If you want someone to do something, first he or she must feel something.
This is true in life as well as in marketing. When “Mean Joe” Greene tossed his football jersey to the kid in the locker room millions of people watching the commercial for Coke felt something and in turn became loyal Coke drinkers.
Touching an emotion in 30 seconds however is not an easy task. If it were, every commercial would be as good as the “Mean Joe” spot or “I’d like to teach the world to sing.”
Amazingly, Chik-fil-A managed to pack emotion into a communication vehicle that historically has been about as touchy-feely as trip to the D.O.T. — the corporate training video.
This video was shared by Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chik-fil-A at a Tampa Bay Marketing Association meeting in the Spring of 2012. Marketing and advertising people are unapologetically chatty, but when this video aired you could’ve heard a waffle fry drop.
Regardless of your feelings about Chik-fil-A’s corporate philosophies with regard to social issues, you have to applaud them for recognizing the importance of adding emotion to an element of their training. Clearly the subject of this video, empathy for customers, is very important to them.
What are you working on that’s important to you? Convincing your boss to embrace your proposal? Encouraging your kids to study? Whatever it may be, do it with emotion if you want to set them in motion.
Interested in learning more about Chik-fil-A’s philosophies and history, read: Eat Mor Chicken, Inspire More People by founder S. Truett Cathy. Interested in more marketing chatter? Follow me on Twitter @KDOReilly
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