What is the Hummingbird Effect? 001

Welcome to the first episode of "The Hummingbird Effect with Wendy Coulter." In this premiere episode, Wendy introduces the concept of the Hummingbird Effect and how small innovations in branding can lead to significant transformations for businesses. Wendy is joined by Hannah Jernigan, a team member at Hummingbird, to delve into the journey and explore the concept together.

Key Topics Discussed:

1. Introduction to the Hummingbird Effect:
   • Wendy explains how the idea of the Hummingbird Effect is inspired by the co-evolution of hummingbirds and flowers, emphasizing that small changes in one area can lead to large results in another.
   • The importance of building a strong brand rather than just focusing on marketing tactics.
2. Real-World Examples:
   • Lego: How the simple idea of construction toys led to innovations in robotics and team-building activities.
   • Apple: The evolution from mainframe computers to personal computers and the subsequent development of the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.
   • Nike: The creation of the waffle-pattern sole inspired by a waffle iron, leading to a focus on performance enhancement in running shoes.
   • Beyoncé: Her strategic changes in music style and brand extensions to resonate with evolving social changes and fan base expectations.
   • Prince: His gender-fluid fashion and innovative music style that broke boundaries and influenced fashion and music industries.
3. Application to Marketing:
   • How seemingly insignificant changes in a marketing plan can lead to major shifts in other areas of a business.
   • The importance of understanding core values and making small, strategic tweaks to align with them.
   • Examples of how small innovations can differentiate a brand and create lasting connections.
4. Advice for Brands:
   • Share ongoing changes within the company with marketing partners to identify potential small tweaks that can lead to big outcomes.
   • Avoid sticking to the status quo even when something is working well; small changes can help stand out to customers and market targets.
5. Encouragement to Innovate:
   • Embrace innovation and seek inspiration from past developments.
   • Recognize the power of small changes and their potential to create significant impact.

Call to Action:

• Subscribe to "The Hummingbird Effect with Wendy Coulter" to learn about other instances of the Hummingbird Effect and be empowered to discover your own.

Tune in to explore the power of small changes and how they can lead to monumental success in branding and marketing. Join Wendy and her guests as they uncover the secrets behind the Hummingbird Effect and inspire you to implement these insights in your own business.


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Creators & Guests

Host

Hanna Jernigan

Account Coordinator at Hummingbird Creative Group

Host

Wendy Coulter

As CEO at Hummingbird, I generate ideas that TAKE FLIGHT! I also have a passion to advocate for women in business, and I am an active real estate investor.

What is The Hummingbird Effect with Wendy Coulter?

Welcome to "The Hummingbird Effect," a podcast dedicated to uncovering the subtle yet powerful ways that small innovations can transform your business. Hosted by Wendy Coulter, CEO of Hummingbird Creative Group, this show delves into the stories and strategies behind successful brand building.

For over 25 years, Wendy has helped CEOs and business leaders redefine their brands through innovation and compelling narratives. In this podcast, she shares the insights and lessons learned from her extensive experience, exploring how a strong brand orientation can significantly increase the value of your business.

Each episode features engaging conversations with industry leaders, business advisors, and innovators who have harnessed the power of branding to make a substantial impact. Discover how focusing on core values, mission, and vision can drive your brand beyond mere marketing tactics, fostering a culture that resonates with your audience and enhances your business's reputation.

Inspired by the concept of the Hummingbird Effect—where small, adaptive changes lead to remarkable outcomes—this podcast aims to help you understand and implement the incremental innovations that can elevate your brand and business.

Join Wendy Coulter on "The Hummingbird Effect" and learn how to evolve your brand, attract more customers, and ultimately enhance the value of your business through strategic branding.

[00:00:00] [00:00:15] Hi, I'm Wendy Coulter and I'm here to unlock the power [00:00:30] of your brand. For years, businesses have focused, focused on marketing tactics, but what we really need to focus on is building a strong brand. That's the hummingbird effect.

