Welcome to the Rat Park, er, Dreamforce!

Yo!

You're not a rat if you went to Dreamforce. It's the sort of thing I might do myself. I moderated a couple of sessions at the recent ETNow Femtech Awards (a great summary here by Nithya Krishnan) and the energy I derived from in person interactions with all these marvellous people is amazing! The serendipity, fun and insights of a conference is impossible to recreate online. I was invited by a former team member, Deepshikha Mehrotra, moderated a panel with a group of modern and energetic marketers, learned about male allyship “A male ally thinks about gender equality even in the absence of women and can advocate for it" from the session I moderated for Vishal Pratapwant, COO and SVP Global Services, Fiserv, caught up with the founder of an investee company and found a fellow exfoscion when I whispered during a session on "power dressing" that being barefoot was perfectly acceptable in the Infosys of the 90s. Whew! It felt like a brain boost!

Maybe this is why conferences like Dreamforce attract 45,000 people every year! You get to hang out with your tribe AND listen to Elton John without having to fight for a ticket. And not just Dreamforce. Most of the big tech firms have massive conferences every year.

We are Social Animals

My hobby is psychology. I'll pause while you have your giggle. That's ok. Good marketing is about understanding people. Once you've grasped the basics of marketing, only a unique understanding of your audience will make you a better marketer.

Anyhoo.

There's an experiment where when rats were placed in isolation and offered a choice of drinking water or morphine, they inevitably got addicted. Then Dr Bruce Alexander pointed out the flaw in this - rats are social animals, like humans, and if you stick 'em in solitary with nothing to do that's not an accurate setup. So he creates a rat heaven called Rat Park, and puts in a bunch of rats. They get the same choice of water and drugs, but this time, the rats don't get addicted! Because there are so many other things to do, and so many friend rats to chill with.

What's Rat Park got to do with Dreamforce?

Given a choice we humans would prefer to interact with our pack. Till recently we had many "parks" - our local place of worship, family meals, weddings of distant cousins, college reunions, school meetups. But with urbanization and dislocation, many of us are left with just two parks to hang with our pack - work and home. Conferences done right can be another park where our human drivers like curiosity and desire to socialization are met by a brand. We are always grateful to brands that deliver on our needs.

Digital has isolated many - you can see it in the empty communal spaces in colleges, and in the number of people eating lunch alone in cafeterias. Work-from-home is a great convenience, but it shrinks our social circle even further and pushes us to rely solely on family for our social needs. This is not how we are wired! Brands that offer a valid relief from this isolation - whether it is a group exercise class, a training program or conference - are earning our trust and gratitude.

Make friends and influence people

I like stand up comedy and am a fan of Trevor Noah despite what I consider his shoddy treatment of fans in Bangalore. He recently interviewed Simon Sinek on the topic of friendship. Says that we need to invest in friends, to replace the erstwhile "pack" such as large extended families, sports clubs and religious groups. A stumbling block is what should we do with our friends? Where can we meet them?

Brands can step into this void and provide a platform for friends to meet and interact. Social shopping doesn't have to be only digital. Car companies have been doing this for a while - offering rallies and golf tournaments. Runs, marathons and treks are other formats I see in play, but perhaps not as directly linked to the brands. In Bangalore, Total Environment Building Solutions runs Windmills Craftworks, a great place to hang out and absorb the vibes of their unique building philosophy.

I think there is ample potential to expand "bring-your-friends" brand engagements. It would also repurpose disused or underutilized office space into community spaces. If you're interested in brainstorming ways in which your brand can enable friendship, happy to chat!

It's hard to believe we are already at the point where I start writing "Trends for 2025!". The festival season is in full swing - Durga Puja, Diwali and er, Halloween.

Wishing you all a friendly and enjoyable October.

Best regards

Jessie Paul

[email protected]