Building igloos in comms

Opinion

Not only must we build igloos to protect us from this data blizzard, we can use data to build them too.

What have igloos got to do with media, with comms planning, with data?

They are a metaphor for a behaviour that I am urging as many people as I can to take something from and apply. To reduce complexity and aid decision making.

Back in March I was lucky enough to see Peter McInhoe speak at SXSW. For those of you unfamiliar with McInhoe, he is the founder of the counter-conspiracy group ‘Birds Aren’t Real’. A community founded out of a spur-of-the-moment decision in 2017.

This piece isn’t about him directly, or the systematic replacement of real birds with drones, because the founder of the CIA was sick of having them poop on his car in the 1950s. This is about something McInhoe said regarding igloos, which has stuck with me, and caused a questioning of the  processes that sit around much of what we are expected or asked to do. 

An igloo is a construct for safety, and shelter from the very material that is causing peril, and chaos. Looking at the industry (and beyond), the biggest driver of chaos is data.

Data is ubiquitous and it is coming at us from every angle in every format, with varying levels of quality, integrity, different half-lifes and of course utility. This data blizzard is only getting stronger. At its worst it’s blinding and confusing as we don’t know which way to turn. It can be exhausting. 

Not only must we build igloos to protect us from this data blizzard, we can use data to build them too.

It doesn’t matter if you are a data scientist, someone with access to all the systems and tools in the world, or someone with a bit of tenacity, a calculator and a few sheets of blank paper. Thinking about igloos might just help.

But how do we build them?

Start with the outcome

Visual the outcome. Consider what your critical numbers are for the brand, the behaviour of people, the commercial realities of what you are doing and of course the overall business.

You might end up with a table like this:

There will be loads of elements here (there always are) but refine these down to make your igloo as simple as possible. Question which numbers and data carry more weight, and what has more of a bearing on decisions now and in the future.

The more ruthless you can be, the sharper your focus will be and the better an igloo you will build.

Focus on the resources needed

With sight of what is needed, you will want to start compiling the raw materials – the numbers which help compile the view of what is facing you.

In my experience, listing numbers out from a macro to micro, helps me see where the opportunity is. It might be by market, by region, by different audiences, but simply laying the facts or the resources out alongside one another, begins to allow stories to form. It also encourages curiosity to look beyond the sources you already have.

Keeping a tab, and a link, to sources of data makes this easier to manage and to reference when required. Lists might seem extremely simple, but when faced with chaos, simplicity certainly helps.

Knowing what your building and knowing what your building blocks look like is one thing, but a foundation for this is just as important. This comes down to having a good grip on three things: sound sources, competence with systems, and surety with sums (stats). 

With my sources, I work from the exec/board level-data outwards –  that is most important and what anything that is done or decided will ladder back towards. From there, high-quality industry-focused sources like Kantar or Mintel are next. Then I indulge in other third-party sources, such as quality journalism like the FT or Spectator, interesting email newsletters (like Chartr) and other aggregators like Statista. 

With systems, as there are so many, I believe in having a light understanding and access to many, and encourage my team and people I speak to, to try and master a few. It might be becoming a pivot master on Excel, or knowing how to use all the other functions in TGI or GWI. Most often, the power of these systems is well under-utilised and offers great efficiencies in time spent organising and moving data about, and more time to interpret it. 

Lastly, when it comes to sums (speaking as someone who scraped a B at GCSE maths), I have forced myself to learn during my career about formulas and core calculations needed to aid with statistical analysis. YouTube, maths and economics blogs, albeit dry and reread many times, have helped me build my foundations. It may never have been set as an objective for me as a planner and latterly a strategist, but it has helped immeasurably.

Take shelter and get creative

With the igloo constructed, now is the time to take shelter in it. But it is more than that. To paraphrase McInhoe: “once you’re in your igloo you sit in comfort and laugh at the madness around you… and do something about it”.

To that end, and when it comes to planning, the interpretation and creativity is down to you and the people with whom you collaborate. Having the confidence and a sense of what is needed and why, because of your igloo, will open up the opportunity to find and plan for the possible not just the immediate. 

This is the kind of space that opens up the killer insights or stats that lead to work that changes businesses, changes minds, and makes you a little more famous (if you’re into that kind of thing).

For this week, over and out, I’m off to make repairs to the roof…

Sam Fowler is chief strategy officer at Craft Media London

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