Individually clever, collectively stupid
So the 2 bottles of Coca-Cola have moved social media, LinkedIn and WhatsApp. Without getting into the details of causation, the world has been quick to judge that the football star’s action at the press conference cost the organization $4Bn dollars in the stock market. Fans and fitness enthusiasts applauded. Meme fests started, lots of other brands swiftly used this marketing moment. Debate lovers were quick to pull out old Coke adverts featuring Ronaldo and calling him a hypocrite. Then there is the supporter army with an emerging counter-view that everyone evolves, so do celebrities. He is ‘now’ mature to not support carbonated drinks and promotes healthy choices. There are also point of views for UEFA Euro OC on the choice of bottles. The Coke bottles were in eco-friendly glass but water was in a plastic bottle.
Some other athletes followed Ronaldo. ‘Bottle-gate’ spread from Coke to Heineken without generating much impact on social media. Heineken’s stock prices, however, saw a jump of1.7%. Then there was a quick rise of collective consciousness — the press-conference actually had no impact on Coca-Cola's share price and that market fluctuations are a result of multiple other factors. Some publications finally looked into the facts, and stated that the share-price movement had started even before the press conference had begun.
PR gurus and publications started discourses on celebrity responsibilities and brand management. These deliberations will go on entertaining us for a little while. But what does this mini controversy tell us about us?
- We get more stupid, collectively
We adopt the view of the majority even when its on shaky ground or sometimes, obviously wrong. We all know that stock market movements are neither permanent nor a result of a celebrity gesture. I knew that the ‘$4Bn wipe-off’ headline would definitely occupy whatsapp and twitter conversations for the day but I expected my Linkedin timeline to behave more maturely. Clearly, that didn’t happen. In fact, I saw the Linkedin quickly talking about the power of influencers, how brands should manage this crisis yadayadayada..
2. When people interact, they don’t share information, they share biases.
Social interactions (or debates), lead to people either agreeing or disagreeing sooner that would have otherwise aligned themselves to a side, which makes them make quicker and worse decisions. As a part of my job, I used to meet scores of people to have their views on the products or ad campaigns we had developed. My least favorite manner of research were group discussions. We often saw the entire group agreeing with the view of the most articulate individual in the room. This behavior of course is seen everywhere — from dining table discussions to board rooms. The world is filled with articulate donkeys who sway decision making. I have been one in the past.
3. Truth doesn’t matter. What matters is a good story.
By now we would have all read about the cognitive and confirmation biases impacting this story while it evolved. However, the speed with which the news and memes spread, was remarkable. Why? Because it was a damn good story. Objective facts didn’t really matter. Truth from marketing textbooks: If the narrative fits with one’s emotional and personal beliefs, it is most likely to shape their opinion. We have seen personal beliefs impacting collective decisions based on pure storytelling in the past(Trump’s presidential win, the Brexit referendum). We will see this again in the future because good narratives will evoke emotions and always win us over!
So what can we do? Well, not much. Wait the story out and read a little more before passing judgment. But, make sure you enjoy the story while it lasts :)
