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Hooks
John Mcreery (jlm@TWICS.COM)
Wed, 5 Oct 1994 23:58:36 JST
Dear Friends,
We are, or at least I hope we are, still in the brainstorming phase of this
discussion. Please note that my previous postings have not been intended to be
critical, but rather to suggest some emerging links between the ideas put
forward. We seem to be talking about a world in which businesses are
increasingly aware that dealing with cultural differences is a critical
component of management and marketing both. Anthropologists may be able to
position themselves as people uniquely qualified to shed light on issues raised
by cultural differences. As a business person I would like to hear more about
these unique qualifications. What can anthropologists do that my current
employees/consultants can't do (or can't do as well)?
As someone involved in advertising, I see the issues involved in creating
successful hooks as follows:
Basic Goals
(1) Awareness: Does the proposed "hook" raise awareness of anthropology?
(2) Understanding: Does it suggest concretely what the anthropologist offers?
(3) Differentiation: Does it distinguish the anthropologist from
psychologists, sociologists, economists, political scientists.....etc., etc.,
who alsoclaim special expertise when it comes to understanding what makes
people tick?
Communication Constraints
(1) We need a story
(2) It's got to be simple
Ideally We'd Like
(1) A big idea
(2) That feels right to potential employers and clients
(3) A campaignable idea--one with lots of potential for development in all
sorts of directions
>From what I've seen so far, we may be may be moving in the right direction.
It's much too early to say. Let's have some more bright ideas.
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