CURRENCIES OF CHANGE

In 2015, brands who really have a HUMAN side must realize that a million-and-one faux-HUMAN social media voices and brand-vanity ‘experiences’ will never be enough: it’s time for real action.

66% of consumers feel that their relationships with brands are ‘one sided’, with them as the sole contributors and brands as the sole beneficiaries (Edelman, October 2014).

One way that smart brands will take action when it comes to customers’ quest for personal enhancement in 2015? By taking the (ever-more widely adopted) smartphones and wearable devices*, and deploying them to offer more personal, innovative, fun, timely, targeted and ultimately relevant rewards in order to help people achieve their goals.

* Of course, like any trend that caters to such a basic human need, tech-driven innovations aren’t the only solution. Check out some of the low-tech innovations below too. 

Digital self-tracking promised to be a self-improvement revolution.

Now, the results are in, and they tell a more nuanced story. It’s true that the uptake of self-tracking has been impressive. For example, 21% of US adults already owned a wearable device (PWC, October 2014), while an online global study of 24,000 consumers in 24 countries found that 8% owned a wearable fitness monitor, 7% a smartwatch, and 6% a wearable health device. 40%, 41% and 39% respectively plan to buy one in the next five years (Accenture, January 2015).

But despite this, evidence shows that self-tracking alone is not an effective long-term motivator for most users.

Disappointment with the Quantified Self movement doesn’t change the fact that self-improvement is one of the deepest-rooted imperatives in human nature. What’s more, it’s a fundamental driver of behavior inside the modern consumer arena, where people strive to present an interesting – and aspirational – face to the world.

We know in materially affluent societies, where basic needs are easily met, human motivation quickly shifts away from what I have to who I am. The result is a never-ending quest for personal enhancement that can play out across countless axes: health, formal education, informal skills and knowledge, creativity, ethics, values and many more.

The problem? Other, self-sabotaging impulses and faults that are just as much a part of human nature: lack of motivation, poor time management, loss of focus, and yes, plain old laziness (hey, we’re all guilty ;)