Have you ever been in a double bed on your own?
I was last night.
And I found out that I was still sleeping on the left side.
Determined to make full use of the whole bed now that the opportunity was there.
And especially not wanting to be a victim of habit or, even worse, being an unadventurous person
I boldly shifted to the middle of the bed.
I actually spread my legs and arms turning myself into a cross to convincingly own the entire bed.
It didn’t feel right.
So, it was time for desperate measures.
I decided it was time to go where I had never been before.
To discover new and unknown territories.
So, I shifted completely over to the right
There I was, proud, fearless….and awkward
It just didn’t feel right.
Like writing with your left hand while your are actually a convinced righty.
So, telling myself I had owned the bed and not the other way round….I ended up on my trusted left side again.
And it felt good.
During this intense bed domination game it hit me.
We people love routines.
As I came to think of it, we have quite a lot them.
I have a special way of getting up in the morning
Washing goes in a specific order.
Even doing my groceries has a pattern.
These routines are automatisms, you don’t think about them one second and you don’t easily change them.
So, if you as brand you can become part of a routine: you’re settled.
Which made think some more.
Because wouldn’t tapping into a routine get really interesting if we can transform them into a ritual?
A special, attentive way of doing things that simply makes you feel good.
Think about having your own little tea drinking ritual instead of just putting a bag in a cup.
It is in a ritual where the emotion kicks in, because of the conscience attention you give the moment.
And it’s in a ritual where as a brand we can become part of a solid consumer repertoire.
And add emotion at the same time.
This goes far beyond communication.
It is thinking about making a ritual remarkable.
It’s about thinking what you can do as brand to put value and joy into these little daily acts.
I’m a strong believer that happiness primarily comes from the small, happy moments in life.
It’s not the big, life changing events that are the most important.
They only come around so often don’t they?
It is about being able to see the beauty in daily things and taking care and being taken care of.
So, that’s why I strongly believe that as a brand you should do things that simply make the consumers’ life better.
And that as a brand you should provide little acts of kindness to make a ritual even more worth while.
By creating a new ritual or by adding value to an existing ritual.
It takes you out of the brand loyalty media reach game.
And before you know it your ritual becomes part of a tradition.
That is for years to last and spreads among families and friends.
I’m sure that makes you sleep quite good at night as a marketer.
On your favorite side of the bed that is.

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