Changing the Game: When Words Lead to Action

While actions may speak louder than words, words can lead to game changing actions. That is how brands can use language to set themselves apart. This is true whether they are looking to differentiate themselves in an existing category, or looking to change the category game. 

Great brands often use words to help drive brand behaviors that put them in a category of one. Disneyland does not have 'employees', they have 'cast members'. Cast members behave differently than employees. When they are at the park they are acting their role to create a truly immersive experience for their 'guests'...another word that drives behavior. This is why everyone 'cast members' will reach out to 'guests' to make them feel welcome and personally cared for. This is also why Disney keeps its 'set' spotless and does not tolerate trash on the sidewalk. 

American Express does not have card holders, but, rather 'members'. That's why American Express behaves like an exclusive club that builds member only airport lounges and offers personal Concierge services.

American Express Centurion 'Member' Lounge

Furthermore, when brands lead a category with breakthrough innovation, they have the opportunity to create a new language that drives with fundamental changes in human behavior. Before iPhone and iTunes, there was no such thing as 'downloading an app'. Sometimes the brand itself becomes synonymous those new behaviors. We no longer 'ship' packages, we 'FedEx' them. We no longer 'search' online, we 'Google'. We don't take a 'taxi', we 'Uber' home.

With the automotive category about to undergo significant change, how might language drive new behaviors?

If the pundits are true, in the not so very distant future fully electric vehicles will be driving themselves...and we might just be sharing them with others.  In this scenario, many words, like 'driver' and 'owners' will become obsolete, as will all the brand behaviors that are geared towards these words. Moreover, many of the category values like 'fun to drive' and 'gas mileage' will no longer be applicable. 

So what might the new language look like? How might it guide new brand behavior? And is there an opportunity for a brand to own the new category language?

If you are not driving you are a passenger or a rider. If you do not own the car, you are a user. Brands that begin to use and embrace this language could be ahead of the curve in being prepared for the future.

With that shift in language, everything from product development to advertising would change. For riders, the focus for product development would move from centering around enhancing the driving experience to giving more thought into the rest of the interior and the cars impact on passengers. Forget the ever growing size of screens in the cockpit...how about screens for all passengers? Forget step by step driving directions on GPS, how about narrated guided tours that give passengers more insight on local history and points of interest? Forget perfecting acceleration and handling...how about exploring technology that mitigates motion sickness? How about trademarking that technology to own it? 

Advertising would focus on amplifying these new experiences--no more romancing the sheetmetal or windy country roads. Ads might feel more like technology, entertainment or hospitality ads. 

If you go once step further from passenger to user, transportation service providers would begin to think and behave more like AT&T or Netflix, focusing on generating the highest possible average revenue per user (ARPU) by bundling more and more services. After all, what are users going to do with all those screens while they're riding? And, just like telecommunications service providers built their networks, electric transportation service providers would be investing in charging networks that could be bundled into these subscriptions.

These nuances in language are only the beginning of a long list of new words that are about to be infused into the category. Interestingly, almost every car company now defines themselves in the business of 'mobility'. As of yet, however, a change in language has not resulted in a change in behavior. Perhaps that is because, as a very knowledgeable student of the industry pointed out to me just last week, this is not a new word at all. Mobility is at the very root of the word automobile which is derived from the French for 'self moving'. . 

That said, perhaps there is still an opportunity car brand to breathe new life into the meaning of the word 'auto-mobile', by embracing the corresponding behaviors that purveyors of 'self-moving' devices would adopt.