People decide with their hearts and justify with their heads. Knowing what to do with that can make you a more effective communicator. Also, a persuasion lesson from my old boss, Rick Parkhill.
Great article. My belief is in the current iteration of digital media persuasion is a bit of a lost art at least in terms of selling. Too often, ad tech companies and even media companies rely on the "try it and if it doesn't work method" which is head / stick. I think that is a short term strategy with little staying power.
Which brings me to a thought on your persuasion quadrant. I think you should switch head and heart so that the top right quadrant would be heart/carrot. I was taught to believe that top right quadrant was always the golden zone that trumped all other quadrants. I believe that heart / carrot is the most long lasting ultimately most successful strategy in persuasion. But that is me.
Paul, THANKS FOR READING! That's an interesting point. In my earliest iterations of the quadrant Stick was above Carrot on the vertical. Cary Tilds convinced me to flip those. As my thinking has evolved, though, I increasingly think that since the emotional/heart appeal should come first, then--since English speakers read left to right--it makes sense to have heart on the left. The emotional opens the door to the rational.
On the other hand, I'm not sure that I want to privilege any quadrant, since you can start anywhere and make an effective argument. Also, there are enough power words on the bubble that could be head or heart: "free" is a great example. It's clearly a carrot rather than a stick, but is it head or heart? Dunno.
Again, thanks for reading, and thanks again for taking the time to comment. I'm grateful.
Hi Brad.
Great article. My belief is in the current iteration of digital media persuasion is a bit of a lost art at least in terms of selling. Too often, ad tech companies and even media companies rely on the "try it and if it doesn't work method" which is head / stick. I think that is a short term strategy with little staying power.
Which brings me to a thought on your persuasion quadrant. I think you should switch head and heart so that the top right quadrant would be heart/carrot. I was taught to believe that top right quadrant was always the golden zone that trumped all other quadrants. I believe that heart / carrot is the most long lasting ultimately most successful strategy in persuasion. But that is me.
Love the dispatch.
Paul, THANKS FOR READING! That's an interesting point. In my earliest iterations of the quadrant Stick was above Carrot on the vertical. Cary Tilds convinced me to flip those. As my thinking has evolved, though, I increasingly think that since the emotional/heart appeal should come first, then--since English speakers read left to right--it makes sense to have heart on the left. The emotional opens the door to the rational.
On the other hand, I'm not sure that I want to privilege any quadrant, since you can start anywhere and make an effective argument. Also, there are enough power words on the bubble that could be head or heart: "free" is a great example. It's clearly a carrot rather than a stick, but is it head or heart? Dunno.
Again, thanks for reading, and thanks again for taking the time to comment. I'm grateful.
Best,
BB