Hooked on a feeling
Twitter isn’t someplace I’d ever want to live, but it is an interesting place to visit and I recently came across a tweet that really resonated with me.
Jason Matheson is right, and there are three key words in his tweet: 1) stakeholders; 2) inspire and 3) action.
I’d contend that most communication – both the strategic and tactical pieces of it – should move the target audience to take some type of action. Otherwise, what’s the point?
The best communication moves us to act without us even realizing it.
I’ve always loved the section in Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” where he discusses Apple’s approach to marketing. Apple, of course, wants us to buy their products. So does Budweiser. And Chrysler. But their best pitches to us, as consumers, attempt to connect with us on an emotional level. They tell us who they are so we can decide whether or not we want to engage with them. In those instances, they don’t even have to make a direct ask. We’ll go looking for them. Why? Because, as Seth Godin wrote, “people like us do things like this.”
A couple of my favorite examples …
In the depths of the Great Recession, Chrysler released a Super Bowl spot that featured Eminem and did a great job of conveying both the despair and resilience of the city of Detroit at the time. The country, and particularly that city, was hurting and this ad tapped into that without ever asking us to buy a car. Anyone (like me) who grew up in the Detroit area or has lived there for any length of time, was touched by that commercial. That ad is a decade old and it still hits me.
Steve Jobs was a marketing genius. Apple’s marketing strategies under Jobs were always more about the message than the product itself. He knew that if the message was effective and the product was good, the customers would follow. Apple developed a loyal customer base, yes, because the products were amazing, but also because the company positioned itself in a way that made their customers feel something. A direct ask to purchase wasn’t necessary.
When we’re trying to inspire someone to action – to buy something from us, to donate money to our cause, to vote for us, to marry us, to attend our university – connecting on a personal and emotional level is essential.
We make most of our decisions based on how we think something will make us feel. We want to feel part of the group. We want to feel happy. We want to feel free. We want to feel loved. We want to feel safe and secure.
As leaders, marketers, teachers, coaches or communications professionals, our top priority should be content – written or spoken words, video or graphics – that connects emotionally with our audience so they are inspired to take the action we want them to take.
The audience will follow closely behind.