized by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance.
More about that in our next essay. |
Located in Beverly Hills, with an entire city block of frontage on Wilshire Blvd, Wilshire La Peer is an postmodern office building that’s now available for single tenant occupancy. In addition to its unique location, the property features an authentic Eric Orr sculpture in the front courtyard, extensive onsite parking and exceptional interior finishes of stone, glass, steel and wood. |
Flux Branding was selected by developer Ocean West Capital Partners to reposition the property with a powerful new identity to support leasing efforts by LA Realty Partners. The project included a comprehensive identity package: naming, logo, website, photography, video, email campaign and print brochure. The results are powerful and relevant, making Wilshire La Peer a solid contribution to the developer's portfolio and the leasing process. |
Every picture tells a story. Our DTLA location is in the midst of an urban landscape that’s compelling and artistic, while sparking imagination for what’s possible as it transforms. We love instagram – everyone at Flux has an active presence on the platform, but we hadn’t started an account specifically for the studio. Until Now.
We’ll continuously curate creative visuals that will open your eyes and provoke thought. It’s a window into our world that you’ll want to check out, like, or share with others.
Come enter on our Instagram World. |
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