We love books. Books are analog. They don’t run out of batteries. We can lay them out on a table side by side and have unexpected ideas. There are two camps in our office when it comes to books: those who write in them and those who don’t.
One of the books we have is used copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It’s dog-eared, underlined, and written in. Whoever had it before us clearly engaged with the book. Reading it wasn’t a passive experience. They were in conversation with the content. Isn’t that what any author wants?
It’s what we want for the brands we build. When we create brands, the we want engagement. We want people to figuratively (and sometimes literally) write in the margins. To interact. Ask. Comment. React. It means people care. It means they’re paying attention. The whole point is to create something that can’t be ignored.
Some people will love it, some people might not. But, aim to create a little tribe of people that love what you do so much that they can’t help but get involved. Just like our well-read copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.