Why You Should Read Grant McCracken's Chief Culture Officer

Business books generally fall into one of two categories.

The first is the kind that seeks to explain the latest tech platform or fad of the moment. Think Twitter Power or Crush it. These books are often anecdotal, breezy and enjoyable reads, but often light in rigorous market research.

The second type is the dry academic tome – think Blue Ocean Strategy or Good to Great. These are rich, scientific pieces, chock-full of exhaustive research and references. These books attempt to synthesize market data into new theories and formulas that capture the imagination of serious marketers and professorial types.

MIT Research Affiliate Grant McCracken’s Chief Culture Officer is rare because it combines the best of both worlds. It’s as robust an academic commentary as you’ll find, but with the page turning ability of a John Grisham thriller.

Firstly, may I say it is impossible to read this book without wanting to meet the author in person. Every sentence reminds you of your buddy’s cool uncle that made that dinner party you tried to avoid tolerable. You know the one - the guy that straddles the border of what is appropriate to say and what isn’t. Charming enough to observe the social niceties, but a fervent enough truth seeker to push some guests beyond their comfort zone. Plenty of authors delight in informing the emperor he has no clothes, Dr. McCracken is the type that politely suggests his majesty could also lose a few pounds on the way to the tailor.

Like most business books, Dr. McCracken’s has a consistent narrative pivot the book revolves around. In Chief Culture Officer, this “hook” is the author’s argument for the creation of the CCO position in the C-suite. Dr. McCracken argues that where once we summed up cultural stereotypes as “James Dean or mainstream,” our modern society has become messier and more fragmented, calling for a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the forces shaping consumer behavior – cue the Chief Culture Officer.

What follows is a rich summation of modern culture, drawing on the author’s considerable professional experience as well an incredibly astute eye for social observation and people watching. The parts of the book I most enjoyed were the author’s description of how trends subtly shifted from the subterranean to the mainstream. His detailed examination of “preppy convergence” was superb, as was the review of the periods that shaped the Beat and Hippy movements. Chapter four is entitled “Status and Cool” - a chief distinction any budding CCO must make. The author’s deep dive into the nineteenth century Parisian genesis of coolness led him to call it “one lucky meme” for its staying power.

My only concern with the book is its name. And that is only because I don't think it adequately captures the richness of the material inside. My fear is that the title as well as the subtitle, “How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation,” means the book might appear to the casual bookstore peruser as a lightweight, touchy-feely manifesto for how to build an admired corporate culture - the kind of name that Phil Knight or Tony Hsieh might attach to their memoirs. However, since the book is starting to generate almost uniformly positive reviews, people are realizing what a worthwhile read it really is.

I began reading CCO by underlining some of the “money quotes” to use in this review. The problem was that their sheer abundance now means almost every page is doused in red ink! Here are some below:

On our culture in an ongoing state of flux:
“It’s not easy to decipher how our culture got from Andy Griffith to Homer Simpson, but that’s our job. And once we’ve done that we can figure out the transition from Homer Simpson to Seth MacFarlane’s “Family Guy.” Our culture is under constant reconstruction” (p.101).

On affecting the bottom line:
“There are two ways the CCO pursues profit. The first is in the workaday business of making the C-suite’s decisions better informed of the opportunities and risks that come from culture. The second is by acting like an internal entrepreneur, an innovation agent inside the corporation” (p. 107).

On culture’s influence on the Coke brand:
“Without a connection to culture, Coke is merely carbonated water and syrup. Without culture, it’s just a fizzy drink. So culture counts. Let’s be clearer still. The fundamental terms of the Coke proposition are changing. The carbonated soft drink is now contested by new ideas of what a drink should be (Snapple, Gatorade, Poland Springs, Vitamin-water, Red Bull). In the traditional case, culture matters. In the present case, it matters more.” (p.10).

On former Disney boss Michael Eisner mistaking exposure to media for understanding of culture:
“No doubt, Eisner avails himself of new media. This only tells us he drinks from a fire hose, not that he’s well informed” (p.156).

On the trouble with “Cool Hunters”
“At some point in the conversation ask him about some aspect of culture that is not fashionable, and see how he handles it. Ask him say, about swap meets, NASCAR, or gardening… Does he dis or dismiss the topic? Does he offer hipster’s answers that swap meets are great because they have so many vinyl records and vinyl is much truer than digital, blah, blah, blah)? The moment a consultant starts demonstrating this fatal confusion about culture and cool, it’s time to go” (p.160).

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I read a lot of business books, but none casts the net so wide and delivers the goods with such ease. Thank you Dr. McCracken for raising the bar so high.

Do yourself a favor, buy this book today:

Building A Loss Proof-Brand

Not before time, but here is my presentation from last year's Sport Marketing Association's 6th annual conference.

I have made some tweaks to to the content and style to make it more Slideshare friendly.

Enjoy!

Building And Leveraging A Loss Proof Brand

View more presentations from Charlie Quirk.

The Evolution Of Apple

The graphic on the left is meant to depict one thing – that a brand has very little to do with a logo.

