IN an extemporaneous speech delivered in Spanish during his encounter with the youth in University of Sto. Tomas, Pope Francis said, “The Gospel offers us a serene way forward: using the three languages of the mind, heart and hands—and to use them in harmony. What you think, you must feel and put into effect. Your information comes down to your heart and you put it into practice. Harmoniously. What you think, you feel and you do. Feel what you think and feel what you do. Do what you think and what you feel. The three languages…”
True to his brand essence, Pope Francis was talking about a basic communications principle I consistently use in my Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and PR Management subjects in UST. It’s a single, influential approach to guarantee the success of a communications campaign. It’s a theory on change in attitude and action: cognitive, affective and behavioral. For every message, we should indicate in advance what people should “Think” (the rational aspect) when they come across your message, what they should “Feel” (the emotional appeal), and what they should “Do” (call to action).
The “Think-Feel-Do” strategy answers six questions:
- “Who are the targets, and what do they currently think, feel or do in relation to the brand?” In doing this, we should avoid general descriptions and too much demographics. Our target is not a statistic but a real person. Pick a prototype from our huge audience for greater focus. Describe how that person thinks and acts. Include his or her hopes, desires, fears and lifestyle, and other useful psychographic information. State the level of interest and usage or practice that the target has about our brand or program. Determine if he or she is a loyal user, a lapsed user or a light user.
- “What do we want them to think, feel or do as a result of the communication? This is not a restatement of the communication objectives, or our wish list. This is essentially what the creative execution is supposed to achieve, or what its agenda is. We have to be reminded, for example, that PR is just one element in the communication mix. So we cannot expect PR to address every issue that’s facing our brand. In an integrated communication approach, each item in the mix must always solve only one problem or issue at a time. That will also enable our creative people—writers and visual artists—to be choiceful and single-minded about what to say. We have to be specific and realistic.
- “What is the most important insight that we should exploit?” We must dig for consumer insights. It’s not rooted in the product; it’s a powerful and interesting truth about our target. An insight that’s most relevant will ensure communication that connects. The insight should prompt a communication. Do not include insights that won’t likely figure in the execution. Based on the insight we have identified, discover our single-minded proposition, which should be simple and concise, and not an over-promise. This portion is a wonderful marriage between a powerful consumer insight and an inherent product benefit.
- “Based on that insight: What single-minded proposition should we make?” Keep it simple and concise. We must not over-promise. This portion is a wonderful marriage between a powerful consumer insight and an inherent product benefit.
- “What brand character should come through?” The answer to this question is a statement that must stay for the long term. When we commit the identified character to paper, we set parameters within which the execution must confine itself. Hence, it’s important that this be well-thought out and inspiring, too.
- What can make the proposition credible? The support that we bring in to make the promise believable.
Here’s an example on how the “Think-Feel-Do” can work: It’s not a perfect example but it can be an indicative guide on how to apply the six-questions format.
- Target person: Juan de la Cruz, an ordinary office worker who believes in God and tries to live his life according to God’s teachings. But he wants to do other things than just going to Mass on Sundays. He actively followed the recent visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines and, in the process, got affected by the pope’s words and acts.
- What the communication should achieve: Make Juan de la Cruz “live” (“isabuhay”) the message of mercy and compassion, the theme of Pope Francis’s pastoral visit to the Philippines.
- Insight: “Juan de la Cruz has enthusiasm that is unfeigned. His gestures and faith are felt with the heart. He has joy and capacity to celebrate.”
- Single-minded Proposition: “Think”—Other Filipinos are “living” it; I should, too. “Feel”—I am confident, and have the resolve and excitement to “live” the teachings of God. “Do”—I will show mercy and compassion in all that I do especially to the lost, the least and the last.
- Brand character: Juan de la Cruz’s loving touch of mercy and compassion.
- Support: Juan de la Cruz’s strengthened faith in God and His teachings.
What else can we do? Get every Filipino on the same page; provide guidance that inspires every Filipino to “live” the teachings; keep on the strategy; produce better results; and measure achievements.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK based International Public Relations Association, the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Bong Osorio is the Communications consultant and spokesman of ABS-CBN Corp.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.a