Small innovations in branding can [00:00:45] lead to very large transformational, big results, increased valuation, stronger culture, and a marketing message that resonates. I. Okay. Today I wanna talk about why I started the Hummingbird Effect [00:01:00] Podcast and how I have seen the Hummingbird Effect in action. And I have Hannah Jernigan who works with me on the team at Hummingbird with me today, and we're gonna kind of explore it together and talk about how we've seen this work.

Hi, Wendy. I wanna [00:01:15] start by talking about the Hummingbird Effect and what it is, and you've kind of been with me on this journey, so I want you to kind of give the tidbits to fill in the pieces of the puzzle. So I think when people think about [00:01:30] hummingbirds, what do you think about when you think about hummingbirds?

I think the small birds and that they can hover in one space. Okay. Yeah, there's that. They're colorful, they're colorful. They're pollinators. So, so [00:01:45] did you know like they didn't always hover in one place? No. Yeah. So there's this co-evolutionary thing that happened between flowers and the hummingbird and the flowers as they needed to [00:02:00] become more beautiful to attract pollinators.

They. Got, they got more colorful and they wanted to grow larger, and then they were attracting the [00:02:15] bees, but they needed a bigger pollinator to make them grow larger and be more hearty, right? Like we all wanna be, be more hearty and strong. And so there was this co-evolution that happened where the flower started to [00:02:30] create nectar at the same time that the hum hummingbird was realizing in evolution that the its wing structure.

Would need to be different, like it had any say in that. Right, right, right. But yeah, so, so the wing structure and the me [00:02:45] mechanics of the wings are getting different so that it can hover isn't that cool? That is, that's very cool. So as I started learning about this, I started thinking about marketing and how, you [00:03:00] know.

Businesses have all these different places where they need to grow and change then I started thinking about how different companies have kind of evolved different pieces of their business over time that [00:03:15] might not seem connected together.

But like the hummingbird and the flower, they have this co-evolution happening, so you mentioned that this had you thinking about marketing. How does it relate to marketing and your world? Small [00:03:30] changes that you make in one area can lead to really big changes in another area.

Often we get like caught up in the daily grind. We're trying to do all of these tactics. We're chasing trends where launching [00:03:45] campaigns, we're trying to measure results as well as we can. But oftentimes just a really seemingly insignificant change in a marketing tactical plan can lead to a major shift in other areas of the [00:04:00] business.

Like a slight adjustment Mm-Hmm. To a message that all of a sudden. You know, because maybe it relates to core values or another piece of your strategy might really make an [00:04:15] impact on the way that affects not only the results of the campaign, but maybe how your employees view the business and how they engage with the business, which is completely separate from the goal.

. [00:04:30] So it's not all about the gimmicky and flashy. Creations that you see everyone make, it's the small changes that you can do. Right, right. As a matter of fact, I think it's almost always the small changes. That help you help other people [00:04:45] really understand your brand essence. That can help really, like cultivate lasting connections. It can lead to a business having more value. It's kind of amazing what can really [00:05:00] happen and how things that are disconnected all of a sudden come onto the same path.

. So I think my goal for you as the listener of this podcast is to listen and learn from not only my insights, [00:05:15] but the guest on the podcast experience.

Learn to notice when a shift is needed and act on it. In whatever small way you can. I always say in the office, eat the elephant one bite at a [00:05:30] time. And I really believe that baby steps are the best way to success. Why are you so passionate? Well. I just said baby steps. So that's kind of part of my philosophy. And you know, for many [00:05:45] years there was this idea that you had to have these long, detailed plans in business in order to be successful. And I do 100% believe in strategy. I. But I think the hummingbird effect and understanding its power is really cool [00:06:00] because you don't need this long detailed plan.

You need to have a good idea of where you want to go and what strategies you think will get you there. But you can make very small tweaks along the way and really lead to big outcomes. [00:06:15] I also love it because we get to embrace innovation. Our clients get to embrace innovation. And really seek out inspiration from things that came before.

