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November 28, 2005
Today for You, Tomorrow for Me
I have been in Chicago visiting my parents for Thanksgiving weekend. I saw the new movie, RENT, a cinematic adaptation of the long-running Broadway hit musical. Though I have heard the sound track innumerable times at my home in Manhattan (a favorite of my teenage kids), Angel's song Today for You, Tomorrow for Me, had a profound impact on me. It is an upbeat ballad that celebrates life, including payment for bizarre services such as inducing a whining dog owned by an obnoxious neighbor to jump from a 21st story window. The song becomes a mantra for the starving, HIV positive artists whose mutual support is the basis of survival in a tough city.
I was particularly receptive to this theme because I had just attended the newly renovated U-505 submarine exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. The U-505 was part of the Wolfpack assigned to sink Allied ships bound for Britain during World War II. It was captured off of the coast of West Africa only two days before D-Day in Normandy on June 4, 1944, the first such capture of an enemy vessel by the US Navy since 1815. The Allies pretended that the submarine had been sunk, but then towed it 2,500 miles to Bermuda to examine the torpedo technology. The German crew of nearly 60 men was not allowed to communicate with their families for the rest of the war, in fact until their release in 1947, so all were presumed lost. The letters notifying loved ones of their imminent return were touching, but only prelude to the joyous arrival back in Germany, with a film showing parents and children reunited with screams of joy and amazement. In a dedication ceremony held eight weeks ago, about fifteen of the eighty and ninety year old American and German sailors and submariners came together again in Chicago, with their children and grandchildren, hugging each other and celebrating the human spirit.
I had also just seen the Pompeii exhibit at the Field Museum. Both Pompeii and Herculaneum were prosperous port towns adjacent to fertile lands that were the breadbasket of Imperial Rome. Though there had been a disturbance at Mount Vesuvius in 63 AD, the townspeople did not alter their daily routines. The eruption in 79 AD proved fatal to all but a handful of residents of the two towns. Most of them were overcome by the noxious gases and ash released by the volcano, then buried by the lava spewed from the mountain. The contorted figures in their death poses were stark testament to the sudden onslaught of this natural disaster. One woman, reputed to be pregnant, has her head thrown back and mouth wide open, as if screaming for help. Mostly there were groups of four to eight people, either families or co-workers, seeking an escape route in the marina on the shore or in the stables of a nearby farm. They took a few coins or precious stones, enough to survive for a while in the face of disaster. But in large measure, they sought to confront the crisis together, with shared wisdom and in the company of friends.
How do these three stories relate to our world of today? I see humankind at a crossroads, when common interests in environment, security and human rights could supersede narrow national goals pushed by government. I believe in the role of business as a central player in achieving positive outcomes. But to earn this right, business must overcome the skepticism borne of scandal, short-term profit orientation and lack of transparency. Those of us in communications can play a fundamental role by helping business to tell stories of employee heroism in the face of disaster (note Wal-Mart on Hurricane Katrina) and to urge executives to do the right thing (funding HIV testing for employees--DeBeers). (Fair disclosure: both Wal-Mart and DeBeers are Edelman clients.)
Let your employees speak out and your consumers help create your next product. In short, give a voice to those at the bottom of the traditional chain of command, making the last first. By embracing a philosophy of Today for You, Tomorrow for Me, business will ensure its proper seat at the table. That is my Thanksgiving wish.
Posted by Edelman at November 28, 2005 10:13 AM
Comments
Mr. Edelman, I appreciate your thanksgiving comments. I saw RENT with my daughter on its release date. I saw it on Broadway years ago and was moved then by its message of hope amid bad circumstance. In light of your comments about speaking out and making corporate America better, I wonder if Edelman is comfortable handling PR for Microsoft/xbox-360 in light of the shortage of hardware that is causing price gouging, hypervigilance and heartbreak among kids and their parents? Why is Microsoft silent on this issue? Is this good PR? Was it a planned inadequate supply/distribution? Why was the release of xbox 360 planned to coincide with the Christmas buying season when Microsoft knew it could not come close to meeting the demand? This is the "PR" challenge. How will Microsoft respond?
Thanks.
Posted by: Stephen Dermer at November 30, 2005 10:28 AM
Hi Richard,
I agree with this with you that the business world can do wonderful things when it wants to. But as for designing products, the listening companies do must be tempered.
I've heard a story about the move from steam to diesel trains in which the steam engine companies were so busy listening to their customers ask for improvements that they ignored the coming diesel revolution. Their customers showed little interest in these new engines at first, but once they were on the market they took over. By the time they started to respond, their customers had all left.
Also, in the 70s and 80s GM designed some pretty horrible cars because they were so busy listening to what their customers "wanted" as opposed to what the designers knew would be right.
That said, we're in an age in which it's important to listen to our customers and be open. The best companies will learn how to balance what they're hearing with what they know is right.
Posted by: Chuck Tanowitz at November 30, 2005 10:05 PM
Hi CT--of course you are right. A company needs to listen primarily to its experts but also be guided by customer input. Blogs can provoke that kind of comment and input. Thanks for reading my blog
Posted by: Richard Edelman at December 1, 2005 10:01 AM
Hi Chuck and Richard,
Success is never a matter of a ‘one OR another’ approach: we need the end user to understand when and how products are used. We need the designer to come up with ideas beyond the users' mind and wishes. Most of all we need to get rid of examples from the 70 and 80s since we entered the times of disruptive progress. Then progress was linear and (maybe) foreseeable now unexpected products and competitors can pass us by.
Therefore we must see, learn and feel.
Cheers,
Joris
Posted by: Joris Funcke at December 7, 2005 8:41 AM