One of my favourite words is ‘Zeitgeist’.
In dictionary terms, the Zeitgeist is the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. In simple terms, it’s the ‘mood of the times’.
It’s origins are German, roughly translating as ‘Spirit of the Age’, and usually associated with German philosopher Georg Hegel, who coined the terms Volksgeist (“national spirit”) and Weltgeist (“world-spirit”).
If you are a marketer or communicator, it’s one of the most powerful concepts around. A combination of ‘know your audience’ and ‘read the room’.
Back in Hegel’s day (the 19th Century), talking about the ‘mood of the times’ generally meant talking about the sentiment prevailing for a number of years. But the internet and social media has changed all that. The ‘Zeitgeist’ can seemingly change on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis.
In 2023, one of the most Zeitgeisty (not a real word) things was the whole ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon, about which Wikipedia said:
‘Barbenheimer was a cultural phenomenon which preceded and surrounded the simultaneous theatrical release of two films, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Barbie and Universal Pictures’ Oppenheimer, on July 21, 2023. The strong contrast between the two prompted a comedic response from Internet users, including memes, merchandise and memorabilia.’
Are you Barbie? Or Oppenheimer?
As humans we love to be tribal, and take one side or the other. iPhone or Android? Federer or Nadal? Cats or dogs? On the Barbenheimer front, it is instructive to see how people lined up around the world, and for that task I was able to consult the trusty ‘Google Trends’ website.
And what did I find?
Well, based on Google search data, Australia, the UK, and Canada came out in favour of Oppenheimer, while the US, Brazil, and a few others represented for Barbie (which also nudged the #1 spot globally). Read into this what you will.
Other fascinating insights from 2023 include the most searched recipes:
Australia – Coronation Quiche
United States – Grimace Shake (look it up!)
Globally – Bibimbap
Bibimbap, looking good.
Grimace Shake. Say no more.
When it came to celebrity deaths, the world was seemingly as one in mourning the loss of Matthew Perry.
And the most hummed song (Google has its own version of Shazam, where you can hum then search) was ‘Bones’ by Imagine Dragons.
Imagine Dragons. I assume my kids listen to this.
Go figure!
As you can imagine, for marketers, knowing what people are searching for is very powerful. But it’s not just marketers. Online searches, whether they be simple search terms, or questions, give us real time insights into what people are thinking – their concerns, their challenges, their aspirations (not just their shopping). In essence they are a lead indicator of behaviour – which can be useful to everyone from retailers, to musicians, to politicians and even medical scientists.
For example, if there are anomalies in online trends—a spike in Google searches for shops that deliver chicken noodle soup, a sudden flurry of Tweets about navigating a quarantining family member, or bad reviews on scented candles (because people lose their sense of smell, as happens with Covid)—it could indicate that trouble is brewing. Add this data into machine-learning models to spot the anomalies, make sense of these clues, and presto, you’ve created an early warning system for disease outbreaks.
Scented candles and Covid. Now we are talking.
The Ensombl platform is where advisors go to find solutions to their problems. It’s a safe space where around 9,000 users go to ask – and answer – questions about all the challenges faced by advisers every day of the week. Technology, Centrelink, platforms, HR, super legislation, tax, life insurance, portfolio construction, advice documents, outsourcing, compliance, the list goes on. If advisors are thinking about it, they are talking about it on Ensombl.
A few times a year we extract insights from all these conversations, all the likes, all the shares, and publish them in our What Advisors Want report. It summarises the topics and the brands that are most on their mind.
It’s like a window into the mind of advisors. The advice Zeitgeist, if you like. I don’t have to tell you how powerful that can be.
For more real time advisor insights, and ideas on how you can turn those insights into powerful advisor engagement strategies, just get in touch.
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