One of the cool things about the Hummingbird Effect is it's [00:06:30] based on evolution. And so where you are today is different than where were you were a year ago. And thinking about that journey. And how you can just tweak something small instead of, you [00:06:45] know, always doing it the same way. So the Hummingbird Effect is all about innovations and how innovations can make an impact.

And then I think the other cool thing is we're really, really focused at Hummingbird on differentiation. [00:07:00] And the Hummingbird Effect really plays out well as you start to really recognize differentiation. And that comes in the form of core values and things that you've done in the past and you've realized maybe they didn't work [00:07:15] and you're looking at competitors and you know you want to change something.

Mm-Hmm. Just those, those fine tweaks along the way. What are some examples we all can relate to in terms of seeing results of the Hummingbird effect in major [00:07:30] brands? I've got a few examples that I think are really cool. The first one is Lego. And I think in order for us to really start to understand the hummingbird effect, we wanna look at the past, the history in the world and how it led to, you know, some [00:07:45] innovations that touch other areas.

And so I think the obvious one with Lego is that construction has been a thing, right? We build things. mm-Hmm. Humans build things. We love that. And so. Construction led to an idea for [00:08:00] children's toy led to Legos led to robotics being integrated.

And things being used that relate to Legos for team building. You see how all these different pieces and parts that really weren't related [00:08:15] originally are touching each other. And that's an example of the Hummingbird Effect. Okay. So it's a very simple starting point that then leads to a bigger evolution and you don't necessarily know that that's happening.

Exactly. Okay. Are there. [00:08:30] Other examples? Apple is one we can all relate to. And you know, you think back to there were vacuum tubes and then in 1947 there was the invention of the transistor. And then there were, [00:08:45] you know, really big mainframe computers. And then there was the idea of a personal computer.

Right. We had two big players competing with each other in that space for a [00:09:00] while. And then we saw. A social impact that kind of led Apple into this branding space, right where we've got iPod, iPad, iPhone, and all those ancillary [00:09:15] products. And I think that's a wonderful example of a hummingbird effect another idea do you run or. Walk or I wish I was a runner. Oh yeah, me too. But I own running shoes. Do you own running shoes? I, [00:09:30] I do. I own a lot of running shoes. Okay. So do your running shoes have like a waffle pattern on the bottom of them? Yeah. Okay. I think so. Okay. So like waffle irons, you know, we have those in our house and I think like waffle iron like tools [00:09:45] existed in Europe, like.

Way back in like the 14th century, if I got that right. And so one day bill Bowerman's wife was making waffles in the kitchen and he noticed the [00:10:00] waffle iron and he decided to ask her if he could borrow it, and he created the sole to a shoe. And that's become Nike's, shoe soul. With the waffle pattern.

[00:10:15] What's happened with that today is there's this major focus on performance enhancement. And so now they're, they've like evolved the waffle patterns. Mm-Hmm. Probably a lot different than that original waffle iron. But I think that's a cool [00:10:30] story that is about Nike, right?

Looking to history and seeing how innovations come to play from something that, that was already there. And I mean, that's the cool thing about innovation. Like it's not about something you already do, it's about coming up with an [00:10:45] idea. I remember when I was in School of Design and they would give us projects and I'd just go and walk around Walmart and Lowe's and like look at stuff, see what already existed, to see what already existed, and then that would lead to a different idea.

So it was kind of like that. Don't reinvent the wheel. [00:11:00] Right, right. I bet you know somebody who has a hummingbird effect, because I know you and I know your favorite artist is Beyonce. Beyonce. So, if I think about Beyonce, I [00:11:15] can kind of find her hummingbird effect. And it kind of starts with social change and things going on in the community. I don't necessarily think that Beyonce was paying attention to those, but as she [00:11:30] noticed that they were relevant to her fan base and to just people in general, she started to change her music to relate to those events, and it ended up having this huge impact that I don't think that anyone was really.

