make the private public. They figured out how to take support for an
abstract cause—something not typically observable—and make it
something that everyone can see. For the thirty days of November people
who sport a moustache effectively become walking, talking billboards for
the cause. As noted on Movember’s website,
Through their actions and words they [participants] raise awareness
by prompting private and public conversations around the often-
ignored issue of men’s health.
And start conversation it does. Seeing someone you know suddenly
sprout a moustache generates discussion. People usually gossip a bit among
themselves until someone gets up the courage to ask the wearer what
prompted the new facial hair. And when he explains, he shares the social
currency and generates new devotees. Each year I see more and more of my
students sporting moustaches come November. Making the cause public
helped it catch on more quickly than it ever could have otherwise.
—————
Most products, ideas, and behaviors are consumed privately. What
websites do your coworkers like? Which ballot initiatives do your
neighbors support? Unless they tell you, you may never know. And though
that might not matter to you personally, it matters a lot for the success of
organizations, businesses, and ideas. If people can’t see what others are
choosing and doing, they can’t imitate them. And, like the binge-drinking
college students, people might change their behavior for the worse because
they feel their views aren’t supported.
*
Solving this problem requires making the private public. Generating
public signals for private choices, actions, and opinions. Taking what was
once an unobservable thought or behavior and transforming it into a more
observable one.
Koreen Johannessen was able to reduce Arizona students’ drinking by
making the private public. She created ads in the school newspaper that
merely stated the true norm. That most students had only one or two drinks,
and 69 percent have four or fewer drinks, when they party. She didn’t focus
on the health consequences of drinking, she focused on social information.
By showing students that the majority of their peers weren’t bingeing, she
helped them realize that others felt the same way. That most students didn’t
want to binge. This corrected the false inferences students had made about
others’ behavior and led them to reduce their own drinking as a result. By
making the private public, Johannessen was able to decrease heavy drinking
by almost 30 percent.
ADVERTISING ITSELF: SHARING HOTMAIL WITH THE
WORLD
One way to make things more public is to design ideas that advertise
themselves.
On July 4, 1996, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith introduced a new e-mail
service called Hotmail. At the time, most people got their e-mail through
Internet service providers like AOL. You’d pay a monthly fee, dial up from
home using a phone line, and access your messages through the AOL
interface. It was restricting. You could connect only from the place where
you had the service installed. You were chained to one computer.
But Hotmail was different. It was one of the first Web-based e-mail
services, which allowed people to access their inbox from any computer
anywhere in the world. All they needed was an Internet connection and a
Web browser. Independence Day was chosen for the announcement to
symbolize how the service freed people from being locked into their current
provider.
Hotmail was a great product, and it also scored well on a number of the
word-of-mouth drivers we’ve talked about so far. At the time, it was quite
remarkable to be able to access e-mail from anywhere. So early adopters
liked talking about it because it gave them Social Currency. The product
also offered users significant benefits over other e-mail services (for
starters, it was free!), so many people shared it for its Practical Value.
But the creators of Hotmail did more than just create a great product.
They also cleverly leveraged observability to help their product catch on.
Every e-mail sent from a Hotmail account was like a short plug for the
growing brand. At the bottom was a message and link that simply said “Get
Your Private, Free E-mail from Hotmail at
www.hotmail.com
.” Every time
current Hotmail customers sent an e-mail, they also sent prospective
customers a bit of social proof—an implicit endorsement for this previously
unknown service.
And it worked. In a little over a year Hotmail signed up more than 8.5
million subscribers. Soon after, Microsoft bought the burgeoning service for
$400 million. Since then more than 350 million users have signed up.
Apple and BlackBerry have adopted the same strategy. The signature
lines at the bottom of their e-mails often say “Sent using BlackBerry” or
“Sent from my iPhone.” Users can easily change this default message to
something else (one of my colleagues changed his signature to say “Sent by
Carrier Pigeon”), but most people don’t, in part because they like the Social
Currency the notes provide. And by leaving these notes on their e-mail,
people also help spread awareness about the brand and influence others to
try it.
—————
All these examples involve products that advertise themselves. Every
time people use the product or service they also transmit social proof or
passive approval because usage is observable.
Many companies apply this idea through prominent branding.
Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, and Burberry all garnish their products with
brand names or distinctive logos and patterns. For Sale signs broadcast
which Realtor the seller is working with.
Following the notion that more is better, some companies have increased
the size of their logos. Ralph Lauren has always been known for its
characteristic polo player, but its Big Pony shirts made this famous emblem
sixteen times larger. Not to be outdone in the escalation for logo supremacy,
Lacoste made a similar move. The alligator on its Oversized Croc polo shirt
is so large it looks as if it will bite the arm off of any person wearing it.
But large logos aren’t the only way products can advertise themselves.
Take Apple’s decision to make iPod headphones white. When Apple first
introduced the iPod, there was lots of competition in the digital music
player space. Diamond Multimedia, Creative, Compaq, and Archos all
offered players, and music on one company’s device couldn’t easily be
transferred to another. Further, it wasn’t clear which, if any, of these
competing standards would stick around, and whether it was worth
switching from a portable CD player or Walkman to buy this new,
expensive device.
But because most devices came with black headphones, Apple’s white
headphone cords stood out. By advertising themselves, the headphones
made it easy to see how many other people were switching away from the
traditional Walkman and adopting the iPod. This was visible social proof
that suggested the iPod was a good product and made potential adopters
feel more comfortable about purchasing it as well.
