This is a video clip that was part of a larger training session we ran recently. Part of the fun was using my own telegraphic car purchases to reflect the power that culture has on me (and, I think, most other people)!

Colin_on_Culture_3_2_h_(1).mov Watch on Posterous

I had drinks with Dr. Bob Deutsch the other day (brain-sells.com).  He shared what I thought was a wise perspective on what great brands do for us: that great brands create emotional connections by enhancing and advancing our identities. Very cool. In the context of culture, we have more ways than ever to develop a sense of who we are, how we fit in the world and in our relationships. It’s very exciting to have this swirl of culture around you, knowing you can participate at some level in pretty much anything.

But working recently on a couple of pitches has helped me see that accessing different parts of culture can be made to be very difficult or very easy. It’s almost impossible to become a member of the Harvard’s Porcellian Club at Harvard, to Mark Zuckerberg’s huge frustration in The Social Network. But It’s dead easy to be a fan of the San Francisco Giants. Whether you are a jump-on-the-band-wagon type or a season ticket holder, baseball is built for easy access.

Great brands provide access to new worlds at the level of risk, challenge and adventure that we have the appetite for.

Easy Access Brands
Some brands make it hard and tend to attract people who like it that way. It’s the American meritocracy version of the class system, where those admitted worked hard to earn their place among the few. Easy Access brands seem to be about controlled risk, allowing us to expand our sense of self without too much danger, time spent, money or potential for failure. I guess this is a part of what it mean when people say “Americanized.” Convenience and reliability are its hallmarks. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a hell of a business model. There’s very big money here.

• Elvis, Perry Como, Eminem and many other artists have provided access to music that mainstream white audiences were not willing to hear from their black originators. Controversial, and also true.
• Epcot Center lets people tour the world from the comfort of a resort in Florida.
• Olive Garden and Outback give us Italian and Australian cuisine without the risk of disappointment, inconvenience or embarrassment.
• All you need to be part of Harley culture is ride the bike and wear the clothes. It’s a far cry from its gang heyday, but there are over 1 million hog members.
• P.F. Chang’s is delicious, in a cleaned up way. Many authentic Chinese restaurants are off the beaten path, exposing people to language and food that many just doesn’t have the tolerance for.
• Whole Foods continues to be less work than hitting the Farmer’s Market, Pharmaca then finally Safeway to cross the stray items off your shopping list (Plus, it seems to have become a bit of a pickup joint, so that’s another plus for single peeps).
• H&M is a fairly cutting edge disposable fashion place, but still reduces your specialty boutiques trips.
  

None of this is to say that an Easy Access Brand is better or worse than a more exclusive one. Both obviously have hugely relevant roles in the culture. More to the point, both play significant roles for many of us as individuals. I like Gjelina in Venice as much as PF Chang’s with the kids in Santa Monica. I like Eminem and MC Solaar. Umbria was great and so as was Epcot. Each brand plays its part in helping me explore what it means to be some guy living in the early part of the 21st Century.

I was at E3 here in Los Angeles 2 months ago. It provided the usual assault on one’s senses. Felt like I needed a martini after about 2 hours in there! It had the usual cornucopia of new games for people to enjoy, in the usual categories; improved sounds and graphics on shooters, racers, adventure quests, etc.

And as I’m sure you’ve read and seen elsewhere many times already, the big news was motion. Headlined by Playstation Move and XBOX Kinect, we are increasingly able to use our bodies to control our actions and reactions. Playstation still has a controller and Kinect doesn’t, but it still came down to using your body to have some fun doing a game. In other words, E3 and the entire industry is very much about advancing the “Game” category. This is, of course, a pretty smart thing. It’s an absolutely huge business; “play” and “games” are among the root experiences that all human beings crave and love.

But what really struck me was a small simple detail that I think points to a larger opportunity. XBOX Kinect’s presentation included a Personal Trainer…They are supplying serious exercise training with a “game.”

So, what if we were to forget for a moment that XBOX is a platform for “games”. What would we say it was a platform for? And what if we stopped looked at their dancing, car racing, shooting, boxing, footballing applications as games as well. what business would we say they are really in?

Simulation.

I think it’s really the simulation business.

Simulators go way back. Flight simulation is a wonderful example, be it for the Space Shuttle or a 747. These are serious training programs, not games (even though they are probably insanely fun. Oh, and stressful). And you keep hearing about how the US Armed Forces value war games to help train their warriors. These things are built to make someone masterful in whatever they need to be masterful in. 

I’m not arguing to take the fun and the game out of games. But it does seem to open up a whole new idea of applying “game” technology to simulation in the business world or really any category where people want to improve and master something. How could simulation improve a company’s retail or sales or customer service experience? how could simulation train athletes? How could simulation help musicians or public speakers or dog walkers?

Planners can lead this simply be thinking about their companies and their client’s brands, and how simulation can help. Hell, maybe they just take this idea and start a new business entirely. But please keep me in the loop, I’d love a piece of the action:)

Colin 

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I spoke last week with BusinessWeek’s Susan Berfield about Alex Bogusky. It seems our fascination with him has not ebbed and my gluttony for punishment hasn’t either:) We had a very interesting talk, about Alex and about CP+B. Here’s a short outline of the chat:

1. Alex and the future of  CP+B. BusinessWeek, like Fast Company, was very interested in how I thought CP+B would fare without him. I reiterated that some companies like IBM continue brilliantly without their charismatic leader and some do not. We spoke about how great companies instill a sense of purpose and lasting values in their people, ideas that long survive the departure of any one person. I talked about how I thought CP+B’s mission of creating the most talked about content in the world, its drive to do culture-changing work, its high quality people and its powerful self-belief would all be animating factors in its continued success. 
2. The Good Work Continues. We talked about excellent work CP+B has done recently without Alex’s involvement, as proof of the above. That specifically included Domino’s, Old Navy and Kraft Mac & Cheese. 
3. What’s Next for Alex. Alex is going to apply his big brain to areas that are interesting to him: sustainability, food, small nimble companies that are capable of disrupting a category, etc. Nothing that he himself probably hasn’t either written in his blog or talked about on FearlessQA. He’s got the financial independence and youth (!) to start again and do great things elsewhere. 
4. Why I left CP+B. 6+ great years doing the best work of my career so far, it was time to live in a big city again. I had worked for 5  wonderful years in Canada with Heather MacPherson (President of OgilvyWest), and loved the idea of doing it again. Finally, I’ve always had huge respect for Ogilvy’s big business thinking, its rigorous approach to solving marketing problems and its scale. Thought I could bring some CP+B-style strategic and creative thinking to the company. The first 2 months have been awesome so far.