Tag: communication

Subtractive

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Whenever you make a decision, something is left behind.

Not necessarily something bad. It might be a great idea, a wonderful opportunity, a majestic new era. The better the people around you, the better what is discarded will be. And yet, it needs to be this way, because there is no time, energy, resources, speed for all of it.

Making a decision is always a subtractive process, you have to remove what does not fit (at least this time) until you are left with a plan that makes sense and that can lead forward. It’s a loss, to many people, and it’s important to treat it as such. Mourn, communicate, reach out, grieve. And then, together, execute.

The way you go about this will determine how much people will contribute and how committed their contribution will be.

Candidate position

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What is currently happening in American politics is a matter of positioning.

Trump (the incumbent) is going after Obama in an attempt to reposition the previous administration as corrupt and indecent, in order to extend such a label to the democratic candidate that is going to challenge him in November. Biden (the challenger) is indeed approaching the election with two main topics: “I am not Trump” (not a great idea, by the way, positioning-wise) and “I was part of one of the most successful and popular administrations in the US history” (that in terms of positioning could be seen as a sort of “line-extension”, again not a great idea). And so, Trump is going after Obama to go after Biden, attempting to undermine the image of integrity and likeability the two (but mainly Obama, to be fair) have established.

Now, what Trump is doing is a legitimate strategy. Will it be effective, though? The fragility of the story Trump is building is probably not on his side. You can tell another product is inferior, or has flaws, or is not up to the task, yet that’s not something you can base on hearsay and speculation. Most of all, though, I believe what Trump is doing is not a winning strategy because he has decided to play in the challenger’s field. Instead of leveraging topics that are common to his admistration and to his past success, he is going after something new, a domain (integrity and likeability) that is not really his own.

Curious to see how this will develop in the coming months.

Reassurance

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People seek reassurance. That’s true also for business buyers. And so, the sense of urgency, threat, panic that transpires from your content is most likely driving them away.

People seek reassurance. That’s true also for employees. And so, the unilateral changes, the top-down priority, the additional stress that are communicated with dry words are most likely driving them away.

It goes without saying.

“Now more than ever …”.

Now

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It is pretentious to frame your marketing messages with the idea that all is the same, nothing has changed, and your product is as relevant as it always was (if not more). People have (momentarily?) shifted their assumptions and priorities, it might very well be that what was worth 100 two months ago is today worth 0. If your message sticks to 100, you are out of the game.

It is also pretentious to take out your crystal ball and assume you know what people will care about two months from now. The new reality, the new normal, is out of your understanding, and picturing your product at the center of it is tantamount to gambling.

Now is the only thing that matter. And the message(s) you are sharing in this moment will define your brand for years to come.

Fear

FabrizioLeave a comment

Fear means you care.

Fear means you will think twice.

Fear means long-term matters to you.

Fear means you are learning.

Fear means you are not alone.

Fear is good, and when you accept it in your life, name it, verbalize it, it is a lot less scary than you think.