The US elections are always a fascinating source of inspiration for marketers looking to create cultural impact for their brands. The rise of Donald Trump has been the biggest surprise this time round. His challenger positioning, embrace of digital media and emotional rhetoric have most successfully captured the zeitgeist.
The US elections also offer unexpected echoes of the past – and Obama’s 2008 campaign. However, where Obama’s message was one of hope, Trump’s sensationalism thrives on fear.
This raises an interesting question for marketers: if both approaches can create impact, should we embrace hope or fear?
We’re surrounded by messages that play to our fears, suggesting that our lives are inadequate without brand X. However, marketers in both the commercial and not-for-profit arenas are showing the potential in approaches that play to our hopes.
It may seem far removed from the razzmatazz of the US elections, but the market for the humble sanitary towel offers a case in point. It has long been dominated by campaigns playing to women’s fears around absorbency. Our #likeagirl campaign for P&G’s Always brand turned this on its head. It focused on building rather than undermining girls’ confidence, by re-appropriating the phrase “like a girl” as
something to be proud and not ashamed of.
Similarly, the default setting for much charity marketing is to dramatise the negative. In contrast, the NSPCC is determined to pursue a more optimistic approach. So instead of showing the effects of abuse, our recent Alfie campaign offered an uplifting story. We didn’t set out to create guilt, but a sense of everyone’s potential to change a child’s future.
This isn’t warm fluffy idealism. There’s cold, hard commercial logic here. These approaches have proven highly successful for the marketers who have pursued them. So whether driven by noble instincts or enlightened self-interest, marketers can confidently create cultural impact that is refreshingly positive, by fostering a little less fear and a little more hope.
Josh Bullmore is chief strategy officer at Leo Burnett London
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