The emergence of "soft power" in marketing and communications. A view of understanding coalitions for and against a brand -- taken from the world of Influence Operations Presentation at Aalto University marketing forum, Helsinki

1. The end of the Big Megaphone Mark Linder Chime Group PLC Bell-Pottinger Sans Frontières 16 September 2010 DiViA/ Aalto University

2. This is not the talk you, or I, expected it was going to beNot “marketing”.... More about conflict, politic, sociology and psychologyWith whom, where and how you choose to engage

3. Sources of inspiration in Finland...

4. Best country?

5. If you asked this question, ‘where you would you look to see the future of education’, the answer we’ve traditionally given to that is... you go to Finland. Finland is the best place to see school systems.

6. Or most transparent? Who are these two? (more on them later)

7. Thank you for your responses to the survey about digital channels

8. Which list is which? Web advertising Facebook SEM, SEO Twitter Behavioral targeting Web advertising Facebook SEO Twitter Piracy

9. Which list is which? Most useful to my company Web advertising Facebook SEM, SEO Twitter Behavioral targeting Least useful to my company Web advertising Facebook SEO Twitter Piracy

10. My take:You are experienced but anxious to learn moreandNot as sophisticated as I(we) need to be

11. Not much difference between large and small entities

12. What this said to me....

13. Awareness of changeA desire for knowledge and also structure“How do we engage, not just ‘what digital channels do we use?’”

14. We are in a communications environment which swarms with skepticism and conflict

15. No more majoritiesThe authority is an “amateur”Little speedboats can hurt big navies

16. Markets used to be“Positional” (Brand A has more X than Brand B)Occasionally in “Crisis” (Disaster X hits Brand A)An increasing number of markets are now in continual “conflict mode”

17. Everything is contested – immediatelyOften, as a message is being communicated, the conflict starts

18. You’ve heard of “rapid rebuttal”

19. You’ve heard of “instant rebuttal”

20. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the age of “pre-buttal”Pre-butt anticipated challenges before you’ve made the announcement that will trigger challenge

21. “Never underestimate the importance of fast.”-- Eric Schmidt*

23. Marketing as we knew it came out of WWII

24. Where does “campaign” come from, anyway?

25. Agricultural connotationHad to get back to take in the harvest“Campaign” has a beginning and an end

26. we had the answer...

27. We had the purchase funnel…

28. Brand … and the megaphone Advertising

29. bombs away....“fire and forget”

30. What we call hard power

31. “Hard power”Searching for ultimate victoryTargeting and winning over a groupFiring stuff at them

32. Hard power(about selling stuff...less effective now)

33. Hard power Social Marketing“Social power” (our brand is yours, you take the brand and share it, etc.)

34. The “how”, but not the “why”

36. Hard power Social power What are we trying to do? Does it actually sell stuff?

37. Hard power Soft power(still about selling stuff) A way of thinking about engagement

38. Soft power rests on the ability to shape the preferences of others

39. Simply put, in behavioural terms, soft power is attractive power

40. Bell-Pottinger Sans FrontièresSpecial Projects “the SAS of strategic communications”Geo-political reputation re-buildsConflict zone influence operationsPublic advocacy**when public opinion is really confused, the media is not helping, and the major actors cannot speak out(eg biofuels, GMO, privacy, alcohol, etc.)

41. “Stratcomms” Conflict transformation Stabilization Influence operations Psychological warfare Democratic institution building Blunting violent extremist recruiting

42. Lessons from Public Diplomacy 2.0

43. “The United States need not be Miss Congeniality to win the war of ideas. We just need to make moderates hate extremists more than they dislike us.” -- James Glassman

44. Three useful things from Public Diplomacy 2.0 An attitude : The Big Megaphone is dead A technique : Coalitions, not campaigns A process : Sense and respondn2i2* etc. * Networks, narratives, identities, interests

45. The Big Megaphone is deadBrand US--“Let me tell you a thing or two” “We want you to have democracy” “You mean “stop fighting us, or we’ll kill you!!” “Maybe we should kill you first…”

47. Brand US (Brand Us) thinking says that “we are only interested in you in as much as we want something from you” -- (we want you to) like us, buy our ideas, buy our product, etc - and ultimately do what we want you to do.

48. This is not about you. It’s not even about you and them. It’s pretty much just about them. -- Dana Eyre, Chief of Sociology

49. Do you really understand “them”?What is their desired end-state? Forget about yours.

50. “You don’t have to be a clinical psychologist to think like one.”--David Kenning, Chief of Psychological Operations

51. In psychological warfare, an accurate diagnosis of the enemy’s mindset is critical – in particular, the composition of his self-image and the realdrivers of his will to fight

52. "DO YOU WANT TO DENY YOURSELF THE RIGHT TO BE A MAN?" a psy-ops leaflet, dropped by American forces in Vietnam

53. Question: when is the last time you brought a clinical psychologist into your team?“The blend”SociologistPsychologistDeliberative researcher (more on that later)

54. Marketers love net promotersBut who is “the other”? Who are your opponents, the obstructionists? Who is anti-brand? Do you know them as well?

