People in business should forget about the art of persuasion and instead focus on the change that needs to happen, behavioural change expert Peter Mitchell has said. Speaking at a lunch in The Merrion Hotel to mark Walsh PR’s 40 years in business, founder of US-based agency Marketing for Change said that what moves people is not great arguments but the 12 behavioural determinants including social norms, self standards and identity.
Forget about begging people to change, we must “influence the influences that influence them.” Mitchell shared his experience of working on the smoking ban ad campaign in the 1990s. Rather than focusing on health messages, they created a counter-brand to appeal to the teen audience’s social identity and make not smoking cool. Instead they made attacking the tobacco companies – personified as stodgy, evil old men – rebellious and cool.
Initiative
Mitchell developed dozens of social marketing campaigns over the years, including one to reduce fertiliser use near Chesapeake Bay that urged homeowners to “save the crabs, then eat ’em,” and a pandemic-flu preparedness initiative that noted “four out of five people wash their hands after using the restroom. Could someone talk to the fifth guy?” RTÉ presenter Sarah McInerney hosted a Q&A with Mitchell. The conversation turned to the US election.
He shared his thoughts on how the two presidential candidates are trying to effect change by making themselves relatable to voters. He said the candidate who connects to the audience through shared values is more likely to convert. Pictured at the event were, from left: Maeve Governey, deputy MD at Walsh, Jim Walsh, founder and executive chairman, Caroline Heywood, MD at Walsh and RTÉ presenter Sarah McInerney.
