Felt great? Must have learnt something new.

​One of the trends that I am absolutely in love with, is the ‘learn something new’ holidays. Many outfits offer incredible and inspiring holiday ideas where one can learn a new skill or upskill and upgrade a skill one may already have, interact with people who share your special skill, & do all of this in environments that promote learning AND with communities that share their knowledge. Awesome, indeed.

From learning Tibetan pottery in Tibet while living with the locals, to cooking authentic Thai food, from farming in Scotland, from learning to Tango in Spain to painting the every day in South America, and helping build eco friendly housing in a community, skill based experiences are on the rise, and have tapped into a fundamental human truth – the fact that deep fulfillment is not achieved through mindless relaxation but through expressing your strengths and deepening your skills.

Brands have not yet caught on to this human truth in a big way, except for those in the fitness or travel category. Nike, Adidas, Under Armour all have skill focussed initiatives with always-on skills training that they regularly provide their customers with. Air BnB offers opportunities to interact with locals and learn art and craft, cooking, and a way of living from them. And all of these initiatives have helped bring the brand purpose to life in a manner that makes sense to the customers, while driving relevance and conversion.

When it comes to other categories, especially the FMCG category, there have few and extremely random acts in skills-sphere. This category has much to learn from the sporting and the travel industry on how to impart skills to its potential & existing customers.

What if P&G, supported the ‘Like a Girl’ (a campaign that aimed to that turned a phrase that had become an insult into an empowering message) with sports academy for girls. How about starting this initiative in geographies where girls were most disenfranchised & disadvantaged? Why not work actively with girls teaching them what claiming power is all about? Why not take this training to women, to mothers, to all parents, to help them influence generations after them? And what about a gender equality training course run by Always in schools?

What if J&J, with the Johnson’s Baby legacy, train families to get Dad’s involved in active parenting? And help reverse the sexism that exists in the world of parenting.

What if big food manufacturers started actively teaching people how to make the right food choices via training programs, workshops, clinics, outreach services ( not just via their digital push messages) 

FMCG Brands could beat the lack of differentiation and forge a relationship of mutual benefit with the customers, if they inextricably interweave skills training as part of the brand’s behaviour. R’ber, we are not talking about customer service. That is something I’m hoping brand are doing anyways.  I am talking active skills training and of being a go to resource for people to learn something from.

Here are some questions that I find useful, in helping brand teams think of how they can drive continued brand desirability, relevance, meaning by walking the skills training/ imparting route. 

1. What is the Brand’s Purpose? 
2. How is the Brand’s Purpose expressed in culture currently? What’s the gap? 
3. What skills can the brand impact to the people that can both breathe life into its brand purpose while also providing a real value to people? 
4. How is the brand voice & personality uniquely suited in teaching this skill? Why is this skill right for the brand to teach?
5. What are the physical and virtual environments the brand is creating – both to impart & support learning?
6. What gives the brand the right to impart the kind of skills you are planning to impart? 
7. How will the brand support this with consistency?
8. Why would people want to learn this skill from your brand? Source of legitimacy?
9. Is skills / teaching / training a part of rewards that you will offer your consumers? 
10. What are the kind of partnerships and collaborations that you can set in play to make this the best a uniquely useful learning experience for people?

 
Marketeers often live in Echo chambers, convinced & deluded of the tremendous importance that their brands play in the lives of people. Serve people, not just through the products you ‘sell’ but through skills and learning you can uniquely impart, to transform that delusion & misplaced conviction into reality. Become irreplaceably & meaningfully valuable in the lives of people by enabling fulfillment that is only achieved through acquiring & deepening skills. 

People remember and uniquely value those from whom they learnt something. In a world where brands are desperate for people’s attention through activities that are more undifferentiated than not, making an earnest effort to live and contribute to people’s skill-sphere, might be the best way to make them value you. The earnest cause you set in motion, will have the desired effect you can reap. It’s inevitable.