55. Obstructionistshave asymmetric advantage

56. Who is your asymmetric challenger?

57. It’s massively cool to be against somethingThink about the recruiting power of skepticism

58. Can you recognize this logo?

59. What about now?

60. Al-Qaeda, the ultimate anti-brandFor some, the coolest youth brand on the planet

61. The real psychological power of the anti-brand lies in its ability to offer its recruits something quite rare, namely a flip a transformation from the frustration and stagnation of obsessive constraint and inhibition into unfettered hysterical recklessnessIt opens up the world of the forbidden and formerly unimaginable

62. It addresses the desire for transformational rather than mere incremental personal change

63. It provides intensity of purpose and meaning

64. It nullifies the past

65. It compresses the future

66. It permits the forbidden to be viewed through the prism of virtue

67. It sells a heroic narrative – fighting for the underdog

68. It appeals to narcissistic fantasies

69. It invites attention and fame

70. It offers a way to hit out at authority – symbolic or otherwise

71. It promises unparalleled power and an impact on the world stage

73. ? or

74. Apple has anti-brand dna

75. Asymmetric warfare... vs

76. “In asymmetric warfare, the little guy hits you where you are weakest. You have to hit back where he is strongest.” -- David Kenning

77. Question: Do you understand your Deeply Skeptical Audiences (DSAs) Distributors who have defined themselves as against you Customers who have had a deeply troubling experience Analysts, civil societies (like NGOs) who have defined you as a target Where do they show up? Where in real life....where on the internet? What recruiting power do they have? You may decide to isolate them You may decide to engage with them You must know them and have a plan

78. The obstructionists, the DSAs, need to be part of your engagement plan...and you can (should) use up front media

79. JoukoKarvinen, CEO, Stora Enso SiniHarkki, Greenpeace CEO and “obstructionist” asking antagonistic questions, on the main page of Stora Enso’s site Really good engagement. Note: this IS social marketing!

80. And how do you “plan”?

81. Desert Storm:The “360-degree” plan

82. *COA= Course of Action

83. Unfortunately for military (or marketing) planners, the world is not a linear place

84. Take a look at...Systemic Operations DesignSOD

85. There is no single path to victory

86. SOD sees operations as learning—that is, military actions themselves become an experiential means of learning about the target systemRather than being a set-piece plan, the operation evolves as the joint force adapts to the target system......and the target system as it adapts to the force

87. One of the key principles of SOD is that as you interact with the system, it changes (and indeed so do you)This requires a different way of thinking about “campaigning”Out goes the military concept of “fire and forget” and “command and control” and in comes concepts like “do, learn, do” and “sense and respond”.

88. Sensing and responding, not “fire and forget” Sensing Situation Acting Planning

89. Strategy-making is always, not just front-end

90. Most marketing today is planned nine months in advanceBy the time we show up, the battle has moved onWhat is a “microsite” anyway, but a fixed base?Be wary of fixed web destinations

91. Do/ Learn/ Do

92. Firstly, understand the system methodically and rigorously, and understand its complexity. This is why the expertise of sociologists is necessary. Second is the inclusion on the system map of entities that are actively, and quite possibly violently, opposed to you (some have called this “extreme segmentation” i.e. to put the extreme views on the map) and, in the same spirit, also to analyse entities who are deeply sceptical about you, your motivations and messages.

93. Stan McChrystal’s system map

94. Think ecosystem, not targetn2i2Identify the networks that matter and how they inter-relateIdentify the narratives that exist in those networksIdentify the interests of the members of the network (i.e. their more rational, economic and territorial motivations)Identify their identities (i.e the more emotional aspect that makes them a group who share a particular narrative --This may be tribal, religious or some other form of identity)

95. Ecosystem thinking,courtesy of Yellowstone park

96. All research is part of your engagementUse deliberative methodsBuild your message and engagement with the audience, and the obstructionists

97. Question: Are you in “command and control” mode, “fire and “forget”? There is no single path to victory Is there conversational discourse in your planning process Business Sociologist Psychologist Planners What is your digital engagement process? Where is our “moderate middle”

98. Coalitions, not campaigns

99. A campaign can start a war....but can it end it?

100. "Nations can blunder into war. They cannot blunder into peace.“ -- Herbert Hoover

101. It’s politics - build your coalition, fracture the other guys, undercut support Two mutually-supporting objectives Build a coalition for peace supported by the dominant presence in the population of feelings, narratives, behavioral intents, and political dialogue favorable to peace and stability. Undercut obstructionistsby undercutting in the population the feelings, narratives, behavioral intents and political dialogue that enable their efforts. Build Coalition for Peace Undercut Obstructionists Shift individuals & factions from obstruction to coalition for peace

102. Think politics -- Target swing voters Moderate Middle Political Leadership Network Political Leadership Network Hard Core & Supporters Hard Core & Supporters Possible Participants Possible Participants Degree of Polarization

103. Check-sheet for you

104. Three useful things from Public Diplomacy 2.0 An attitude : The Big Megaphone is dead A technique : Coalitions, not campaigns A process : Sense and respondn2i2* etc. * Networks, narratives, identities, interests

105. Advice for agencies New blend – not digital and production, but sociologist and psychologist Don’t fire the suits – turn them into coalition-builders Improve clock speed What you did annually, do monthly What you did monthly, do weekly

106. It’s politics and conflict. Build your coalition, fracture the other guys, undercut supportLet the psychologists and sociologists in to help create your engagement strategy

107. Thank you. Mark Linder mlinder@bell-pottinger.co.uk www.bellpottinger-sansfrontieres.com +447747007927

108. Credits Dana Eyre, David Kenning, Paul Bell, Mark Turnbull Jon Leach MajKetti C. Davison (Systemic Operational Design (SOD):Gaining and Maintaining the Cognitive Initiative) John F. Schmitt (A Systemic Concept for Operational Design)