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Words matter. And when they are composed in an intentional order to convey a specific message, they can be powerful. Or meaningless. The meaninglessness often occurs when the message is not supported by facts, is incoherent or is congenitally disingenuous or cynical.
Effective messaging begins with knowing who you’re talking to. Consumer marketers call that the target audience. Who are you trying to reach? It’s the first question one should ask. Followed by: What do you want them to do? That’s the objective. Now, with those two answers, the message is headed in the right direction.
The current state of affairs — social, political — is in turmoil in part due to mixed messages from individuals and institutions. The viral pandemic has rendered impotent authoritative and instructive messaging. Consistent messaging, if allowed to break through, could educate the public about the importance of personal responsibility. Trained health providers, expert in virology and epidemiology, have been muted by ill-informed political talk.
On the social front, the continued spotlighting of racial inequities, long a national sin, has been somewhat dimmed by the again-ballooning health crisis. However, the messages of systemic racism, a virus in itself, and the national, state and local action necessary to remove the blight while we struggle to recondition our hearts, must take root. These messages must be heard or the new world to which we will someday healthfully return will continue to be sick with hypocrisy.
One community to which I belong teaches that we stop fighting everything and everyone. And if we are to grow in understanding and effectiveness, we should be on the lookout for selfishness, graft, resentment and fear.
How many different messages heard, seen or read over these seemingly long winter, spring and summer months have been driven by selfishness, dishonesty, resentment or fear? The motives driving the messages are misdirected and misguided.
With today’s multiplicity of communications platforms — from traditional news, entertainment and advertising to interactive online consumerism, social media and mobile messaging — opportunities abound to create and promote consistent messaging reaching every strata of society.
We have suggested in this space that retail and service-related companies are at a loss on what to adopt as now-open policies, consistent with the expectations of customers. The primary reason for this company confusion is consumer confusion. Everyday folks simply don’t know or are not confident about how they should act in relation to others and to product and service providers. Everyone appears to be in the same upside-down existence. And yet an opportunity that once existed exists still today.
Remember the original, phased guidelines for reopening? First there was a gating criterion stating that each state or region should experience a 14-day downward trajectory in coronavirus cases before moving to Phase 1. Phase 1, then, instructed vulnerable individuals to continue to shelter in place; others were to cover their faces, keep physical distancing and avoid gatherings of 10 or more; remote work was to still be encouraged; schools would remain closed; and bars would also remain closed. With these actions, an additional 14-day decrease in cases was recommended before moving on.
There were two other measured and easy-to-understand phases. But if the country had simply followed and practiced the gating criteria and Phase 1, health care professionals are confident we today, as a country and a community, would be in a much better place.
Unfortunately, immediately upon the introduction of clear guidelines, messaging from the White House and certain tagalong local governments sabotaged a concise message. It was lost in political translation. The reason for scuttling common sense and science was once again clear: Nov. 3.
Conservative thought makes sense here. Margaret Thatcher said, “Don’t follow the crowd; let the crowd follow you.” Her ideological soul mate, Ronald Reagan, complemented the notion by stating, “The greatest leaders are not necessarily the ones who do the greatest things. They are the ones who get the people to do the greatest things.”
If only.
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