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09.29.2005

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For more Hartman Group articles on SOUL, click here...

02.17.2005 "Telling Stories: The Brand Connection"

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11.23.2004 "The New Brand Mindset: Organizing for Cultural Legitimacy"

For more Hartman Group articles on WAL-MART, click here...

09.17.2004 "Costco vs. Wal-Mart: Getting Beyond Utility"

09.17.2004 "Watching Wal-Mart"

03.25.2004 "Where Wal-Mart Can't Dance"

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Soul Work: What Can Steroid Use, Major League Baseball and Wal-mart Teach Us About Soul?

As a former avid baseball card collector and sports "nut," who now identifies as a sports outsider, all the hubbub about steroids in Major League Baseball has always struck me as more than a little peculiar. Try as I might, I just can't seem to understand why I should really care whether or not these guys - whose careers I no longer follow - are willing to endanger their own lives for a few extra muscles.

And as I began chatting with colleagues and consumers about the "steroid problem," I was similarly struck by their sense of ambivalence toward this issue. On the one hand most of the folks I spoke with assumed that steroid use was likely common in Major League Baseball and went on to suggest that "[somebody] should probably do something about the problem," yet few seemed particularly interested or personally vested in this issue. In fact, a surprising number admitted that while they were personally indifferent, they felt this was something that deserved immediate attention from "the powers that be."

The disconnect driving the apparent ambivalence emerged between individuals' personal opinions and that of the collective sentiment. While most of us appear to have little personal interest in the matter, collectively we believe this is a "problem" worthy of addressing. The question then becomes, why are we collectively so concerned with an issue that fails to resonate with us as individuals?

The brief answer, I suggest, is that we Americans endure a lasting imperative to imbue our culture and institutions with a sense of meaning and legitimacy, what we have described elsewhere as soul. And the chief means of crafting that meaning is something we call "soul work."

What is Soul Work?

In a culture that is itself only a little over 200 years old, we are obsessed with infusing authenticity and soul in everything we (collectively) do. When things come along that challenge the meaning - and hence legitimacy - of our institutions, we respond with vigor and unity, working hard to maintain their integrity.

So when a practice such as steroid use threatens to make the record books obsolete - in the process reminding us of the ultimate arbitrariness of the game - we respond by championing the anti-steroid position. Not because we care personally, but because we believe in the institution of baseball.

Ditto for the whole aluminum bat issue. After all, the decision of whether to play baseball with a wooden bat or an aluminum bat - or a racket, pool cue or putter for that matter - is wholly arbitrary. College players routinely rely on aluminum bats. But by championing the continued use of wood bats in the major league - and defending that belief with carefully crafted narratives explaining how the game will "never be the same" if we abandon wood bats - we channel the soulfulness and integrity of our cherished game. We remind ourselves how "pure" and "authentic" our cherished tradition (baseball) really is.

This is what we term "soul work," and it's actually much more common than many of us realize.

Practicing Soul Work on an Everyday Basis

Think about something as basic as our descriptions of our work histories. Rarely do you listen as someone hops into Letterman's guest chair and explains, "I guess I am just blessed. My father was an actor so one day he just sent me to down to the studio and 'presto,' I've been a successful actor ever since." Instead we listen as each actor/actress recounts their early tribulations of "washing dishes in a diner," "living in squalor," "maxing out their credit cards," or, in Robert Rodriguez's case, "serving time as a medical lab rat." These carefully placed narratives suggest there is significantly more "authenticity, meaning and soul" behind the facade of our contemporary life. Somehow, these stories have a way of making our lives seem a little more real.

While consumers and commercial enterprises alike are constantly engaged in soul work, we are struck by how few marketers and branders include soul work as legitimate practice in their strategic brand platforms.

In fact, most companies are already practicing soul work without being aware. For years, older tech companies such as Microsoft and Apple perpetuated the now infamous, "garage" narratives that highlighted their respective organizations' "scrappy start" when they allegedly persevered with little more than a "musty garage" to call home. Many companies perpetuate similar narratives highlighting their "surprising growth," from otherwise humble beginnings (working out of a basement, working from the back of a store-room, etc.) to their current level of success.

Implications for Marketers

Regarding soul work's applicability to marketing arenas, we note two critical implications:

Managing the Brand Image for Soul: While all of us have experience with soul work, we find few brand managers who appear to be consciously managing their brand's image with an eye for soul. Often it is as if those in charge of the brand have forgotten where their brand came from.

To this end, for all its critics and detractors, Wal-Mart has done a great job "managing soul." From the earliest days forward, nearly every narrative references some combination of (a) the pioneering work of Sam Walton (What would Sam do?) and (b) the original locale (Bentonville), not to mention the proverbial "tattered rags to riches," story. More importantly, though they've somehow managed to drag the rest of the business community into this game. Every shout out to the "Bentonville Behemoth," serves simply to solidify Wal-Mart's association with its humble beginnings.

Thinking About Collective Sentiment: The emphasis on soul work also raises important methodological issues for marketers and researchers alike. Specifically, if it is the case that much of what casts a given institution in a "soulful light" has more to do with collective sentiment than individual preference, then we may need to rethink the levels of analysis we use for our consumer research. Consumer research focusing on the opinions and practices of individual consumers may prove irrelevant, at least for soul work.

Back in my day...

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