Meet Cheri and Lisa – a conversation
How did the two of you connect and get focused on the Connected Generation?
Cheri: Our friendship started several years ago. Lisa owned ReachWomen and had started retooling the brand to focus on 18-40-year-old career women. I was working as an author and writer for several books and brands focused on this same group of women. The moment we met, I was struck by Lisa’s incredible mix of warmth, humor and intelligence. Every day, she has amazing insights and ideas that would take most people several months to develop. No one ever forgets a meeting or conversation with Lisa.
Lisa: I remember one of my strongest impressions of Cheri was that she was dangerously inconspicuous, and I think that’s why she is such a talented reporter. She is unbelievably observant, so skilled at extracting the essence from people and situations. She is quietly dynamic and my favorite new game was getting her alone and getting her “read” on interactions and events that had taken place. She was always razor sharp in her insights and never failed to get me laughing with her really refreshing sense of humor. I was immediately her biggest fan and was committed to finding ways to work together.
Cheri: We launched our friendship and work relationship from two different countries (Lisa lives in Oregon and I’m based in Vancouver, Canada) by working on the Reaching Women newsletter together. We discovered something really important in these writing session: together, our two minds formed this powerful code-cracking machine. Not to get all dramatic, but we discovered a process of conversation and collaborative writing that allowed us to quickly develop fresh ideas and a clear roadmap for how companies could capitalize on the information. Over a few months, we honed the process to be ultra-efficient and super satisfying.
Lisa: I remember feeling like I wanted to pull Cheri in on every project because our effectiveness together eclipsed what I could accomplish on my own. Even the most puzzling challenges sorted themselves out very quickly when we tackled them together.
Cheri: I felt exactly the same way. The ultimate test was doing the writing and research for Mind Your X’s and Y’s. Unlike books we had each written in the past, this book was built on a treasure hunt. We started with the hypothesis that the Connected Generation was filtering out annoying push marketing and only pulling into their lives what they needed and what they craved – but how to go about discovering the cravings?
Lisa: We eventually came to the conclusion that the best way to understand this Connected Generation was to join their ranks, fill our homes with 20 and 30-something friends, and talk to the brands that were experiencing unprecedented success because of the loyalty from this group.
Cheri: So the treasure hunt began, and so did the fun. We realized that we already lived and worked and played with this generation (and we’re both members of Generation X), so why not start there – fire pits, plane rides, coffee dates, phone calls, blogs, and text messaging. We engaged deeply with our established networks and expanded them significantly in fun and relevant ways.
Lisa: We also started a series of fascinating interviews with breakaway brands, the people who loved them, and sometimes even their critics. Everyone offered great insights, but no one had captured the full picture.
Cheri: We mapped out what we were learning and it began to take shape into 10 consumer cravings and a shared worldview. I remember sitting at Lisa’s kitchen table, freaking out together as the craving code began to emerge. We were out of our minds. It was like crossing the finish line of a mental marathon. Very satisfying.
Lisa: So we completed the book – our partnership and friendship clearly at a new level. Before we even caught our breath, there was this feeling of another powerful opportunity in front of us. As we were talking with the breakaway brands, we saw a common thread. It wasn’t a craving, so it wasn’t included in the book, but we realized that content was essential to their success. Many of these brands were incredibly strategic in how they worked with content and had built architectures of participation that allowed their brand community to get involved and play. Their customers were connected to each other and to their brand. They were highly engaged with the companies – solving problems, creating solutions, spreading the word with evangelistic zeal, and telling the brand where to head next. We asked ourselves, “What should we do with this?”
Cheri: And this is the part where our husbands started to question our sanity. We had just logged countless hours on Mind Your X’s and Y’s, sent that off to the editor, and instead of breaking out the lounge chairs, we were off on a new quest: to equip and teach marketers to think like content strategists. Where do people go to learn this stuff? There appeared to be a giant hole in the marketplace for clear thinking from a marketing perspective on using the new media, creating architectures of participation, engaging your brand community, and embracing the new revenue models. We couldn’t resist. With the ink barely dry on the manuscript, we started to create the first-ever content strategy certification for marketers, and we are going strong on it today. The interest level has been overwhelming and we currently have a waiting list for this program, which will be available in 2007.
Lisa: So back to the blog. Cheri and I have been in conversation about these exciting topics and this powerful generation for years. We are seeking people to join the conversation and share what we’re learning. Please tell us what you have noticed and help us refine our own observations. You can expect to read about a few key areas – the Connected Generation, content strategy and new media, and the insightful strategies of breakaway brands. To get things started, we are focusing this month on exploring who’s part of the Connected Generation, what their lifestyle and worldview looks like, and how to know if you’re part of this renegade new breed of consumers and industry changers.
Cheri: Our new company, the Reach Group, truly grew out of conversations. Changes in this generation and marketplace are happening so quickly that they can’t be understood in isolation. As an introduction to our brand and an invitation to the conversation, we have created a free booklet called Learn From Breakaway Brands. Download it here and share it freely with the people in your network. We are excited to hear your thoughts.
This post was written by Cheri Hanson
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