Question

Topic: Strategy

Selling Someone People Hate

Posted by danceeatsingfight on 8/8/2016 at 10:49 PM ET 250 Points
I'll be blunt, my job is to sell voting for Hillary Clinton to people who absolutely despise her. Hell, I despise her. I know that this particular topic brings up a lot of intense feelings for people, but I am really interested in how you, as marketing professionals, would come at this. Think of it as a thought experiment. I have enough on-the-ground experience to know that making her sound awesome will not work, and telling people how scary Trump is will also not work. I need something more creative than that.

I'm thinking it would need to involve humor or satire, because the first barrier is getting people to even engage in the conversation. I would have ranked this as extremely difficult because this is going to be the toughest sell I have ever done, but I didn't have enough points. I hope that you can look at this objectively as a puzzle and keep your own political leanings out of it. If you can't, then please don't answer, I didn't come onto this forum to start a debate. Thank you.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Mike Steffes on 8/9/2016 at 8:08 AM Accepted
    You seem to be creating this issue you have out of your own feelings. Step away from those and look at it like any other project. Interpret the features associated with your product into benefits. Sell the benefits. A lot of people may not realize how the existing features can be of use to them... it's your job to study the target market and learn what they need and how your product COULD satisfy those needs.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 8/9/2016 at 8:28 AM Accepted
    Focus on the benefit ... the vision of how a person's life will be better if they select what you're selling.

    No candidate can deliver 100% of what every voter wants. Find the position your candidate holds that will resonate with the target audience and stay focused on that. Of course, this will require that you sub-segment the target audience and get to know each sub-segment very well.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 8/9/2016 at 11:05 AM Accepted
    I suspect your question is motivated, or at least colored, by your own perceptions of Hillary Clinton. There are people who hate her, and they are most likely to continue to hate her until election day (and perhaps beyond). That shouldn't impact your marketing approach. You are not going to have much impact on hard-core haters. They're gonna hate.

    Focus instead on people who are on the fence, or who hate her less than they hate Donald Trump, and seek to show them some positive benefits (for them) from having Hillary in the White House.

    Professional marketing doesn't require that you be a true product believer. I've worked on brands that I never used personally, and that personal indifference forced me to be more objective about the marketing of those brands and to learn about the target audience in even greater detail.

    Forget about your "despise" of Hillary. It's not relevant. Find the target audience most likely to be receptive to the benefits Hillary promises and address your efforts to that audience. Surely there are some areas in which Hillary offers a vision that will be attractive to those who are still open to voting for her.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/9/2016 at 9:27 PM Accepted
    If you personally are going to be doing the selling, you're likely to have an uphill battle. It's very hard to sell something authentically that you don't believe in. If you're trying to create a campaign for someone (or something) else, that's a lot easier. What segment of the population are you trying to appeal to? Those that are fans - what do they see that the others don't? Those that are haters - what do they see that the others don't? What do they have in common? Build a bridge from a common belief to a different vantage point.
  • Posted by cookmarketing@gmail. on 8/10/2016 at 8:09 AM Member
    As to your Clinton vision; Don't trouble trouble til trouble troubles you...as to direction...WWE
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Strategy)