Populair en wetenschappelijk waren ooit twee onverenigbare planeten. Tot Stephen Hawking beide verbond in zijn bestseller ‘Een korte geschiedenis van de tijd’. Een boek over thermodynamica, neutronensterren en de oerknal. Immens populair. Waren lezers echt zo geïnteresseerd in het werk van deze wiskundige-natuurkundige-kosmoloog. Het was vooral het verhaal achter de man dat tot de publieke verbeelding sprak. De mythe Hawking. Het idee van een krachtig intellect, gevangen in een beperkende fysieke conditie.
Symbolism
Physical deformities are often powerful symbols in mythology. Elephant man. Frankenstein’s Monster. Oedipus means swollen foot. Hawkins is the victory of brains over muscle. His story illuminates the bone-dry world of theoretical physics, with human passion and courage. Science, especially data, is so popular because it equates knowledge and passion with the prospect of hope. Hawking stood for hope.
He who hopes gets wings
Emily Dickson described hope as “something with feathers that nestles in the soul.” He who hopes gains wings. Obama, Martin Luther King offered hope. Those who hope and are curious have anticipation. Just look at the State Lottery. Nike offers performance hope. The emotion that the right thing is going to happen. Hope does not mean naively denying reality. Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists. It is a belief that actions have meaning and that what we do matters.
Sometimes it seems that marketers have reached a point where the idea is considered superficial nonsense. A cover wrapper for marketing. Interchangeable as a selfie at the beach on social. However backwards, the idea as an optional distraction from the goal, the ecosystems, the content pillars, the frameworks and everything else to reinforce and share the idea. A microscopic look at the condiments rather than the meal. The idea that the laws of thermodynamics and the gravitational pull of black holes are so great that you can do it without a clue. Without Stephen Hawking. Just pack nicely. Without the idea of a powerful intellect, trapped in a limiting physical condition brought through a completely unique personality with its own voice.
Many brands offer hope. Hope for rejuvenation. Hope for a better climate. Hope for luck. Brands that fascinate take you, just like Hawking, into the wonderful world behind the brand. They know how to surprise and captivate time and time again. They create something that is much richer than an instant proposition from a can. They tell the total story of the brand. Positive connecting power. Enter into relationships outside the direct consumption relationship. Initiate a dialogue. Share the story behind the story.
During World War II, many fighter planes returned with bullet holes. The technicians analyzed and reinforced the areas that were most affected. To reduce the number of planes shot down. But scientist Abraham Wald wasn’t looking at the data, he was looking for the idea behind the holes. Perhaps the reason that there were no bullet holes in some places was that the planes that were hit in those places did not return. This idea was correct and led to the reinforcement of the places where there were no bullet holes.
I hope (active expectation) that this year, helped by smart data, insights and dialogues with people (who are flesh and blood), we will reflect more on the gravity of a strong idea. First the idea, then the action. And yes, an idea without action is a hallucination. But action without idea is implosion. Without idea, all your content falls into a big black hole. With a hefty hole in your budget, you can let it float for a while, but after that it’s lost forever.