Looking for it to [00:11:45] have. She released albums outside of her normal genre. She has continued to do that with her most recent, recent free right and before that, a dance album. And it just was so out of the ordinary, but it never had [00:12:00] negative repercussions for her 'cause she decided to push the limit and give someone something that didn't necessarily have this from her before.

Her small but significant change in her music style and creative control and brand extensions led to a [00:12:15] massive positive impact on the music industry and the pop culture industry as well. We have all kinds of crossover artists, right?

Right. But I think they cross over by accident sometimes. Like, I don't think that [00:12:30] many country music stars all of a sudden go, I'm gonna create a pop right album. They might create a country song that people. Listen to, and it becomes popular so it crosses over. But [00:12:45] Beyonce has B has made like really direct decisions to do what she does those impacts that she can make with those different communities is pretty, yeah, pretty cool. She changed her already stable brand.

She even [00:13:00] herself said, this is not a country album. This is a Beyonce album. And if you compare it to Garth Brooks in the nineties, he decided to release a completely different style of. Music away from his normal country. He changed [00:13:15] his look, he released it and people really rejected it. I don't, do you even remember that coming out?

Mm, not really. No. Okay. Exactly. So he tried to do something a little too much rather than making a small change to [00:13:30] his brand and staying true to his values. And when Beyonce did it in this example, it really resonated with her people and she was able to be successful with it. Can I talk about my favorite artist? You can. You can. Okay. I am not wearing purple today. [00:13:45] Maybe I wore the wrong suit. That's, that's a big hint suit for the podcast. So, you know, prince is my favorite, I my favorite artist.

And I feel like he's had a hummingbird effect too. From a musicality standpoint, he made these little [00:14:00] tweaks. He even made, you know, the tweak to his brand that was huge when he went to the symbol and then back. Mm-Hmm. And the style that he brought to the table, that funk style that we never saw, he was, you know, doing things that [00:14:15] were gender fluid and he was doing things that really broke a mold at a time, not necessarily today, you know, at a time long before the conversations we have today.

He was like pushing those boundaries. The impact on [00:14:30] fashion and giving people a voice, was really a part of his hummingbird effect.

they were genuinely themselves and always have been, but a small change in the shirts or pants that Prince wore, or [00:14:45] the background music in a song that Beyonce releases resonates with their people in way more impactful ways than they could have imagined.

But all they did was. Follow their true brand and their values to get them to where they're going. [00:15:00] It made just small tweaks along the way. Right. That made a huge impact outside of maybe what they expected, so taking us back to marketing and the business world, I love working with our clients to find these small changes that will make a monumental [00:15:15] impact in their brands. I think that our team is really good at that. Yeah, they are. And I think as, as we think about our clients as business leaders, like. All they need to do with us as their [00:15:30] marketing partner is, share what's going on, and then we help find these little tweaks that can be made along the way.

And so any advice, like the main piece of advice that I would give brands that are looking [00:15:45] to achieve a hummingbird effect is to like really share what you're doing with your agency or with any partner that you're working with on your marketing. What kind of changes are you making internally?

And I think brands forget to [00:16:00] do this communication. Like we have to dig it out so much sometimes. Yeah. Right. Like, what's the sales team doing that works? What's a culture committee doing that might be really cool to promote on the marketing side. Mm-Hmm.

[00:16:15] Something that they were working on, it was like a jumping off point for us to create a hummingbird effect. Another piece of advice is to not always stick with the status quo. And that's what we have to help our clients notice as well. 'cause even [00:16:30] when something is working that small change can make you stand out to your customers to who you're trying to.

Market too. So that's important. And that's also how you would find your hummingbird effect. Exactly, [00:16:45] exactly. So I encourage you to subscribe to this podcast and join us as we learn about other hummingbird effects, so you're empowered and encouraged to search for your own. Thank you. [00:17:00] [00:17:15]