March 4, 2015

Artifacts and Ideas Marketing

What is Architecture?

Back in my architect days I became really disappointed with one of the common ways people defined architecture. The general view was that there was ‘architecture’ and there was ‘mere building’. Supposedly, architecture had some special quality that ‘mere building’ didn’t. I’m not convinced.

In my eyes, a more useful idea was the view of our artifacts being extensions of man. Or more specifically, artifacts are things that allow us to extend our capabilities. For example, a car lets me travel further than if I had to walk.

In architecture, this presents a more powerful definition:

Our skin is climate control for our internal organs.
Our clothes are climate control for our skin.
And, our buildings are climate control for our clothes.

Artifacts and Ideas Marketing

This view of our artifacts as extensions of man also applies to Ideas Marketing:

An artifact is any device, tool or thing that allows us to presence our big idea and bring it to life.

There are three key points in this definition: Things, Presence and Bring to Life.

1 A Thing

An artifact is a thing. In the good old days we might have said it was a physical thing like a knife, a ball or a desk. Today, it can also be digital or virtual. For example, it might be an app, Facebook or a digital image.

[Tweet “Artifacts presence our big idea and bring it to life #ideasmarketing”]

2 Presence

To presence something is to bring it to our conscious awareness.

For example, most of the time we are busy in life and we’re conscious of all the things we have to do. However, if you have a photo of your recent holiday to Bali or your wedding in your wallet or purse then each time you see this photo it reminds you of something that has already happened. It gives it presence in that moment.

We also need to presence or remind ourselves of what we intend for the future. For example, your manifesto can showcase your vision, your bucket list can highlight your future adventures and an inspirational quote on your fridge can remind you of whom you want to become.

The purpose of being present to the past or the future is to stimulate your emotions. Seeing a photo of your loving family in the midst of a harried day at work might just be enough to calm you down and remind you why you do what you do.

[Tweet “The three keys to creating artifacts to bring your big idea to life #ideasmarketing”]

3 Bring to Life

Being aware of something is a good start, and it’s not enough. We also need to take action to create the future we desire. And, this is where we can create a series of artifacts to help our community achieve this.

The two key questions to ask for creating your artifacts are:

What are the actions that people need to take?
How can I help them with this?

For example, you want to exercise more effectively. Here’s a series of artifacts you could use to help with this.

Exercise equipment – skipping rope, weights, medicine ball
Exercise clothes – shorts, running shoes, leggings, hat
Motivation – posters with inspirational quotes, podcast to listen to, YouTube channel of videos to watch
Progress – having a training diary of the action you take and your body measurements may be useful to measure progress and inspire continued action. You might also choose to have a clock to time your exercise or a pedometer to count your steps for the day.
Environment – Where are you going to exercise? You might like to go to the gym, set up an exercise space in your spare room or head to the great outdoors and the local park.