Today’s post comes from Mr. Steve, the First Impression at Brains on Fire and one of the bigger fans of Disney that you’ll come across in your lifetime.

My obsession with all things Disney does more for me than sap every spare dollar I earn.  It gives me the chance to experience first-hand, an entire masters program on marketing and word of mouth.  And one of the most fascinating case studies involves the phenomenon of ‘Hidden Mickeys’.  Now, for those of you unfamiliar with HM’s, here’s some history:  HM’s began appearing in the Disneyland as soon as it opened…most famously, the ‘rivets’ used on the metal fencing surrounding the trees, or in the pavement in Adventureland (so that when it rains, the puddles form the familiar three circled figure). But the phenomenon started as Disney prepared to build EPCOT in the late ‘70s. Legend has it that the Disney Company did not want any Disney characters to appear in the new park, claiming that they belonged only in the Magic Kingdom. The Disney Imagineers, however, felt so certain that the Disney characters made Disney what it is, that they began ‘hiding’ silhouettes of Mickey Mouse in the rides and throughout the park.   Once word of this subterfuge hit the Disney fans, it was like a special secret that only true Disney fanatics knew about.

So what did Disney do?  Well, some companies would have taken control of the phenomenon and sold ‘Hidden Mickey’ t-shirts and guide maps.  But Disney learned long ago the power of ‘being involved’ (just look at the Mickey Mouse Club). They let this stay a little on the outside.  A search of the Walt Disney World website shows no acknowledgement that they exist.  Disney doesn’t announce where the new ones are after a ride has been built or refurbished.  Cast Members certainly know where they are (or at least most of them), and will offer some knowledge to a child who doesn’t want to go on It’s A Small World again.  But what Disney did best with this was let the fans take ownership.  Disney Imagineers (and most Cast Members, for that matter) genuinely feel as though they work for the guest, not the company.  So these Hidden Mickey’s are a handshake between the Imagineers and the guests.  A way to say thank you for loving what we do so much that you want to know every little detail.  And as a thank you for riding Spaceship Earth 100 times, here’s a little secret that most people don’t know about.  And Disney fans have shown their appreciation by building websites and writing guidebooks dedicated exclusively to Hidden Mickeys.

The end result is beneficial in more ways that anyone could have anticipated.   First of all, the rides have more value, because Disney has almost eliminated the law of diminishing returns on their rides.  Half the fun of Disney rides lies in appreciating the details (heck, ask any old-school Disney fan, and they’ll tell you they can still smell the oranges in Horizons, which closed down 10 years ago).  But now there’s another level beneath the detail…a secret…a joke that only true fans get. Those Hidden Mickeys have kept the rides fresh, even to guests who have the scripts memorized.    More importantly, though, these Hidden Mickeys have provided Disney’s guests a chance to genuinely connect with this mega-corporation.  That connection is vital in keeping guests talking about Disney World, even when they are thousands of miles away, and haven’t been in years.

Other companies do this…the Playboy bunny appears on every cover of Playboy, and, in tribute, Albert Einstein appears on every cover of Mental Floss.  But no company has let such a giant sub-culture rise up within its fans.  And it didn’t cost them a dime.  All they did was let it happen.

So, I guess the obvious question is, how can your company slip your fans a Mickey?

Have you ever wondered what makes one person trust another person?

Humans are fundamentally social creatures ” we’re wired to be that way. It’s adaptive to be that way. None of us can thrive alone. But we can thrive, and have for the past 3.5 million years, through community. Central to this dynamic is the mysterious force we call trust. Without trust we cannot function… at least not well. In fact, interpersonal trust turns out to be one of the strongest predictors of the wealth or poverty of nations that economists have ever found. And we’ve all experienced the benefit of having a close group of trusted friends we can turn to for support when feeling down.

Given the sheer number of strange environments and strange people we have to navigate throughout our life, it stands to reason that we would have evolved a way to signal that a situation or other person is trustworthy. But until recently, we didn’t have a clue as to what that signal was. Some fascinating research from Paul Zak, a neuroeconomist from Claremont Graduate University, has finally unveiled the culprit ” an ancient hormone called oxytocin. (http://www.neuroscene.com/index.php?post_id=240163).

