Do Shooters and Presidents Dream of Electric Sheep?

Evidently, the humanoid robot consisted of a solitary predator.

― Philip K. Dick

We puzzle over why a wealthy man would become a mass shooter, or a wealthy president tell a grieving widow her dead husband wished to be in harm's way.

It's the absence of empathy―a condition natural to solitary predators.

Empathy is a new word in English, only 110 years old. 

It came into the language thanks to philosophers of art, who borrowed the word from the Greek empatheia, meaning "passion." They believed our ability to appreciate works of art stems from our ability to project "fellow feelings" into them.

Novelist Philip K. Dick, in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (adapted for the screen as Blade Runner), imagined that manufacturers in 2021 will purposely omit empathy from androids' programming; and thus, a simple "empathy test" will be able to prove who's an android and who's a human.

Early in the book, Dick portrays the main character, the policeman Deckard, reflecting on the ease with which the test can detect an android:

He had wondered, as had most people at one time or another, precisely why an android bounced helplessly about when confronted by an empathy-measuring test. Empathy, evidently, existed only within the human community, whereas intelligence to some degree could be found throughout every phylum and order including the arachnida. For one thing, the empathetic faculty probably required an unimpaired group instinct; a solitary organism, such as a spider, would have no use for it; in fact, it would tend to abort a spider's ability to survive. It would make him conscious of the desire to live on the part of his prey, Hence all predators, even highly developed mammals such as cats, would starve. Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimately, the empathetic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated.

Should Event Producers Mimic Luxury Retailers?

Luxury retail is dog-eat-dog. Unlike event producers, players in the business must stay ahead of audiences to survive. That's why they're hyper-focused on consumer trends.

Sabre identifies five of those trends in a new report, The Future of Luxury.

To survive in luxury retail, the report says, you must satisfy "individualized and transformative forms of luxury consumption" that deliver a cosmopolitan and existentialist jolt.

"More consumers are becoming aware of the isolating effect of social media ‘echo chambers.'" the report says. "This is accompanied by a growing desire to not only broaden personal horizons, but to find purpose and cultivate empathy for others while doing so."

Consumers' craving for self-actualization manifests itself in these five trends—five trends event producers would do well to acknowledge:

The Quintessential Self. Luxury brands that abet self-discovery are hot. For just $3,500, Maverick Helicopter’s Yoga in the Desert will whirl you by helicopter from Las Vegas to Valley of Fire State Park for a 75-minute yoga class.

No-Frills Chic. Luxury brands that shout "simple" are hot. For just $140,000, Airstream will sell you a camper trailer you can haul into the woods.

Premium Redeemed. Luxury brands that better the planet are hot. For just $2,125, you can stay a night in Nekupe, a posh resort in Nicaragua’s countryside that helps local farmers earn a living without the slash-and-burn technique.

Extravagance on Demand. Luxury brands that harness phones are hot. For just $3, Recharge lets you book a high-end hotel room in New York City by the minute.

Customized. Luxury brands that are personalized are hot. For just $169, DNA Unwrapped lets you plan vacation trips based on your chromosomes.

Which Content's King among Executives?

Which B2B content rules among corporate leaders?

Content agency Grist asked 200 of them.

The answer: leaders want to read 800-word articles about customers' experiences.

The executives' detailed responses about the content they value are eye-opening:

Whose viewpoints do you want to hear?

• 57% said clients'
• 53% said industry experts'
• 44% said consultants'
• 42% said the public's
• 36% said peers'
• 36% said motivational speakers'
• 32% said government officials'

Which formats do you prefer?

• 63% said 800-word articles
• 57% said 500-word blog posts
• 45% said 1,200-word articles
• 31% said slides shows
• 28% said white papers
• 28% said e-books
• 26% said videos
• 25% said podcasts
• 20% said infographics

Sponsors Want Spillover

Rigid thinking causes most trade show organizers to continue peddling sponsorships like they were ads, when today's sponsors want something much more valuable.

Sponsors want spillover.

Spillover results when attendees transfer their good feelings about an event to its sponsors―an effect no ad can produce.

While today's marketers believe awareness―the outcome of advertising―is hard to measure and cost-justify, they don't feel that way about engagement―the outcome of sponsorship.

Today's marketers will sponsor an event to engage people within communities; to build relationships and demonstrate market leadership, customer care, and social responsibility. 

They'll even do it merely to block a competitor from doing it.

But they won't sponsor an event for awareness.

Can You Overpost?

Is it possible to post on social media too often?

The answer is: yes, if your content screams, "Buy from me" (a single post like that is one too many); no, otherwise.

Remember: only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of your audience ever sees your posts.