The concept of Enteglement in Communications
A connected future
Do you believe in fate? And do you believe our fates are entwined with the fates of others?
Whether you’re a believer in determinism or believe that our destiny is freely shaped within each moment, as inherently social creations it is difficult not to recognize that our lives are inherently tangled with those around us. The relationships we form – both personal and professional – have a significant hand in shaping our decisions and choices.
What a tangled web we weave
It was in fact a recent article in The Conversation that got us thinking about the idea of entanglement. The article outlines the idea of ‘Quantum Entanglement’; a fascinating concept in which when two quantum particles become entangled, they become part of the same thing; not by becoming melded, but instead by having direct effect on each no matter how far apart they are.
The relationship we hold with our clients…
So why is this relevant to us? Well it got us to thinking about the nature of relationships. Quantum Entanglement is about more than just a symbiotic relationship, where what benefits one benefits the other. It’s about having one’s very definition of self and the implications of one’s actions bound with another party. And it’s about the way that bond perpetuates regardless of distance and space.
In many ways, this is the kind of relationship that we hold with our clients – a relationship where the activities of each party are far more than complimentary or mutually beneficial – instead, they are inherently bound with each other. The nature of our clients – and the actions and decisions they take – have a profound impact on the actions and strategy we take as their communication specialists. But at the same time, our activities as communications specialists impacts what happens within their business also.
… is built on the relationship we hold with our content
There is also a different way of looking at the concept of entanglement – relating not the relationship between Xpresso – as a corporate entity – and our clients, but instead between our clients and our content as an entity. In many ways, content maintains a life of its own. This is a fairly well established concept; indeed, it was Richard Dawkins who came up with the idea of the ‘meme’ – a unit of cultural transmission that has within it an almost instinctual desire to replicate, evolve and spread. Information has a life of its own once it has been released into the world, it does not simply stick statically where it has been placed.
Resultantly, there is a tangled relationship between creator and content; even as it goes out into the world on its own – shaping and morphing itself, and as a result shaping and morphing the company that it is linked to.
This has incredible potential for benefit for businesses: the idea of something that is tied to us but separate from us allows for a dissemination and spread that can go far further and wider than if we exercised direct influence over it.
But on the other hand, of course, this is – at its heart – quite a scary concept, and one that carries risk. Being bound with the ‘fate’ of something that exists outside of your control can render a feeling of powerlessness. We’ve all seen, all too often, things that have gone ‘viral’ on the internet – the life that they’ve taken on has become warped, twisted and out-of-control. It’s a pitfall that it’s all too easy for companies to fall into, especially if they have had relatively little exposure to the world of content creation and dissemination.
How we craft quantum content
This means that extreme care needs to be used when creating content – when forming that initial entanglement and trusting that it will serve us well as it moves under its own force throughout the world. There needs to be a level of trust in the original content creator that what they shape has been carefully constructed so that when it is sent out into the world, the shape that it takes is stable and protected against misinterpretation.
It’s this where Xpresso really shines. Because we’ve spent over a decade building up three important things: the power of expertise, the power of reputation, and the power of digital connection. These elements combine to ensure that the communications strategies and content that we develop for clients are robust and secure, whilst also being compelling and dynamic. But what do each of these powers really entail?
- The power of expertise: with decades of industry experience but inherently academic hearts, we don’t just understand our client’s needs and their products, we understand the much wider context of their operation – not just in economic business terms, but scientific and social terms too. Our original content stems from creating analogies and metaphors that draw from this understanding. Why? Because it makes content distinctive and attractive, and helps decision makers to understand their potential options in a more coherent, cohesive and contextual way.
- The power of reputation: again, something that stems in part from the sheer amount of time we’ve been in the industry, building links and contacts over the course of years of shared experience. But it goes further than this – it stems not just from time, but from mindset too: being accountable, kind, humble, accurate, open minded, trusting and trustworthy, focused on always pursuing mutual benefit rather than zero-sum wins. At the heart of it – being human, and connecting to other people on a level that resonates and carries meaning.
- The power of digital connections (now more than ever!): human connection sits at the heart of what we do, but human connection is still entirely possible in a digital world: it’s simply about finding congruence between method and message. Our continuous research and experimentation in the field of social media and digital tools keep us engaging with the digital communities that matter, and fostering online collaborative spaces that carry value.
Facing up to reality
And of course in amongst all this, there are the practical considerations. There’s a strange tension between the idea that effective content carries immense value, but a good idea costs nothing. Communications budgets need to reflect the expertise that they’re built on and the value they provide an organisation – but they also need to be feasible and realistic. Indeed, for us at Xpresso, it’s more important that we offer services at a price level which is non-exclusionary, because for us it’s far more important to work with clients who have deep minds than deep pockets.
