Bringing marketing to the light
Many sustainability people I meet are full of stories about “the evil of marketing”. To me, it’s a powerful tool that changes human behaviour – so we’d be much better off taking the tools it’s developed and using them to deliver the change we want to see in the world.
I’m using the summer to refresh my pitch for regenerative business. A friend connected me with Oren Klaff’s “Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal“. It’s got some great concepts and tools for getting your message heard.
Some key elements of pitching intangibles to the C-suite are explained in this video: “Use Neuroeconomics to Make a Business Case” made for the Open Compliance and Ethics Group www.oceg.org. If you want just one key insight, play it from 9:00 to get the basic neuroeconomics of pitching.
There’s your pitch – then there’s the way you frame it
I’m an information junkie and an analytical thinker, so I initially found myself seduced by the formula for the Idea Introduction Pattern. Klaff’s intro pattern begins like this:
“For [target customers]
Who are dissatisfied with [the current offerings in the market].
My idea/product is a [new idea or product category] …
(get the book for the rest)”
But far more important to change-makers is his discussion of framing – how to present yourself and your proposal as the prize – and the emotional intelligence to make it work. This is the “core strength” for successful innovation delivery – the confidence and capability to deliver.
We have all the inventions we need to create a prosperous, regenerative future. The real game is turning those inventions into practices adopted by communities. If you’re still playing “greedy consumer” and “monolithic government” games in your head, then you’re part of the problem.
What change will you lead?
What should you do? I don’t believe in playing “should”, but you COULD:
- Pick one (or a cluster) of the top 20 Blue Economy innovations
- Work out how it could be applied in your community
- Work out the pitch to sell it and the frames you need to inhabit
The biggest fallacy of our time is that “it’s all about government action”. Government has a part to play – but so do entrepreneurs and communities. (Watch this space to find out which one I’m part of bringing to the Asia-Pacific.)
