Destination Corner Office

“Those must be the guests. I have to get the chips out and the fondue set all just right.”

“Coming!” The host of the party yells.

As the door opens, a lady with a huge grin on her face grapevines into your “living room” and starts singing a medley of show tunes.

The host asks “You aren’t from around her are you?” and before the guest even has a chance to answer the doorbell rings again…

This is the beginning of what I am sure is to be a most hysterical scene set up by one of the greatest acting improvisation games ever invented, Party Quirks. This is a game where the audience asks three people to assume the roles of guests at a party. Each guest is assigned a famous person or other unique characteristics to make up as they interact with the host of the party. The host, having no knowledge of what the quirks of the guests are, must guess who each guest is. Classic improv at its best.

This game and many improv game alike, help to train actors and actresses to think quickly on their feet and react to the scene around them. While we are not all actors on stage, as marketers we are contantly pressured by “Brand Improvisation.”

Brand Improvisation is when a company and its employees are asked to think quickly on their feet and react to a customer’s need, a complex complaint or even to a newly introduced product. As an employee, it is our responsibility to act in the company’s best interest by upholding the values and morals set forth by the company culture and by the senior leadership team.

It is impossible for a company to script every interaction that it will have with society every single day. Mostly because a company has many angles to approaching society. For example, a customer service representative will react differently than a litigation attorney. Both team members are representing the same brand, but both are faced with different and unique challenges.

This is becoming more and more evident with the advent of social media becoming mainstream. Having a presence on Twitter, suggests that the company is interacting in the here and now space.  With Twitter having “water cooler” like qualities, it become very important to formulate an opinion on issues quickly, maybe often times with no preconceived planning. This situations forces strong brand improvisation skills to be needed. The ability to relate, react, and reciprocate becoming extremely important. Here is how I break down the three R’s of Brand Improvisation.

Relate

Connecting with your opposite is key. Setting your frame of reference and understanding where they are coming from will allow you rule out negative responses and populate positive ones. During this phase, placing yourself in the shoes of your brand isn’t enough. You have to elicit emotions and speech as if you were actually the brand in human form. To a certain extent this involves being comfortable being uncomfortable. You will get nervous, but keep in mind if you were hired, you probably already have many of the brand qualities needed for a response.

React

You are not playing a part in Ms. Wilkinson’s fifth grade play. You are assuming the role and totally immersing yourself. Being an employee means that you cannot simply act your way through situations, but rather you must react in order to demonstrate that you hear the concerns and are taking action.

Reciprocate

It isn’t enough to answer every question with “Yes” or “No” or “We can’t answer that at this time.” By not looking for opportunities to carry on your scene, you will surely cause a short interaction with no real substance. Asking open ended questions has never become more important as it is during Brand Improvisation.

Remember…

Despite what people say, brands are always evolving and changing, do your part and don’t just act… react.