The Rise Of The Opposition!

The Powerful Technique To Grab Control Of Your Market.

Obama’s “Change”
Obama’s “Change” rally is a classic “us against them” technique. He knew that the people were unhappy with their situations at that time. Many were unhappy with the incumbent government then. There were many feelings of dissent in the ground – so instead of focusing on explaining his plans and what he will do better, he rallied all those unhappy people and gave them something to focus on – change. He positioned the previous incumbent government as the big bad tyrant that must be replaced and that it was time for a change. And he told his voters that it was their responsibilities to vote for change. He appealed to the voters internal sense of justice. And of course, they responded by voting him into office. (Side note: Many have argued that he had carried out little change since he took office. Eg. Those who were responsible for the economic meltdown are still holding their old or equivalent positions in his administration in spite of his promise to remove them.)

The WP candidates have arguably pulled off an “Obama” with their win. They practically used a similar strategy. They knew there were feelings of dissent and unhappiness towards the incumbent government. So they gave the voters something to focus on – vote against the incumbent so you can have an alternative voice in parliament. And that’s what the voters did.

* But be warned! This strategy is so potent that it has a very sinister dark side too. Hitler used a similar strategy to incite war and violence. Kamikaze pilots bought into the idea of being martyrs for a bigger cause. So did suicide bombers.

Hearts vs Minds
Watching the rallies, it was clear to me that the PAP team were not responding well to the strategy. In fact, they didn’t look like they have a clear strategy at all. Their responses seemed haphazard and an afterthought. Only late in the game they started to realise that they need to appeal to the hearts of the people.

Seriously?!?

Don’t they have a campaign consultant or something? If they did, maybe they need to consider using another one. Maybe they are so used to just doing their job and think that that alone is enough. Well, we all know that is not enough. Smart marketeers know that it is a lot more effective to sell on emotions (heart) than to sell on logic (mind). The old adage is right, sell the sizzle not the steak. That was what the opposition had managed to do. They harnessed all the negative emotions of the voters and focused them on one goal.

But I digress…
Rise Of The Empire, The Machines & The Na’vi
Some of the most successful movies in history are those that used this same “us against them” storyline.

Avatar, the highest grossing single movie of all time with over $2 billion sales, is about a small group of humans who help the Na’vi to fight off the human oppressors.

The Lord Of The Rings series is about a group of beings trying to fight off the evil Sauron and his growing army.

Star Wars series is about a group of rebels fighting against the tyrannical evil Empire.

The Matrix series is about a group of humans fighting against the oppressive machines.

The Terminator series is about a small group of human rebel fighting against the oppressive machines.

And many other examples.

Isn’t it interesting that so many of the most successful movies are based on the same theme of “us against them”? Why? Because it works. This technique, this theme, appeals to our inner emotions powerfully.

So how can you apply this to your business?

The Rise Of Apple
When Apple started, it also used this technique to position itself against the “oppressive force” at that time, which was IBM. They came up with the iconic advertisement in 1984 titled “1984”. In the advertisement, a heroine representing Apple broke through the hypnotic clutches of the “big brother” (IBM) and saved humanity.

At that time IBM was the dominant force in computing. Because of its dominant market position, the consumers had to accept what it was offering. Apple positioned itself as providing the alternative choice to those who did not like to conform to the old choices IBM was offering.

That positioned them as the underdog representing the freedom of choice for the consumers – David against Goliath. Consumers responded to that call to arms against the tyrannical company that offered them what they made, not what the consumer want. This strategy was so effective that even though now Apple has arguably become the dominant force in their marketplace, consumers still have the perception that Apple is the hip alternative choice compared to the mainstream choices.

As you can see, for this strategy to be effective, you need to “pick a fight” with a bigger, “oppressive” force. You need to position yourself and your business as the alternative, better choice. And you need to focus your market’s dissent and unhappiness towards a specific cause.

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