| Persuasion, seduction, negotiation, and fear have lost | | | | emotional bonds with the company and its products. |
| their effectiveness to clinch the deal, close the sale, | | | | Purpose: Most companies express purpose in the |
| and make cash registers ring. Whiter, brighter, faster, | | | | form of a mission statement, and while many |
| and better -- while intriguing -- no longer motivate | | | | companies have written mission statements, few live |
| consumers to act. Today's savvy marketers are | | | | them. Many mission statements boast noble virtues, |
| shifting strategies to more strongly connect with | | | | principles, and intentions, but it's really profits that |
| customers; they are harnessing the power of the | | | | steer the corporate ship, and constituents know it. |
| four Ps of high voltage communications (TM) -- | | | | Smart companies realize that when they put |
| personhood, purpose, persona, and presence -- to | | | | employees, customers, and society first, profits |
| promote their products, services, issues, and | | | | follow. By creating excellent work environments, they |
| organizations. | | | | attract the best employees, and consumers will |
| Sick of the impersonal quality of much of their daily | | | | choose them over competitors if they offer |
| lives, Americans are seeking to reconnect and build | | | | hiqh-quality products and excellent service at a good |
| stronger relationships. "In all walks of life, we see a | | | | price, and if they are socially responsible. |
| trend toward wanting to convert impersonal | | | | The last few years have seen an explosion in the |
| transactions into personal relations," reports famed | | | | field of corporate social responsibility. Today, almost |
| futurist Daniel Yankelovich. | | | | all big companies have specific guidelines on social |
| Connection, or the feeling of belonging, is one of the | | | | responsibility and are consciously engaged in efforts |
| top three human needs, according to psychologist | | | | to give back to society. |
| Abraham Maslow, after physical needs. In our | | | | Some call marketing with purpose "cause branding," |
| well-fed society, almost all of our physiological and | | | | and one of the country's leading experts on cause |
| safety needs are being met, but for many the need | | | | branding is Carol Cone, president of Boston-based |
| for connection is not, and smart businesses are | | | | Cone, Inc. |
| responding. | | | | "As cause branding continues to evolve, so too will |
| The image of business today is being altered, says | | | | the public's expectations about the role companies |
| futurist Faith Popcorn in her bestselling book Clicking. | | | | play in addressing societal needs. In the new reality, |
| "(Business will be) no longer seen as a war to be won | | | | companies must implement meaningful, substantive |
| by trouncing the competition, but viewed as a | | | | programs around social issues to bring their values to |
| complicated mosaic to be developed, one relationship | | | | life, articulate their 'soul', and answer the question, |
| at a time." | | | | 'What do you stand for?" Cone says. |
| Sharp marketers forge stronger connections with | | | | Those that do put their money where their mission is |
| their constituents by building deeper relationships that | | | | -- such as the BodyShop, Ben & Jerry's, and |
| result in trust, and this trust is built on the four Ps of | | | | Patogonia - are richly rewarded by consumers. |
| high voltage communications (TM) . | | | | Persona: Persona describes the masks we wear, or |
| Personhood: Personhood requires companies to be | | | | the image we assume, in order to facilitate |
| self-aware, self-accepting, and self-disclosing. In order | | | | communication. In business, we call persona |
| to be self-aware and accepting, many marketers use | | | | "branding." |
| a tool called "gap analysis." During a gap analysis, | | | | "Branding is merely establishing a relationship," says |
| research is conducted to determine if a company's | | | | Charlotte Beers, former head of two of advertising's |
| current reputation matches its desired one: if it | | | | most prestigous brands, Ogilvy & Mather and J. |
| doesn't, further research is required to find out why. | | | | Walter Thompson. Much has been written on |
| If it's because of consumers' perceptions, marketers | | | | branding and for good reason. Without it, a product, |
| know they must do a better job of promoting, and if | | | | service, issue, or organization is no different than its |
| it's a real problem, they understand changes must be | | | | competition and will die. But futurist Melinda Davis |
| made. | | | | predicts that the power of the brand is waning. In its |
| Personhood also requires being authentic and after | | | | place, she says consumers will come to depend on |
| too many recent corporate scandals, being authentic | | | | new meta-brands that are idenified with a creed, or |
| has never been so important. | | | | marketplace manifesto, and not tied into one product |
| "In the current environment, it's time for brands to | | | | category. Davis sites Oprah Winfrey as an example |
| rethink their basic brand foundation and consider | | | | of this emerging trend. Women interested in |
| adding a pillar around trust. They must clarify their | | | | bettering themselves turn to Oprah for advice on a |
| company's values and synchronize them with their | | | | wide variety of issues from what recipe to cook to |
| customers' values," says Ed Keller, CEO of | | | | the right books to read. The Oprah meta-brand is |
| RoperASW, one the world's most respected market | | | | also an excellent example of high voltage marketing |
| research firms. | | | | (TM) because it possesses all four Ps: personhood, |
| Smart marketers earn consumers' trust when they | | | | purpose, persona, and presence. |
| are self-disclosing and/or willing to make fun of | | | | Presence: Presence refers to the way a company |
| themselves. A good example is when Jaguar | | | | operates in the world including how it communicates |
| confronted its reputation for mechanical problems and | | | | with constituents. In the past, marketers depended |
| turned its business around by promoting, "We kept | | | | primarily on one-way communication vehicles such as |
| what you loved. The rest is history." | | | | advertising and publicity. No longer. |
| By putting a face on a product, issue, or organization, | | | | Consumers want a say. "(They) are hoping to |
| high voltage marketers (TM) use personhood to | | | | connect, to be heard, to be found - at least, to be |
| personalize their products. But a pretty face is not | | | | seen - in a world that makes us feel increasingly |
| enough; they are also using storytelling. | | | | invisible," writes Davis. |
| "The power of the story is upstaging the power of | | | | Experts suggest using two-way communications |
| the sound bite in advertising," writes Melinda Davis in | | | | vehicles such as word-of-mouth marketing, the |
| her book The New Culture of Desire: Five Radical | | | | Internet, and stronger consumer relations programs |
| New Strategies That Will Change Your Business and | | | | to dialog with consumers and build critical relationships. |
| Your Life. A good story is more personal and credible | | | | Personhood, purpose, persona, and presence are not |
| than a contrived advertising slogan, and we will | | | | linear, but interrelated. Each depends on the other. |
| remember a story long after a catchy tagline has | | | | Personhood, purpose, persona, and presence can be |
| faded from our memory. | | | | pictured as the four points of a cross that is |
| Dave Thomas of Wendy's, Scottie Mayfield of | | | | contained within a circle. Personhood is at the bottom |
| Mayfield Dairies, and Chrysler's Lee Ioccoa are good | | | | of the cross where it grounds it; purpose is at the |
| examples of how marketers have used personhood | | | | top. On the far left, resides persona, and on the |
| to promote products. These CEOs are comfortable | | | | opposite axis is presence. Where the four points join |
| talking about themselves and are able to connect | | | | in the middle, high voltage communications (TM) take |
| their stories to customers' needs. Personalizing and | | | | place, and it is here that we are at our most |
| storytelling work because they help people form | | | | powerful as marketers. |