Social Engineering Blogs

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The Importance of Congruent Messages When Persuading

I had in interesting Facebook exchange not long ago. Someone posted a picture of an attractive young woman wearing a t-shirt that had the following message on the front, “To be old and wise you must first be young and stupid.” To be honest I didn’t pay attention to the rest of the post, which read, “Reinvent yourself with enhanced awareness, renew yourself with enhanced tolerance and regenerate yourself with enhanced wisdom.”Focused on the picture and the saying imprinted on it I light-heartedly commented, “But if you’re too stupid when you’re young you may not live long enough to become old and wise.  : ) ”My Facebook friend replied, “@Brian: You mean ONLY stupid people die young?? Just to refocus your observation on the quote which is my thought – it is not on the t-shirt.”I replied one last time to let him know I didn’t think only stupid people die young. Of course, the more stupid things you do, the more risk you run of harming yourself, but even people who make good decisions experience bad things. This week’s post isn’t about Facebook or the stupid things young people sometimes do. What stood out to me after the exchange was the following communication problem that’s all too common – the message was incongruent.You see, the picture of the attractive lady stood out and in my mind the message on her t-shirt had nothing to do with my friend’s quote, which was what he really wanted to convey to readers. Again, his quote was, “Reinvent yourself with enhanced awareness, renew yourself with enhanced tolerance and regenerate yourself with enhanced wisdom.” If there was a connection, then how many others missed it too?When you’re trying to communicate with someone, perhaps even trying to persuade him or her, you’d better be sure every part of your message is congruent. For example, if I conduct a sales training session for business professionals I’d be foolish to not dress in a suit and tie or sports coat at a minimum. If I went to a training session dressed as I do on the weekends my appearance will detract from my message. People have expectations about how a sales trainer will dress just like you probably have ideas about how a minister should look at a wedding or a lawyer in a courtroom. When there’s a mismatch people can lose focus and the last thing you want is someone focused on how you look rather than your message.We also have expectations for the environments we find ourselves in. We don’t act the same in church as we do at work, a bar, or in a college classroom. We conduct ourselves differently in each place and acting like you’re talking in church to a room full of college students will lose them faster than they can update Twitter.When you want to communicate a message make sure everything has a purpose and that every part of the message builds to your main point. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say after a training session, “It was pretty good but he kept going off on these tangents that had nothing to do with the workshop.” If you have stories to share, make sure they add to the message and don’t detract from it.Practice helps and perfect practice makes perfect. Do you ever ask someone for feedback on a presentation before you give it? Running through your presentation with another, as you would if your audience were right there, will help you in multiple ways. One big way is to make sure the person sees how everything ties together. If you have to stop and make the connections for them then you might want to rethink your approach.The same can be said of writing. Have someone proof read your articles and blogFree webinar! Would you like to learn more about influence from the experts? Check out the Cialdini “Influence” Series featuring Cialdini Method Certified Trainers from around the world.  posts. Have them challenge you and if something doesn’t make sense, ask yourself if there’s a better way to convey the message. Again, if you have to take extra time to explain what you mean then that should be a signal that other readers might not get your point either.Communicating a message is like traveling to a destination. Usually the shortest, most direct route is best. If you want to get there in a hurry then limit your excursions and make sure everything is working together like a well-oiled machine. The extra time and effort will be worth it when people go, “Ah, I get it.”Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”. Free webinar! Would you like to learn more about influence from the experts? Check out the Cialdini “Influence” Series featuring Cialdini Method Certified Trainers from around the world. 

Holden’s Bungle – Brand Smash

Just before Christmas 2013, iconic Australian motoring brand Holden announced that as of 2017 it would stop making cars in Australia.   While possibly a sound business decision due to falling sales and overall profitability the execution of the announcement and the subsequent advertising campaign was Holden’s Bungle!

The history of Holden dates back to 1856 when it started as a saddlery business in South Australia before it moved into the automotive industry in 1908.  In 1931 Holden became a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) but the brand has colloquially been known and recognised as Australian.

The Holden departure from Australia wasn’t the first time GM has made an announcement regarding one of their brands that would ultimately trigger loss.  In 2000 GM announced in the United States that they would cease making the Oldsmobile.  As we know the Principle of Scarcity says that things become more valuable when they are less available and this was certainly the case with the Oldsmobile as it broke its own sales records after the announcement – “people had to have one before they were gone”.

In Holden’s case however the brand is not being discontinued like the Oldsmobile.  Instead it is just not being made in Australia any longer.  So the loss is not of the brand itself rather the jobs and the fact the car is no longer being made here.

Holden’s Bungle – “We’re here to stay”

Holden knew the announcement would not be popular so they followed the it with the  “We’re here to stay” advertising campaign that ran for two weeks after the announcement on television, radio and in print.

As a public and active commitment goes many people immediately questioned this statement with a simple response of

“No you’re not!”

Rather than allay the fears of the general public, Holden’s Facebook page received over 1500 comments about the announcement – many negative as did the above video on YouTube.

Some of the unhappy comments included:

Not only did somebody come up with this, it made it through all points of approval and sign off at GM. – the most inappropriate, fake and insulting commercial I’ve ever seen. We all know what has happened. Rubbing salt into the wound by saying you are here to stay, as you just announced you are moving production overseas is a kick in the guts Holden/GM. You had already damaged your brand, this just killed it. Perfect example of the ultimate marketing failure. Will never buy your product again after this. Deplorable.  Bailey Collins

“I had bought 4 new Holden’s and the last 13 years and 1 second  hand VZ SS ute  because it had more grunt then the SV6 Ute I had, I also have a 2004 Monaro  and it’s a nice car but I will never buy another Holden again, also the media adds are  an insult to a person’s intelligence. Barry S

“Disgusted with you Holden. First you destroy families and lives here crying poor and then you spend mega bucks on a radio / advertising campaign assuring us all that your still committed to Australia.” John Brown

“Please stop showing your add about how your here to stay because it’s complete BS!!! It’s not true your going and that’s it no more Australia made cars after 2017!!!!! The add is patronising so stop it because the Australian public are not dumb!!!!!!  Peter Hill

“Utterly disgusting.  I’m here to stay as well but I’m also here to tell you I’ll never buy another Holden vehicle ever again!” David Pearson

Regardless of the intent of the campaign many felt that Holden were behaving Consistently with the message they were putting out.  Even after the conclusion of the campaign Holden maintained the theme saying the ad was produced to clear up ill informed speculation about the future of the brand.

While it is a play on words,

 In the future, we may no longer make cars IN Australia, but we’ll always make cars FOR Australia, because we’re here to stay. Think Holden!

Will people think positively about Holden? Have they cost themselves their unique marketing message based on Liking (i.e. we are all from here so we are more inclined to think positively about them) or will people just not care?  From the comments of those on Social Media, NOT LIKELY!

The Principle of Consistency says that once we make a commitment we feel personal and interpersonal pressure to remain consistent with that commitment.  In this circumstance have Holden made a commitment but due to the circumstance and delivery  the commitment seems false therefore being received negatively by those they have attempted to influence?

My advice is be careful how you convey your message and remember nobody likes a smarty pants.  A play on words could be playing with fire.

 

How do you think Holden could have handled it differently?

 

 

 

The post Holden’s Bungle – Brand Smash appeared first on Social Influence Consulting Group.