Once upon a time, in a far away land, a children’s storyteller found
himself in a strange building where people spent their days in earnest
discussion and debate about how other people lived their lives. They would
pace about the large rooms, peer through windows, consult books and research
reports, and debate yet again.
One day, the young storyteller offered to take them on a walk, away
from their comfortable workplace, away from the modern suburbs to the
places where people worked in factories and had less time to discuss
lofty issues. He took them to visit the factories, homes, and shops where
millions lived and breathed. They talked about their lives, their values,
dreams, and how they spent their money. Clouds of unknowing dissolved
in the sunlight.
The young storyteller was David McCaughan who had recently joined McCann
Erickson, a leading advertising agency in Sydney, after working as a
children’s librarian and storyteller for ten years.
This modern story of the Pied Piper has a happy ending. Everybody returned
home safely and continued with the rest of their lives, though a little
changed by their experience. More guided tours to ordinary life followed,
laying seeds for what has flourished thereafter. Like the piper of old,
McCaughan since traveled to many countries (but not “the caliphate
of Baghdad”), and is now executive vice-president of strategic
planning at McCann Erickson, the leading Western advertising agency in
Japan.
Planners abound in Japan and have such varied responsibilities it is
hard to know what the word means. However, in a Western advertising agency,
it has a very specific meaning, as McCaughan explains: “ Our role
is to focus on a combination of what people are doing in the marketplace,
what brands are about now, their potential, and what you need to do to
convert people into consumers of those brands. In a Western agency this
work is closely associated with all that is going on in people minds,
and the "-ologies” that study behavior. It is much more specific
than the way the word ‘planning’ is sometimes used in Japan
to describe jobs involving any kind of analytical work.
The word ‘people’ gets special emphasis. “We are surrounded
by people not consumers,” explains McCaughan. “There’s
a lot going on in their lives and brands are not always centre stage.
We once did a study for an Australian toothbrush maker and found that
a typical Australian family might spend no more than seven minutes a
year thinking about toothbrushes, though they brushed their teeth every
day. As planners, we try to focus on people as people and then explore
how they might become consumers of one brand rather than another,” McCaughan
added.
When McCaughan joined McCann in 1986, planning was a newish discipline
in many agencies. His first task was to help McCann in Australia develop
the techniques that would enable the agency to focus more clearly on
people and the challenge of making brands from the agency’s clients
a part of their lives.
Within a few years, McCaughan’s initial trip across Sydney to
listen to people talking about their lives had evolved into Pulse, a
worldwide program to monitor what people are talking about in the course
of ordinary life in some 40 countries. There are weekly dialogues with
individuals that may discuss topics such as “what is the most interesting
thing in life.” The media people use, and their content, are examined. “For
example, we look at popular magazines and TV programs such as soap operas
which may teach people a great deal about fashion, home decoration, and
entertaining,” explains McCaughan. There are also interviews with
people like hairdressers and taxi drivers who also listen to people talking
about their lives. Finally, McCaughan and his colleagues explore the
meanings of what they have been told and relate these to social trends,
global events, and find the implications for individual brands.
Pulse was launched throughout Asia in 1995, since when many countries
have been through turbulent times. There have been economic crises and
social ones, such as SARS. Pulse provides a window to view the changes.
What impresses McCaughan most “ …. is the level of resilience
and personal optimism in Asia. Despite the problems they face, people
retain a high level of optimism about their lives. In Japan, they might
say, “I can make it, but I’m not so sure my country can.” In
Malaysia, they used to say, “My country will make it, but I’m
not so sure I can keep up,’ and now they say ‘I can make
it, and may country probably can too.’ I think this reflects that
a generation of people have grown up hearing media stories about how
this is the “Asian Century.” When people witness the evidence
of growth, improved living standards, prosperity, as part of their own
lives, the resulting optimism makes it easier to bounce back from setbacks
such as SARS.”
Another change. “The concept of everyday luxury is now becoming
an everyday norm – not just for the rich middle class of the West,
but also in Asia,” says McCaughan. “In Japan, there is polarity – most
people have cut back in some way, but they also indulge. Haagen Daz ice
cream sandwiches, for example, have been very successful.” Starbucks
has also found success and become an agent of social change via a touch
of luxury. “In Singapore, for example, people used to spend their
time standing inside or walking about malls but now they spend time sitting
comfortably, talking, sipping an expensive Latte, and watching the outdoors.
Starbucks has brought new ways for people to meet, talk, and interact,” says
McCaughan.
Technology crosses all borders with ease, yet there are major and interesting
differences in attitudes: “Europeans are blasé about technology –“ its
great, but it won’t change me.” In the USA, there is a total
need to know what the technology is. In Asia, people ask how can I take
advantage of it, how can I achieve more through it,” explains McCaughan.
Such top line results and the wealth of detailed insight that accompanies
them give McCann powerful abilities to craft campaigns for global clients
that are relevant to people in different countries. Findings about broad
trends and much of the detail are made publicly available through a series
of Pulse Reports. However, the ways in which this can be used in helping
brands fulfill their potential are best deciphered by studying the communications
that McCann creates or looking at what people buy.
Pulse untangles the threads that run through daily lives and their interactions.
It also brings together the varied threads of McCaughan’s own life
as a student of Renaissance Italian history, the time spent as a butler
to an Italian nobleman, a yoghurt maker, a menswear salesman, as well
as a librarian and story teller. Planners tend to be people with varied
backgrounds, maybe this is key to knowing how to handle the patterns
and richness of information that planners digest. Story telling is part
of the process too. McCaughan’s favorite children's author is Dr
Seuss “. . . the word games and rhythm make keeping kids entertained
not too hard at all. And they are the sort of story that kids will want
to listen too constantly.”
. |
|