16/04/2018
We all lead half-virtual lives these days. Whatever age we are, our lives are split between physical interactions in the “real” world (or meatworld as it’s called in Swedish) and interactions online.
In the real world, we behave according to the rules of our culture. We do what we consider “correct”, engage with things that we consider interesting as a culture, and judge those who break the rules.
But our lives are half-virtual now. The rules of that world, like the Wild West, are not established. Is it a West Coast utopia of free expression and infinite human possibility? Or is it an Orwellian dystopian world of bots and memes that leave us open to manipulation because we don’t realise that “free” platforms like Facebook and Google are only free because they sell our data to the highest bidder? Are people realising this just now? Do they care more about privacy or being connected?
These are big questions. How are they going to affect your brand? Your business?
Marketeers love metrics, like page views, impressions, likes, as they provide numeric proof of engagement.
But they are ultimately unreliable, because they don’t answer the question: why?
Why are you being engaged with? What does that mean? Curiosity, sales, or watching a car crash?
This is why Lore exists. It’s the first market research agency to focus on digital anthropology: understanding how culture is created now. There’s no boundary between offline and online. How many newly-married couples met on Tinder? Will Tinder even exist in 5 years’ time?
The only way to understand this is by looking at the symbiotic relationship between both. Why do some people think tweeting a death threat or vile abuse is ok, but would never do that to someone face to face?
The digital space is a dream for anthropologists. We can watch the creation of an entirely new culture in real time. Google, Facebook, Snapchat, Tinder, Grindr… all establish their norms and then have huge knock on effects in real life.
How is this space affecting your brand? How are your customers integrating your brand into your life on and offline? Is there something you’re missing by treating them as entirely separate?
Lore’s holistic approach and innovative research methodologies could provide you with some answers – and some opportunities you never even knew existed.