Shapes, sounds, and a host of other distinctive characteristics can also
help products advertise themselves. Pringles come in a unique tube.
Computers using the Microsoft operating system make a distinctive sound
when they boot up. In 1992, French footwear designer Christian Louboutin
felt his shoes lacked energy. Looking around, he noticed the striking red
Chanel nail polish an employee was wearing. That’s it! he thought, and
applied the polish to his shoes’ soles. Now Louboutin shoes always come
with red-lacquered soles, making them instantly recognizable. They’re
distinctive and easy to see, even for people who know little about the brand.
Similar ideas can be applied to a host of products and services. Tailors
give away suit bags imprinted with the tailor’s name. Nightclubs use
sparklers to broadcast when someone pays to get bottle service. Tickets
usually sit in people’s pockets, but if theater companies and minor league
teams could use buttons or stickers as the “ticket” instead, “tickets” would
be much more publicly observable.
Designing products that advertise themselves is a particularly powerful
strategy for small companies or organizations that don’t have a lot of
resources. Even when there is no money to buy television ads or a spot in
the local paper, existing customers can act as advertisements if the product
advertises itself. It’s like advertising without an advertising budget.
—————
A product, idea, or behavior advertises itself when people consume it.
When people wear certain clothes, attend a rally, or use a website, they
make it more likely that their friends, coworkers, and neighbors will see
what they are doing and imitate it.
If a company or organization is lucky, people consume its product or
service often. But what about the rest of the time? When consumers are
wearing other clothes, supporting a different cause, or doing something else
entirely? Is there something that generates social proof that sticks around
even when the product is not being used or the idea is not top of mind?
Yes. And it’s called behavioral residue.
LIVESTRONG WRISTBANDS AS BEHAVIORAL RESIDUE
Scott MacEachern had a tough decision to make. In 2003, Lance Armstrong
was a hot commodity. As his sponsor at Nike, MacEachern was trying to
figure out the best way to harness all the attention Lance was getting.
Lance had a powerful story. Diagnosed with life-threatening testicular
cancer seven years earlier, Lance had been given only a 40 percent chance
of survival. But he surprised everyone not only by returning to cycling, but
by coming back stronger than ever. Since his return, he had won the Tour de
France an astounding five times in a row and inspired millions of people
along the way. From fifteen-year-olds dealing with cancer to college
students trying to stay in shape, Lance helped people to believe. If he could
come back from cancer, they could overcome the challenges in their own
lives. (Note that in the decade since 2003, it has become apparent that
Armstrong may have achieved his success through the use of performance-
enhancing drugs. But given the powerful success of Livestrong wristbands,
and the Lance Armstrong Foundation more generally, it is worth
considering how they became popular, outside of whether Armstrong’s
personal story is tainted or not.)
MacEachern wanted to capitalize on this enthusiasm. Lance had
transcended sports. He had become not only a hero, but a cultural icon.
MacEachern wanted to recognize Lance’s achievements and celebrate his
upcoming attempt at a record sixth Tour de France victory. He also wanted
to use the outpouring of interest and support to raise funds and awareness
for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
MacEachern developed two potential ideas.
The first idea was a bike ride across America. People would set a mileage
goal for themselves and get friends or family members to sponsor their ride.
It would get more people to exercise, boost interest in cycling, and raise
money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Lance might even do part of
the trip. The event would take weeks and likely garner significant media
coverage both nationally and locally in all the cities the ride covered.
The second idea was a wristband. Nike had recently begun selling Baller
Bands, silicone rubber bands with inspirational messages like “TEAM” or
“RESPECT” on the inside. Basketball players wore them to stay focused
and increase motivation. Why not make a wristband focused on Armstrong?
Nike could make 5 million of the bands, sell them for a dollar each, and
give all the proceeds to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
MacEachern liked the wristband idea, but when he pitched it to Lance’s
advisors they weren’t convinced. The foundation thought the bands would
be a dud. Bill Stapleton, Armstrong’s agent, thought they had no chance of
success and called them “a stupid idea.” Even Armstrong was incredulous,
saying, “What are we going to do with the 4.9 million that we don’t sell?”
MacEachern was stuck. While he liked the wristband idea, he wasn’t sure
it would fly. But then he made one seemingly innocuous decision that had a
big impact on the product’s success. MacEachern made the wristbands
yellow.
—————
Yellow was chosen because it is the color of the race leader’s jersey in
the Tour de France. It’s also not strongly associated with either gender,
making it easy for both men and women to wear.
But it was also a smart decision from an observability perspective.
Yellow is a color people almost never see.
And it is striking. Yellow stands out against almost anything people wear,
making it easy to see a Livestrong wristband from far away.
This public visibility helped make the product a huge success. Not only
did Nike sell the first 5 million bands, but it did so within the first six
months of release. Production couldn’t keep up with demand. The
wristbands were such a hot item that people started bidding ten times the
retail price to snag them on eBay. In the end, more than 85 million
wristbands were sold. You might even know someone who wears one to this
day. Not bad for a little piece of plastic.
It’s hard to know how well the ride across America would have done if
Nike had implemented it. And it’s easy to Monday-morning-quarterback a
successful strategy and say it was obviously the better choice. But
regardless, one thing is clear: the wristband creates more behavioral residue
than the cross-country ride ever could have. As MacEachern keenly noted:
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