Jacob Edenfield

That’s an analogy, for my my fellow word nerds. My folks made me do those before I was allowed to play outside as a child. Hated it then. Glad for it now.

Anyway, The idea is, your brand can (and should) be different things to different people. The trick is making that quantum state look like the only one there is to the people observing.

Informative lay science tangent:
Schrodinger’s Cat refers to a quantum paradox of one thing being able to inhabit two different states at once. In Schrodinger’s example, a cat in a box with a flask of poison can be to be both alive and dead at the same time based on a prior random event, but, when observed, be found to be either alive or dead. (wiki your brain)

The root of the problem came in the realization that in experiments on the wave/particle nature of photons (bits of light), these photons could behave as both a wave and a particle, but when observed, chose to behave as one or another. (wiki your brain)
End science tangent

You too can be both a wave and a particle. Inevitably, you’re trying to reach out to an audience that’s anything but monolithic. If you’re smart, you can be Schrodinger’s cat and be one thing to one observer and quite another thing to another observer. It’s a tall order, but if a cat can do it, you have cause for serious concern if you can’t manage.

The trick is to figure out where your audiences are. Different observers have different vantage points. Thus, by exploiting the spaces where they don’t overlap, you can be two things at once.

Of course, in an interconnected world, everyone is going to figure out that you’re two things at once. Funny thing is, observation makes the heart grow fonder.

Your old college friends may love you for the occasional drink-fueled reunion exploits that remind them of earlier days. Your co-workers may love you for your diligence, punctuality and reliable sobriety. One could argue you’re still the drunken debaucher at the same time you’re the reliable co-worker, but you choose to be one or the other based on who’s observing and a previous random event (in my case, usually that first drink). To point, neither group is going to think any less fondly of you as long as the behavior they observe outweighs the behavior they just hear about.

Be the wave-particle duality. Be two things to two different observers. It’s easier than you think, and a whole hell of a lot more effective than treating every audience as if they’re the same.

Cheers,

jae