Using marketing for cultural transformations

presentation by

Gillian KingSustainable Jill

to

Students of SustainabilityFlinders University

12 July 2015

1. Introduction

2. Culture & Communication

3. Advertising & Marketing

4. Effecting Change

5. One Model

6. Envisaging Exercise

7. Conclusion

ProgramProgram

1 Introduction1 Introduction

About me

• Sustainability facilitator bringing together people, information & ideas

• 20 years Aust Gov’t policy, management – environment (particularly climate change), industry

& ageing

• Long-term interest in climate change & urban planning– scientist, policy-maker, community member,

activist– interested in systemic change, game-changers

Transforming Culture stream – assumptions

• Human civilisation transform dominant world culture∝– rapid– reassethe biophysical realities within which we live– promote culture sensitive to & respectful of nature & its limits

• There is still time to take effective action to minimise disruption to human society

Image: http://www.newscientist.com/special/ocean-to-ozone-earths-nine-life-support-systems

Human activity degradation of natural environment detrimental to human prosperity, health and wellbeing

• rapid• reassert the biophysical realities within which we live• promote culture sensitive to & respectful of nature & its limits

Human civilisation transforming dominant world culture∝

Still time for effective action to minimise disruption to human society

Transforming Culture stream - assumptions

• How to bring about the cultural transformation needed for long term survival of humans?

Sustainability – Core Question

2 Culture & Communication2 Culture & Communication

Culture & Communication

• Culture is communication

• Meaning requires emotion

• Narratives we tell ourselves

• Those narratives become our identity

• New stories can replace current stories– What is needed, not what is possible

Culture & Communication

3 Effecting Change via Advertising & Marketing3 Effecting Change via Advertising & Marketing

Effecting Change

• Psychology

• Advertising and marketing

• Project management

• Campaigning

Effecting Change

Why advertisers & marketers?

• Behaviour change industry• Use psychology to influence behaviour• Evidence-based• Creative

Shaping Public Opinion

“develop a message and strategy for shaping public opinion on a national scale” (internal fossil fuel industry memo)

– ‘This manufactured campaign found a receptive audience among many citizens who would understandably prefer not to acknowledge the existence of such a frightening and potentially overwhelming threat as global climate change.’

Gore, A. 2009. Our Choice, p. 358

What can we learn from the commercial world?

1. Psychology

2. Models for influencing

.

Ferrier, A. & Fleming, J. 2014. The Advertising Effect: How to change behaviour. Oxford University Press: South Melbourne.

Adam Ferrier

Advertising, Psychology & Systems Thinking

4 Effecting Change4 Effecting Change

Some ways of getting change

• Fairy tales – ‘outsourcing’: Prince Charming will rescue us– eg Whitlam, Rudd, Obama, Abbott,

technology

• Empowerment movements– eg Divestment, Kitchen Table

Conversations, March Australia

• Marketing

Psychology of behaviour

Behaviour

Change – how?

Change thinking change behaviour

Change thinking change actions

Behaviour

Change – how?

Change thinking change behaviour

Change behaviour change

Change actions change thinking

Behaviour

Why focus on behaviour?

Action changes attitude

faster than

attitude changes action

Asian Wisdom

Tell me, I forget.Show me, I remember.Involve me, I understand.

- ancient Chinese proverb

Six Principles of Influence

1. Reciprocity

2. Commitment & Consistency

3. Social Proof

4. Liking

5. Authority

6. Scarcity

Robert Cialdini. 1984. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

5 One model5 One model

Basic Sales Model‘Selling’ change

‘Selling’ change – why?

• ‘Reframing is social change.’(George Lakoff. 2004. Don’t Think of an Elephant, Scribe Publications: Melbourne)

• If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will take you there

‘Selling’ change

Pain

Island

Boat

Pleasure

Island

Language, Words, Stories, Images

1. About what?

2. To whom?

3. How?

Pain Island

• Anthropocene• Anthropocentric thinking

What are the dominant images, stories & words in our culture?

What are the dominant images, stories & words in our culture?

Economy, financial eg $, buy, sell, share market, exchange rate, commodities, prices, GDP, Work hard and (eventually) you can be rewarded (eg by retiring)

Growth, more, building, improvement, fast, better = good

Celebrity, fashion, design, appearance, food – fast, engineered, ‘perfect’Man-made objects (eg cars, buildings, food, fashion, faces, bodies)

Refinement = improvement: natural = primitive = bad

Extrinsic valueDehumanising, objectifying, abstractingI/me, you, status, ownership, control, closed, fast

Pleasure Island

• Sustainocene• Ecocentric thinking

What do we want to replace them with?

Environment eg GSP

Humanising: People, relationships, personalising

Feelings, spirituality eg GHP

Sustainable, enough, less, natural, experiencing, caring, mindful = good

Growth, more, building, develop, improvement, fast = bad/ neutral

Intrinsic value

Humanising, personalising, concrete

We/us, commonality, caring, sharing, openness, slow

What do we want to replace them with?

How do we replace them?

How do we replace them?

Jack Proctor, Native Fishing Boat at Sea, 1942 , Blue Mountains Local Studies, Blue Mountains City Library, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

How do we replace them?

Summary (1)

• Culture is about communication.

• Language, stories and images that resonate with us emotionally are the key.

• Psychology and marketing can provide invaluable help with transforming culture.

• A bold, vivid and clear alternative that engages us emotionally is the key to change.

A. Marketing change attitudes & behaviour useful

B. One basic marketing model: Pain Island, Pleasure Island, Boat

1. Pleasure Island – imagining different futures (scenarios)2. There are boats to get to Pleasure Island3. Pacific colonisers – get on boats without knowing

destination

C. FFF can help people imagine different future help get people get on boats that may be legal

Summary (2)Summary (2)