The First 'S' in STEPPS is First for a Reason

Jonah Berger - Image by Jonah Berger

Jonah Berger's 6 STEPPS to creating contagious content have been recognised as being a key set of principles when it comes to creating a marketing message that will spread. But have you ever wondered, is one of the STEPPS more important than the others?

Of course, it's hard to answer this question with what one might refer to as 'empirical certainty'. However, a little probing does find that 's' number 1, that's social currency, does seem to be of particular importance in the spread of modern marketing messages.

According to Jonah Berger, the social currency of a message is a quality that makes us want to repeat the message because it positively influences the way others perceive our social status. It seems there are a number of areas where customers decision making, especially amongst younger generations, is being led by a brands' social currency.

Food purchases in Australia are currently being strongly affected by 'eco-concern', particularly among younger generations. In addition to this, younger consumers have been noted as 'shaping food systems' through making purchases that align strongly with their values. This type of purchase behaviour has led to brands considering food waste problems and cruelty problems in the foods industry when creating products.

If the social currency of value aligned food products can cause fundamental shifts in such established industries, surely this underscores that brands might be well advised to pay particular attention to social currency when creating products and accompanying messages.

Pharrell Williams Adidas shoes - Image by Raleene

Paying attention to social currency has definitely paid off for Nike and Adidas, with collaborations with brands like Dior and celebrities like Pharrell Williams (Pharrell Williams shoes pictured right, image by Raleene)gaining the brands traction (excuse the pun) amongst a younger audience. Indeed, younger consumers have been noted as a driving force in spreading the power of social currency (alternately referred to as cultural currency) in to socio-political areas as well.

Perhaps the most recent and powerful effect of social currency can be seen not in where and how brands advertise, but where they refuse to advertise. Coca-Cola, Levi and Proctor & Gamble are among a host of brands that paused advertising on Facebook amidst growing concerns over inadequate policing of hate speech in 2020.

This response to a campaign organised by various civil rights groups using the hashtag #StopHateForProfit can be seen as both failure to heed the social currency of changing community values on Facebook's part and a success in doing so for the companies that withdrew their advertising. All this serves to strongly underscore that, in 2021, the 's' in STEPPS is perhaps more powerful than ever.

- Do you think that aligning your brand message with ideas, values and other cool brands/people for social currency purposes has become more important in recent years?