If you have recently had children, you probably recognize the name oxytocin. It’s the hormone that contracts the uterus during birth and is released during breastfeeding, that most primitive of social bonding activities. It’s also released when you hug your dog ” our most trustworthy companion. And Paul has now shown it’s released when someone trusts you enough to give you money. He’s also shown that people who inhale oxytocin through a nasal spray are twice as likely to invest money as people who inhale a placebo.

Now I’m not suggesting we start using oxytocin sprays to sell products. But it does seem like a wise marketing tactic to seek out those situations where this biological cupid, if you will, makes his appearance naturally. When people are with others they trust, a cascade of physiological and behavioral changes is involuntarily triggered. Stress hormones go down…anxiety is reduced…people relax… social interaction and cooperation are facilitated…and productivity increases.

In other words, trust is a physiological key to the hearts and minds of customers. So maybe instead of shouting at people to try and get through, we should try the subtler approach. And reach them where the doors are already open.

Well, that was close to the first thought that popped in my head after I read this story on cnn.com about Polaroid fans pondering a filmless future. I’ve been a Polaroid fan a long, long time. My first camera was a Polaroid and I’ve used them from school projects to Brains on Fire projects. I’m a techy-geek type, but I’ve always liked the instant and open development of the photo. I’ve always thought that a Polaroid captured the moment in an authentic, fun way.

After reading the article I was joking with Spike and John Moore about the ‘what if’ question about Polaroid… “Would you miss Polaroid?” I’ll leave that question to John. But I will tell why Brains On Fire is a fan of Polaroid. One of the rituals we have here is taking Polaroids when we have events with clients. It’s also a staple of our documentation process to always take a Polaroid at RAGE trainings and now all of the ambassador events for our other clients.

This ritual came about because of a problem that I can laugh about now. The first RAGE event was attended by 90 plus teens and our plan was to identify potential leaders from the weekend event. We choose our 18 leaders to participate in a 7 day tour across the state. But to our surprise, some of the names and faces didn’t match up. The culprit, kids who will be kids, and our process was hijacked by kids switching name tags.

So Polaroids became an instant way of tagging teenagers when they attended a RAGE event. Today technology exists to do the same thing with digital cameras and portable printers. But it’s not the same, pulling out a Polaroid just feels less “oh no, I have to have my picture taken.” I just hope a third-party steps up and keeps this product from disappearing off the shelves.

I didn’t catch the Oscars last night, but Cordell commented that everyone and their mother are creating consumer-generated media contests. (The boys at AdPulp touched on this as well.) And that’s GOOD. They’re inviting participation. Getting customers involved with the brand. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

The thing that I’d like to make clear is that these are word of mouth tactics. And while (sometimes) they are great for generating interest, as our friends at Fizz say, ‘there’s no ‘there’ there.’ Because these things don’t make a movement. They don’t unite. It’s still a brand asking their customers to tell them how great they are.

And if we’ve all learned something together, it’s that it’s not all about you. It’s about how you fit into your customer’s lives.

Blogs. Messageboards. Consumer generated videos (CGM). Viral videos. Social networks. These are all tactics. And these are the ‘what.’ Not the ‘who.’ There has to be a tie that binds. A bigger picture that holds all the tactics together. A movement led by the people (or at least together at first). And a lot of this happens offline in a tactics-free world.

But if you create something that has depth. That has soul. Something that grows out of your customer’s love for you and what you stand for. Something that originates in their lives instead of in a boardroom, then implement the tactics based on that train of thought ” you begin to plant the seeds for a movement.

The web is littered with tactics. The “next” MySpace. The “next” Facebook. The “next” YouTube. Why not be true to you? Or even better… be true to your customers. They deserve better than you throwing up another blog talking about yourself. Think about it before you throw up that blog or CGM contest talking about yourself. Is that what your customers really want to hear? If not, how can you engage them in a way that’s authentic to you and them?

Yesterday afternoon we all huddled together on the third floor, opened some beer and wine and had our 2008 kick-off meeting. It was a great Kool-Aid drinking time to talk about who we are, what we stand for and set some goals for this year to practice what we preach.

Here are my favorite sound bytes from the meeting:

• The bigger the dream, the easier it is for others to see.
• When it comes to creating powerful identities that become movements, it’s not about the ‘what,’ it’s about the ‘who.’
• One thing that takes a lot of courage is being vulnerable.
• It’s important that we are evidence of our own convictions.