The Pirate Geek

The Pirate Geek http://www.thepirategeek.com Test tag line Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:03:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 en I will, if you will… http://www.thepirategeek.com/?p=46 http://www.thepirategeek.com/?p=46#comments Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:41:46 +0000 Ruby http://www.thepirategeek.com/?p=46 I’ve always thought the ‘p’ in PR could stand for so much more; promotion perhaps, provocation perhaps, or simply just - persuasion…

I’m reading a book at the moment called ‘Yes! 50 secrets from the science of persuasion’ (their stupid little exclamation mark not mine, I find the little beasts louche and lazy)… but, exclamation mark aside… I’m finding the book it rather riveting…

Whilst I fear this sort of book with inevitably find itself propping up the front of the store at Christmas in Waterstones (Uncle Clive loves a bit of persuasion pet), it’s a terribly neat little anecdotal book about marketing, brands and the little things that make a damned difference… Take copywriter Colleen Szot’s decision to change the ‘normal’ ending of an informercial… Instead of ‘Operators are waiting, please call now’ she cunningly quotes: ‘If operators are busy, please call again’… Did you see what she did there? Clever huh… Now, instead of thinking of bored operators hunched around waiting for our call, we seeing phones ringing off the hook in the hurry of it all. Cripes, whatever Szot was selling, I think perhaps I want one…

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The power pull of the public is something we’re increasingly understanding and reacting to. As used as we are to Amazon’s ‘Perfect Partner’ or ‘People who brought this item also brought’ adage we forget often how much we trace, track and respond to these notes and nuances… Indeed, teaching dissertations at the moment, I’ve come to see how many students are using these recommendations to create their own reading list… It’s an easy way for them to navigate through the required reading to get real results, and since so much attention is given by the people marking these damn things to the ‘literary review’ of the subject, it’s an easy peasy way to cover off cultured ground…

Even the way we are asked to ‘recycle’ our towels in hotels can be affected by attention to detail and the introduction of ‘others’. Whilst most of us are politely asked to consider the environment when we ask for new towels (and often do), the ’social proof’ that others have reused their towels can elevate this behavior even more. By changing the wording on the sign in the bathroom to include the fact that ‘the majority of people who check in to this hotel reuse their towels’ we also will. The authors took this perceived similarity one step further and had the hotel guest read a sign that explained people that stayed in the same room they were staying in, reused their towels… Then the take up is even higher, at this point, it becomes almost personal…

There’s something to be learnt here, as - since we are driven by the clout of crowds, we are also seemingly ‘excused’ by the behavior of others. If, for example, 85% of the population don’t pick their litter up when they leave a bus, we probably won’t either - negative social norms create inaction or compliance. Your doctor’s surgery, for example, probably has a sign telling you how many people cancel appointments every week and what effect that has on the poor staff and sick among us… Oh well, at least when you don’t turn up you’re not the only one. What they should do, however, is congratulate those that do turn up… ‘46% of our patients turn up on time and get seen by the doctor at once. We thank them for their cooperation‘. Suddenly, you want to be in that gang, you want to be a good egg…

So if you have positives to promote, sell ‘em. If you have statistics proving that other people enjoy your product/service/offering, - tell ‘em that too. If you’re trying to change the behavior of a group, don’t smack them round the head with the bad news and sullen stats; haul them in by the hand loads by pointing out they’re not the only ones. In fact, if you reuse your towel, pick your litter up or turn up for your appointment, you’re part of the pack. Well done you.