Sure, iconography is important – the instantly recognizable Coke bottle silhouette or the Nike Swoosh are testament to that. But any logo itself is an inanimate shape – its meaning is derived from the sum total of what the brand stands for.

Apple was not recently listed by Fortune Magazine as the most admired company in the world for having a sexy logo, but by embodying a set of values and beliefs that its users find cool and aspirational. So while its logo and products have evolved over the years (I'm sure its designers would prefer to forget its notorious beige phase!), the values that define Apple have stood the test of time.

So just what is Apple? How do you distill the essence of the Apple brand? Many people talk about its sleek design or its user intuitivity. These are important attributes to be sure, but they are not what make the Apple brand admired.

The answer lies in the message behind the famed 1984 and Think Different TV spots. Not unlike its pugnacious visionary Steve Jobs, Apple is a fierce independence symbolizing a free-spirited creativity. This is the reason people have Apple bumper stickers and tattoos of the logo - because they are a member of the Apple "tribe." What the brand stands for resonates with them.

However, with growing popularity comes a host of new challenges for Apple. How does a brand remain cool as it becomes as ubiquitous as white ear buds on a college campus? A former periphery brand used by a niche market of designers and creative professionals, the Apple juggernaut continues to gain market share across all its categories. Going forward its greatest challenge will be to avoid becoming commoditized - like Starbucks before it - a victim of its own success.

For some reason, I wouldn’t bet on it...

Steps To Becoming A Nation Brand

Wikipedia describes a nation as, "A cultural and social community in as much as members may never meet each other, yet feel a common bond. Nations are defined by a shared culture... Unlike a language, a national culture is unique to the nation."

After reading the literal definition of nation, I felt it much more appropriate to the world of brands than the oft used term "Movement brand." This was the genesis of the "Nation Brand Staircase" diagram on the left that captures the various degrees of engagement that brands elicit from their users.

Starting at the ground level, Cadbury's "glass and a half of full cream dairy milk" emphasizes the ingredients at the expense of a meaningful purpose beyond its utility. The next step up, Coke is well regarded and held in esteem by its drinkers, although accessible and ubiquitous, there is no distinct cachet in being a coke drinker.

At step three, a brand like Ferrari conveys status and a certain lifestyle that its owners find aspirational. Finally at the top step are two of the quintessential nation brands of today, Apple and Harley Davidson.

Just as Loss-Proof sporting franchises do, Apple and Harley inspire voluntary enlistment to their brands. In living, breathing and communicating this message, brands become nations - a unique cultural community where users feel a common bond despite never having met each other.

As famous Irish nationalist George William Russell wrote, "After the spiritual powers, there is no thing in the world more unconquerable than the spirit of nationality."

"Brand Murali"

Late last year, Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan overtook Shane Warne as the highest taking test wicket taker of all time. Regardless of one’s own personal opinion, it is an admirable feat worthy of recognition. The parochial banter that followed the event between Sri Lankans and Australians as to which man was the better bowler was nothing new and was always going to occur. However, this is a circular discussion destined to remain forever unresolved. This led me to ponder the following question, apart from his game-day influence, what does “Brand Murali” stand for?

We all know he has been a devastatingly effective bowler, but what his legacy will be? With great brands the litmus test of brand strength can usually be summed up in a word or two. Volvo = Safety, Coke = Refreshment, Target = Cheap Chic. So applying that test to Murali, where does that leave his brand? In Sri Lanka it might be “hero”, in Australia perhaps, “chucker”. However one attribute of “Brand Murali” that no-one would deny is “controversial”.

Murali’s career (for better or worse) will forever be surrounded by the issue of his action’s legality. Sure it has been tested in a lab, complete with motion sensor equipment - when the bowler is well aware the continuation of his career rests upon his passing a test while covered in motion sensor patches. However, prior to the 2007 test series Murali cried foul when Warne and a host of others ask that his action be tested under match conditions. This underscored Murali’s insecurity under such close analysis. People accuse Warne of sour grapes, which it may well be, but that does not change the fact, that it is a long way between the human movement testing lab at the University of Western Australia, and the heat of a test match.

Let’s be clear, the controversy surrounding his action aside, Murali has been been a great ambassador for the game – evidenced by his own charities and contribution to the redevelopment of his home country following the Asian Tsunami of 2004. However, the “controversial” tag remains. Why?

If nothing else, this highlights that a brand is nothing more than an idea in the minds of others. Murali is the chief driver of his brand, he can manage it, but he does not own it. A brand is akin to one’s reputation - an intangible entity reinforced by all that one does.

If Murali was concerned with his own personal “brand” he would make himself available to testing under match conditions. Going on his refusal to do so in the past, this is highly unlikely to happen. However, until such time, comparisons with Warne as to who the better bowler is will always center around the fact a much larger proportion of Murali’s wickets have come on spinning pitches custom made for him against inferior teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He claims that if he takes 1000 wickets, that will once and for all put to bed comparisons with Warne as to who is a better bowler.

That may be the case, but until such time he is prepared to undergo proper match testing, he will be known as a lethally effective bowler, but his brand will be destined to remain as a “custodian of controversy.”