Branding: All You Need Is Love
During election season there is an inordinate amount of fear-mongering. A lot of talk about what is at stake. What others want to take from you. It leads to hate and vitriol being slung around.
Some would-be leaders like to amp up the fear. They know that it is a powerful motivator and they use it. So we get a lot of anger that is fueled by fear.
There is a branding lesson in all this. An interesting thing happens when you continually play the fear card. Its ability to motivate people starts to diminish. The fear loses its potency. People become desensitized.
Choosing another path
Inspiration is also a motivator. The great thing about that is that additional inspiration doesn’t cause people to become desensitized. In fact, just the opposite happens. The more you share inspiration, the more it builds.
I’ll admit that fear is often a more powerful short-term motivator. After all, it triggers our survival instinct. But in the long run, inspiration prevails.
So how do you make a shift to inspiration? Here are three ways.
Make it about them, not you
If you want to inspire people, you have to understand what is important to them. If you focus on that, you’ll spend less time blathering on about yourself and more time really connecting with those you hope to serve. When you make that effort, people feel it. It’s encouraging. Because they feel like they have an advocate.Offer help selflessly
If you want to really connect with people, offer your expertise without an expectation of anything in return. It can seem counterintuitive to some brands. After all, it can feel like you are giving away what you should be charging for. But selflessly sharing your knowledge and help can turn prospects into evangelists for your brand. Maybe it is because we live in an every-person-for-themselves world that makes a brand that selflessly shares seem like a unicorn.Lift them up
Your prospects want to feel like they are part of something meaningful. It’s a need we all have. Organizations that have embraced a purpose have something that serves this need. It is something they can share with those they hope to serve, inviting them to join in to further the purpose. Nothing inspires like an authentic purpose.
Using fear as a motivator is too often a selfish act. Marketers use it as a manipulation to get what they want. It’s used so often today that we don’t think twice about the brand communications that attempt to trigger our fear.
At the other end of the spectrum is inspiration. Using inspiration is an act of love. It is shared with the belief that we all can help each other be well. Be better.
Choosing fear is easy. It will get you noticed. But if you want more than that. If you want to be valued. If you want to be preferred. If you want to be something special to them, opt for love.