In his singularly provocative collaboration, Beyond Disruption, Jean-Marie Dru has disrupted me. And to that end, I'd imagine he'd feel he's hit a homerun ...
Beyond Disruption outlines the wide application of "disruption" - cut-through strategic and creative non-sequitors - that transform products and services into powerful brands. The book is about innovation; innovation that leaps versus inches forward.
The book is Dru's sequel to Disruption in which Dru, president and CEO of TBWA, theorises that acute discontinuity is critical to today's successful marketing communications. Further, Dru indicates incremental evolutionary answers will not suffice; killer marketing communications necessitate a cogitus interruptus. Ultimately, says Dru, the best marketing communications rupture convention via a calculated disruption, based on an overall ambitious vision. It's all about "restaging, reshaping and reframing".
Beyond Disruption takes disruption a step further. In the book, Dru expands his theory beyond marketing communications to all facets of a business organisation. He illustrates the value of disruption across an array of business disciplines, from distribution and market expansion, to product development. In doing so, Dru defines corporate and brand leadership as the development of iconic change.
To Dru, change in order to create iconic marketing statements necessitates an almost prophetic vision of the future. He states, "(guiding) truth should create a future for your brand, rather than define its present by nailing its past ... Agencies and marketers too often play the role of brand-essence fundamentalists, checking each new communication in painstaking detail to ensure that it stays true to the sacred text of the brand essence." With this provocative criticism, Dru encourages marketers to shift their "brand attitudes" from defensive to creative (and futuristic). Overall, the book is excellent. It's both intellectually thought provoking and professionally useful. This, I entertain, stems from the host of human values and truths upon which the disruption theory lies. It's all very basic : Consumers are first and foremost human beings, governed as much by emotional impetus as by rational cognition. Human beings are indeed overloaded with mundane communications, and inundated with status quo professional challenges or directives. People tend to spark to that which is new and exciting.
Much of this common sense theory is evident in the book's discussion of consumer insight. Contributed by Dru's head of planning in Los Angeles, Richard Monturo, Beyond Disruption details the clear difference between "duh insights" and "true insights." True insight melds (1) data and (2) observation to yield "information." Information leads to "knowledge" which ultimately leads to "insight."
Has Dru uncovered a revolutionary model for addressing business issues?
I would argue, no. All consumer-focused entities have an immutable belief in the importance of tantalising their constituents. Likewise, the best communication networks have developed proprietary systems/tools for attracting consumers.
Beyond Disruption succeeds in codifying an important philosophy. Ultimately, it presents a cogent point-of-view on branding and overall business practices.
