There has been a lot of talk about Facebook’s rebrand as Meta and introduction of Metaverse. So, I will not add to that discussion. However, I do want to talk about what Iceland tourism department has done with the same.
In their most recent advertisement, they have spoofed Mark’s vision of the Metaverse and introduced what they called Icelandverse. Before I can go on any further, I highly recommend that you watch this commercial here.
Whether you are amused, angry or irreverent to this attempt by the Iceland tourism, as leaders, there are a few things that we can learn from this exercise.
Taking a stand:
One of the things that we have seen a lot of during this last decade is that brands have started to move away from being neutral on socio-political issues and have started to take stands on where they stand in the spectrum. They are now expected to take a stand as their customers have started to evaluate them and open up or close their purses depending upon their stands.
In this case, the team that built and released this commercial does take a stand. A stand against going all virtual, when we can still enjoy the real world. It does so by being slightly awkward, spoofy and honest, all at the same time.
As leaders, we are expected to take a stand as well, at least on the issues that our constituents feel strongly about. And we can take the stand without offending anyone and yet being true to ourselves.
Being Current:
One of the things as leaders, we need to learn is to be aware of the Zeitgeist of the moment. What is being discussed on social media, in water cooler conversations, during lunch breaks, while having drinks in the bar, etc. And knowing this and incorporating this knowledge into our conversations and messages, make them sound relevant and interesting.
This allows us to include the topic of the moment and yet reinforce what we want to communicate all the while. This makes us interesting for our teams and helps us keep their attention. This is specially important, if we are communicating with people outside our direct sphere of control, like customers/partners/vendors or our peers (other leaders in the organisation).
Remember Rule No. 6:
At times, we need to learn to have a fun. If we are being serious all the time, we are not a lot of fun to hang out with. So, we need to remember the Rule No 6 that Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Zander talk about in their book – The Art of Possibility. The rule simply states
Dont take yourself so goddamn seriously
– Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Zander in their book “THE ART OF POSSIBILITY“
This video is all about having a bit of fun, spoofing what they believe to be something against their values. Of course there will be people who will like it, some who will not like it and some who will not be concerned with this. However, I am pretty sure that the team that put this together would have had a lot of fun doing this. And that is important.
Creative Thinking:
Creative thinking is not just about coming with really novel ideas. Creativity is also about coming up with interesting ideas that can solve the problems that we are trying to solve. The team that put together this advertisement wanted their idea to spread long and wide.
So, being inspired by an idea that has spread long and wide they have given wings to their idea. The very fact that I am writing about this tells me that they have in a way achieved their goal of being talked / written about widely.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, there is only one thing that I will say. There is a way to learn in any given situation. There is always a lesson in anything that we come up against or encounter in our lives. All we need to do is to be aware and be looking for that lesson. The difference between good leaders and great leaders is that great leaders are always looking for ways to learn and lead by example so the people they lead are also always looking for ways to learn. Hope you are learning as well.
