We often complain that B2B products and services don’t appeal to customers at a personal level. But maybe we’re just not trying hard enough.
Jerry Zaltman, a Harvard Business School professor, has an interesting theory about how to reach customers below the surface, called “deep metaphors.” In this excellent interview, Zaltman defines deep metaphors as “fundamental frames or lenses that we use to orient ourselves to the world around us. They work largely below awareness or in our subconscious minds and shape and reshape just about everything we think, feel, hear, say, and do. They are almost a secret or hidden language of thought and action.”
As an example of how to reach the subconscious, Zaltman shows a Michelin tire commercial in which a baby is sitting inside a tire that is floating on water during a light rain. Inside the tire, pairs of stuffed animals surround the baby—any resemblance to Noah’s Ark is purely intentional, says Zaltman. In interviews that Zaltman did with viewers of the commercial, he heard Michelin portrayed as the holder of safety for families.
In all, there are seven deep metaphors, says Zaltman. In this article, they are defined as:
- Balance (equilibrium)
- Transformation (changing states or status)
- Journey (as in life)
- Container (keeping things in and keeping things out)
- Connection (feelings of belonging or exclusion)
- Resource (providing survival)
- Control
Counted together, these seven metaphors account for 70 percent of our inner feelings, according to Zaltman, who helps companies uncover these metaphors through extensive interviews with customers through his consulting firm.
It’s an expensive process, no doubt. But it got me thinking. Perhaps we could use these metaphors to guide some of our programs with customers in B2B.
I think B2B technology marketers should pay particular attention to the metaphor of connection. In hundreds of interviews with technology people, I’ve always noticed their passion for the profession. Indeed, I think technology people are more loyal to their community of practice than they are to their companies. Anyone willing to work for free (as in the open source movement) is fired by passion.
And two of the passions that fire the open source movement are connection and recognition. In survey after survey of open source contributors, they always cite recognition by their peers—as expressed by downloads of their code—as their main motivation.
I think we in marketing should keep this quest for connection in mind when developing our programs and campaigns. What do you think?
