After launching Sirius Satellite Radio’s portable device known as Stiletto, Sirius subscriptions skyrocketed 97%. During its debut holiday season, Stiletto outsold competitor XM Radio’s portable devices four to one. M-System’s DiskonKey, the USB flash drive launched in 2000, created a new global market projected to be worth $100 billion by 2026. It was also selected as one of the All-Time 100 Gadgets by Time Magazine. Umpqua Bank, a small community bank in Roseburg, Oregon, grew from $120M to $8B in just ten years.
Ziba helped these companies achieve phenomenal success by using transformational metaphors.
How Do Transformational Metaphors Work?
Transformational metaphors fundamentally shift the way people experience a particular product, environment or service by transferring meaning from a previous experience to a new experience. They create value by simplifying communication and fulfilling people’s emotional needs.
When helping Sirius Satellite Radio overtake rival XM, Ziba used the metaphor of the transistor radio to make complex satellite technology familiar and approachable. To help M-Systems take their flash memory technology to the consumer market, Ziba created a device whose portability, durability and ease of use were inspired by another indispensable, everyday device—a highlighter. And when designing the Umpqua Bank experience, Ziba used the transformational metaphor of a boutique hotel to clearly position Umpqua as an inviting community bank that delivers the highest quality service.
Tranformational Metaphor Examples
Tranformational Metaphor Examples
The use of metaphors is not new. Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung have written extensively about the role that signs, symbols, myths and metaphors have played in the creation of meaning throughout history. What is new is the explicit use of metaphors to shift meaning from one experience to another to create more valuable products and services.
Why Are Transformational Metaphors Important?
In today’s competitive marketplace it is becoming increasingly difficult for products and services to connect with consumers. Transformational metaphors can help. They simplify complex concepts and help people instantly understand the value of a product or service. They draw on personal and social history to create emotional connections. And, most importantly, transformational metaphors shift people’s expectations away from the status quo, allowing new products and services to be experienced in fundamentally new ways.
Transformational Metaphors Simplify Complex Concepts
People are inundated by more products, services and content than ever. Research indicates that consumers are bombarded with 50-400 messages every day. They don’t have time to decipher complex concepts. Transformational metaphors provide people with the quick read they need to understand new products and services. For example, Apple leverages the power of the “bar” metaphor, introduced in 2001 in its retail spaces to help people quickly understand the type of service to expect at its Genius Bars. Apple intentionally selected the “bar” metaphor because it draws on the social history of an attentive bartender ready to lend an empathetic ear and dispense helpful advice. The bar metaphor clearly communicates that the service will be friendly, attentive and personal.
Transformational Metaphors Deliver Emotional Benefits
People want to feel connected to the products and services they buy. Beyond functional needs, people are increasingly looking to satisfy their emotional needs. In fact, research indicates that 86% of consumers’ buying choices are shaped by an average of ten emotional needs. Transformational metaphors create powerful emotional connections by drawing on people’s personal and social histories. Apple’s Genius Bar metaphor connects with the fundamental emotional need of people seeking help – they want someone to listen. With its silvery metallic sheen and slim cylindrical design, a can of Red Bull energy drink reassures consumers they can keep going because they’ll have the steady, ample energy of a battery.
Transformational Metaphors Shift Expectations
Transformational metaphors have the power to shift people’s expectations of a particular product or service. They invite people to look at something in a completely new way by transferring meaning from one experience to another. Anthropologie stores are admired for their lushly artisanal windows and display cabinets, their whimsical merchandise adjacencies—housewares next to fashion, furniture next to tidy piles of books—all bathed in mood lighting and candle scent. For shoppers, the stores cannot help but evoke sensations of an endlessly fascinating bazaar, the marvelous marketplaces of antiquity.
Finding the Right Metaphor
Not all metaphors are created equal. After years of practice, Ziba has discovered that finding the right transformational metaphor requires four discrete steps:
1) Identifying the personal and social history of the target consumer
2) Articulating the culture of the company delivering the product or service
3) Defining the value of the product or service being offered
4) Discovering a metaphor that visually and emotionally connects a product or service with the consumer
1. Identifying Consumers’ Personal and Social Background.
Transformational metaphors work because they tap into people’s previous experiences. To understand which metaphors are relevant, it is necessary to clearly identify the personal and social background of the intended audience. Umpqua Bank’s boutique hotel metaphor works because Umpqua’s audience is familiar with a boutique hotel and understands what that implies about the level of customer service someone should expect.
2. Articulating Company Culture.
Transformational metaphors are the most effective, tangible evidence of a company’s beliefs and culture. They translate beliefs and culture into tangible artifacts that people can experience. Why is this important? Because today, people are increasingly interested in understanding the values of the companies whose goods and services they buy. They are interested in authentic products and services. Transformational metaphors that do not accurately represent the culture of the company that created them will be interpreted as gimmicky and meaningless. The transparency of the internet multiplies this effect. Umpqua Bank was so deeply committed to a “Ritz Carlton-level of customer service,” they sent their employees to Ritz-Carlton training classes. For Umpqua, the hotel metaphor was authentic.
3. Defining the Value Proposition.
Transformational metaphors are in service to the value a product or service is delivering. Not any metaphor will do—only those that communicate the desired value proposition. The use of metaphors for metaphors’ sake may create uniqueness but will quickly fade away because value does not extend beyond uniqueness. The Nest Learning Thermostat conveys its value proposition of easy temperature control with the metaphor of a dial. It departed from the thermostat market norm of beige boxes with often indecipherable display screens and button controls to a large, round display face rimmed with a rotating ring. Umpqua was determined to provide the best customer service of any bank in its markets. The boutique hotel reference was a clear signal to consumers that Umpqua was committed.
4. Understanding the Market Context.
Transformational metaphors exist in the context of markets. To know if a particular metaphor will work, it’s important to understand what metaphors, if any, currently exist in the specific market. This helps determine how unique or novel a particular metaphor is in that market and how tolerant that market is of novelty. The banking industry is fairly conservative. Ziba could have used a metaphor other than a boutique hotel to convey service quality for Umpqua, but the hospitality metaphor was acceptable within the context of the banking industry.
Characteristics of a Good Metaphor
The best judge of a good metaphor is market performance. Research indicates that products and services that leverage transformational metaphors get significantly higher results than industry averages. Umpqua Bank, after partnering with Ziba, reported twice as many deposits in its new stores as in its existing stores. Apple’s sales per square foot in 2023 were $5,500, closer to luxury jeweler Tiffany’s at $3000 per sq. ft. than to consumer electronics competitor Best Buy at $1,144 per sq. ft.
During the design process, it is important to be able to identify transformational metaphors that have the potential of increasing market performance. To do this, Ziba has created a set of heuristics to evaluate potential metaphors and define the one with the most potential.
Ziba’s research indicates that good transformational metaphors have three characteristics: relevance, difference and authenticity.
1. Relevance is defined by how well it resonates with the personal and social background of the consumer (values and experiences).
2. Difference is about how unique the transformational metaphor is versus the competition.
3. Authenticity defines how effective the transformational metaphor represents the beliefs and values of the organization making the product and/or service. Look out for the “unmetaphor” – a silly, additional layer of meaning that is different, but lacks authenticity and relevance.
For Sirius, DiskOnKey and Umpqua, the metaphors of a transistor radio, a highlighter, and a boutique hotel delivered on each of the three characteristics of a good metaphor – and the market rewarded them.
For additional information regarding how transformational metaphors can help your company create products and services that people crave, contact sohrab_vossoughi@ziba.com or call Ziba’s office in Portland, Oregon at (503) 223-9606.