Welcome to HumanKind

Let’s start from the very beginning…

Let’s Simplify….the ingredients of
successful engagement

What ideas, gestures, experiences

Who is most important to this
brand’s future?
What’s the defining behavior?
What’s the cultural fuel?
What does the brand believe?
Why does the brand exist?
can we create that will transform
the way people think, feel
behave?
Where should we create these
experiences?

People Purpose Acts

When a brand has a human Purpose at
its core and is Act creating around it,
we refer to it as a HumanKind brand.
PEOPLE &
CULTURE

PURPOSE
BRAND IN
THE
CATEGORY
PEOPLE & CULTURE
FINDING THE MOST RELEVANT
CULTURAL FUELS FOR OUR
AUDIENCE
BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour requires you to observe what
people are doing differently that affects
how the brand can connect with them –
the behaviour that causes them to use
the brand less or that suggests new
opportunities for the brand.
It’s not just general behaviour – must
show that the people the brand needs to
reach are doing something differently.
Example: Parents and kids have ‘no holds barred’ conversations.
FUEL
Fuel addresses what is happening that’s
important to the people you’re trying to
reach and what influences them to
behave a certain way.
It’s not just general trends – must show
how the trend is relevant to the lives of
the people the brand needs to reach.
Example: kids want to grow up, parents don’t want to grow old.
The gap between generations is reducing.
UNEARTHING CULTURAL
FUELS
THIS DAY, THAT YEAR
17th June, 1994, people in America watched a O.J. Simpson’s low-speed car
chase on their TVs. What are the most gripping things people are watching
today?

WHY?
What are the most common words you see in the news?
What do they tell you about the mood of our people?

WHY?
What things exist today that didn’t exist
before?

WHY?
What do people care about today that
they didn’t before?

WHY?
Are the most popular show titles different
today?

WHY?
Where do people go on first dates now? What
do they talk about?

WHY?
Who are the heroes on screen today?
How are they different?

WHY?
What do people fantasize about?

WHY?
How are families different today than they
were before?

WHY?
 state FUEL here in simple terms
BECAUSE OF ________________________
CULTURAL FUEL
PEOPLE ARE THINKING OR
STATEMENT emotions, thoughts, or beliefs resulting from the trend
FEELING _____________________________

AND ARE DOING ______________________

simple description of the behaviour
 HOUSE PAINT
People want to express themselves creatively in
many areas (FUEL), but they are afraid to pick
the wrong paint colour because it will be on the
walls a long time (EMOTION) so they let
CULTURAL FUEL professionals pick the colour (BEHAVIOR).

STATEMENT
VIDEO GAMES
Daily reality is often stressful, routine, or boring
(FUEL). People feel frustrated and wish they had
an outlet (EMOTIONS), so they escape by
playing fantasy video games with lots of action
(BEHAVIOR).
 BECAUSE OF ________________________
CULTURAL FUEL
PEOPLE ARE THINKING OR
STATEMENT
FEELING _____________________________

AND ARE DOING ______________________

IN THE CATEGORY
 As markets mature and
categories become
crowded, white spaces
diminish, and it becomes
more and more difficult for
brands to differentiate
themselves vis-à-vis
competition.
 Many brands have successfully
differentiated themselves by adopting
a new way of thinking about the
category to drive brand growth…
THE BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
Blue Ocean Strategy is based on the idea of avowing
drowning in the ‘red ocean’ and creating a ‘blue ocean’ for
the brand to stay afloat.

Red oceans are all the industries in existence today – the

known market space with known category rules where
Blue oceans, in contrast, denote all the industries not in
companies try to outperform their rivals to grab a greater
existence today – the unknown market space where
share of existing demand.
competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game
are waiting to be set, where demand is created rather
As the market space gets crowded, profits and growth
than fought over and opportunities for growth and profit
are reduced. Products become commodities, leading to
are ample.
cutthroat or ‘bloody’ competition. Hence the term red
oceans.
The theory looks great.
The cases feel inspiring.

BUT HOW DO YOU PUT THIS THEORY INTO PRACTICE?

IS THERE A METHOD THAT HELPS
STEER BRANDS TO THE BLUE OCEAN?
 OUR TOOL:
WHAT IF MAPPING
WHAT IS WHAT IF MAPPING?

• It opens the door to brand

possibilities by re-imagining the
product category through a shift in
focus from “what is” to “what if.”

• While it is a quantitative tool

executed via survey research, it
can be used as a direction to think
through a possible blue ocean for a
brand, without actually doing the
research.
WHAT WILL WHAT IF MAPPING HELP US ACHIEVE?

• Re-frame the category,

• Compete in the existing expand its boundaries or
category. create a new one.

• Play by the existing rules of • Break the existing rules; put

the category. new ones in place.

• Beat the competition. • Make the competition

irrelevant.

• Find new ways to carve up

• Create, then capture new
existing demand
demand.
What If Mapping
for Citibank.
Three steps of the process:

1. 2. 3.
CHOOSE A BROADER SELECT THE CREATE THE ATTRIBUTES
CATEGORY. COMPETITIVE CONTEXT. THAT CHARACTERIZE THE
NEW COMPETITORS.
1. CHOOSE A BROADER CATEGORY.

BANKS ARE
IN THE BUSINESS OF ____________________
2. SELECT THE COMPETITIVE CONTEXT.

WHO ELSE IS
IN THE BUSINESS OF ____________________
3. CREATE THE ATTRIBUTES THAT CHARACTERIZE
THE NEW COMPETITORS.

WHAT ATTRIBUTES DEFINE THE COMPETITIVE

SET THAT CITIBANK IS IN THE BUSINESS OF?
 THE OUTPUT:
Citibank Brand Opportunity
PEOPLE &
CULTURE

PURPOSE
BRAND IN
THE
CATEGORY
 PEOPLE PURPOSE ACTS

not consumers not positioning not ads