Designing Happiness

Posted on March 14th, 2011 by Robbin and currently 2 commenting.

Kids never have to look too far for happiness, do they? Photo via Libby Williams, .

I have been thinking a lot about happiness lately.

And how the work we do in the world – unearthing the passion conversation for brands and igniting community to support that conversation – promotes happiness and well being.

So when I cracked open the March issue of Fast Company, this article on The Business of Happiness jumped out at me.

The article features the work of Jennifer Aaker, who teaches a filled to capacity course called “Designing Happiness” at — get this — Stanford University.

Nice.

Seems that businesses are seriously trying to figure out how to use happiness to increase productivity and woo customers.

Woo customers. I love that word — woo. It’s a happier word for marketing, don’t you think?

From the article:

“The idea of brands enabling happiness and providing greater meaning in the world is powerful.”

According to John Kenny of Draft FCB, it seems we want “something different from simply buying a product, using it and throwing it out. Marketing happiness expands the idea of what it means to buy something.”

Kenny goes on to say. “ The stakes are a lot higher now with social media, you want people to have an important experience they can talk about…”

Kate Sayre , a partner in Boston Consulting Group states, “ Marketers want consumers to… feel as if the product is part of their lives and community.”

Hmmm. Most products and services fit into our lives in some way is, right?

I see the comments and learnings from Aaaker and others mentioned in this article as more validation for Lesson Number One from our book:

It’s about the PASSION conversation, not the product conversation.

We are all looking for happiness. And our passions, the things we DO that give us joy, are the things that bring us the most happiness. Marketers (or woo-ers) should start their happiness journey by looking for the shared passion between their advocates and their employees. People connect through shared interests and it’s the things that we’re most passionate about that we want to talk about. Period.

We all want to be a part of something bigger than our own lives. And that can take the form of sharing our love of scrapbooking or providing little moments of wonder within our families to abolishing human trafficking in the world.

So what if you stop marketing your product and start thinking about igniting a conversation to “woo” people toward your brand or organization.

Here’s the part when I ask you to share with me. You know how I love that.

How do you or can you authentically fit into the lives of the people who buy and use your product and services?

Have you seen examples lately of brands doing this in a way that feels emotional and real to you?

Do you believe you can a brand can truly market happiness?

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