THE implicit

As of this week, I’ve been writing this blog for 10 years.

I’ve taken it in many different directions. Looked at brands inside-out and outside-in, downside-up and upside-down.

But it’s all been about one thing, a single point made in 233 ways.

Deeper needs.

That’s because I believe that’s where brands live, in the implicit world.

Of course, they spend their time in the explicit one. Grabbing people’s attention, getting considered, being bought and then experienced. The who, what, when, where and why we know so well.

But when it comes to ‘no, really, why?’, that’s when the setting changes.

Of course, it happens in a flash. It’s not about love or devotion. Even ‘emotional connection’ can sound a stretch.

I call it a ‘moment of closeness’. You may prefer ‘non-conscious’ or even ‘pre-conscious’.

It’s so quick some people miss it altogether. They’re the ones that base their arguments on explicit data, the panels and surveys.

The problem with the deeper world is it’s dark down there. Like suddenly you’re doing a Psychology degree.

It’s also easy to argue against. Can’t see it in the stats, let’s ignore it.

So what I’ve tried to do with this blog is bring light to the dark.

That’s the drive. It’s why I use metaphors like pools and trees. Why I quote song lyrics and film scripts. Why I draw analogies from maths and physics. Why I like a sharp turn of phrase.

The trick is to pull readers in without pushing them away. There are better people than me at explaining how memory really works and I’m wary of playing the pseudo-neuroscientist. Marketing has enough of them.

It’s also because most of the help I give clients stems from soft data. Qualitative research using projection and ethnography, re-reading old articles and reports, stakeholder interviews. Plus lots of thinking time on dog walks.

Of course, you get to the implicit through the explicit. People will happily tell you their explicit reasons for buying things. Brands can have explicit points of differentiation.

But to reference a past post, eventually you have to swim in the deep end. You’re not going to find the answer splashing around with everyone else.

And of course, none of this is altruism. All this writing, I do it for salience. I do it to position myself in people’s minds.

So short-term, when they think of brand strategy, they think of me. And long-term, they remember me for something worth remembering.

I’ve even used the blog as a workshop, developing my own thinking in a kind of pretend real-time. The impromptu speech I took a week to craft.

It’s all therapy, really. A way of getting through the highs and lows, doubts in the face of certainty, getting older in a young person’s game.

Anyway, it’s taken me 10 years and 233 posts to sum it all up.

Deeper needs make stronger brands.

I mean, the company’s called Closer to Brands, it wasn’t exactly hidden away.