Check out these ads, which reveal a great deal about different attitudes that polluters and conservationists bring to the task of persuading the public.
Social research consistently find that corporations, especially those in the fossil fuel business, have a serious credibility gap with the public. So what do they do? They work hard to put the best face possible on their business — your face. Polluters create ads that use pictures and words to tell heartwarming stories that link their business to everyday citizens’ families and children. And then they get feedback from everyday citizens before they run them, just to make sure they got it right. Check out the faces in these two examples:
Source: EnergyTomorrow Coalition
Social research consistently finds that nature protection and pollution control experts enjoy pretty good credibility with everyday citizens on our business. So what do we do? We create cryptic, sterile ads that portray the environment as remote and impersonal. We skip the step of getting feedback everyday citizens and run the ads after our peers approve them. And then we wonder why ads like the one below don’t seem to make much difference in a public policy debate:
Bottom line here: Polluters do it better because they try harder. And that’s one of the reasons they can overcome their credibility gap and beat us on vital policy matters.
Well, after being a member of the River Management Society for many years, I finally made it to one of the conferences. Here is the PowerPoint for my presentation “Making Rivers Relevant to New Audiences.” Hat tip to Liz Lacy at the National Park Service for organizing this fascinating discussion.
I’ve had my eye on a local conservation group, Save Palmyra Cove Nature Park, for a while. They’re very skillful in their use of free Internet tools and they do a good job turning out citizens to work together to protect their beloved natural area. Now they’re weighing in on New Jersey Governor John Corzine’s plan to close nine state parks (boo!), and since they’ve posted their talking points for all to see, I’ll offer some praise – and a little free advice. Click here to see their call to action.
Praise: Really great job with the photos! When you’re trying to get everyday citizens off the couch to do something, it’s “monkey see, monkey do.” Showing pictures of people excercising their freedom of speech is the best possible way to get more people to exercise their freedom of speech.
Praise: Great job telling people what they can do to influence the governor. Contact information, talking points, links to various organizations in on the campaign.
Suggestion: So what’s with the “sad sack” attitude? The group writes:
As environmentalists in New Jersey, we have been beaten down time and time again. Even with our small victories to protect Palmyra Cove and restore Green Acres funding, we are still fighting a tough battle.
Whether or not it’s true, this kind of language is very demotivating to those considering speaking up. It’s human nature to want to join the winning team. The group should cite their victory at Palmyra Cove and hold it up as an example of the great things that citizens can accomplish by working together and demanding that elected officials plan ahead to protect natural areas that are important to local families. Be positive!
Suggestion: And speaking of families, why is the consequences of park closures on families at the bottom of the list of talking points? After a boring recap of the history of the NJ DEP budgeting going back two governors, and a bunch of hard-to-read factoids about # of dollars, employees, acres, and so on?
It’s important for top activists to know those facts so they can raise it in a private conversation with a politician or their staff – but that stuff is not helpful for getting another dozen or so everyday citizens to show up at your event and carry a sign.
Best wishes to the New Jersey conservation community! Go get ‘em!
Disclosure: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is a past client of Water Words That Work.
Let’s compare and contrast a pair of ads that want to persuade consumers to do basically the same thing. Nevertheless, one appeals to a narrow group of discriminating insiders, while the other appeals to a broader and more casually interested audience.
Outdoor industry leaders have invested a lot of money exploring how to recruit a new generation of hunters, anglers, and boaters in suburban America. One of the things they have discovered is that product specs matter to avid outdoors enthusiasts. Repeat customers. Knowledgeable customers. For example, a discriminating customer in the market for their second or third boat would find this literal and fact-heavy advertisement below to be quite helpful:
Source: Gilman Yachts, ad appeared in Chesapeake Bay Magazine.
But what these industry leaders have also discovered is that these specs and details just don’t mean much to less informed customers — novices, first-time buyers, newbies, call them what you want. Instead, those individuals respond more to a more abstract and emotional pitch, like the one in this advertisement:
Ad by Discover Boating, appeared in Outdoor Life magazine.
I have never done a presentation for the outdoor industry (although I’d be happy to, hint hint), but I think this second ad is just great. I’m struck how their ad uses the same words that I want you to use — and makes the same emotional connections that I want you to make.
If the boating, fishing, and fishing geeks can start to move past their fixation on horsepower, bullet caliber, line weight, etc… and appeal to a broader audience by evoking family experiences, surely we can move past our focus on watersheds, impervious surfaces, dissolved oxygen levels, etc… and do the same in our public-facing writing speaking.
Can’t we?
Can’t we?
If you want to explore what lead to this change of approach by the outdoor industry, check out the following reports from the research firm Responsive Management:
Factors Related to Hunting and Fishing Participation Among Today’s Youth
Factors Related to Boating Participation in the United States
Women’s, Hispanics’, and African-Americans’ Participation in and Attitudes Toward Boating and Fishing
