So how do they do it?  It all boils down to this: less is more, and the less of it there is – whatever it may be – the more people want to possess it.  Because the key to demand is supply – control the latter, and the former becomes your oyster.

Speaking of singing, many popular songs become anthems for our times, but few have the socio-economic depth of truth of the classic tune, “I Want It Now,” by the rock group Queen.  When Freddie Mercury was strutting across the stage in his jockey briefs belting out that catchy little chorus in all its glorious redundancy, he was tapping into an eternal truth about human behavior: when people want something bad enough, logic and civility suddenly subordinates to the perception of need.   The stronger the need, the less attention people will pay to logic in the attainment of what they desire (the mob mentality).  To illustrate, let us remain with Freddie for a moment to consider this: if the guy hadn’t died young, he wouldn’t be nearly as popular as he is today.  You can picture him sitting on a cloud next to Elvis, Marilyn, Buddy Holly and a heavenly choir of other dead singers and actors and artists, raising a toast to immortal success which owes much of its longevity to the simple fact that they are no longer alive.  We can’t have them anymore.  There will be no new Freddie and Elvis music, ever.  Which means that the music we do have is suddenly much more precious to us than that of equally talented artists who continue to tour – Bono, Mick and Bowie come to come to mind – and, because of age and overexposure, don’t compare to the genius and cache’ of their early careers.

The psychological truth underpinning this phenomenon is known as the Scarcity Principle, and the application of it in marketing, job hunting, seduction and everyday personal communications – not to mention the manipulation of prices in various markets – is known as the Supply-Control Technique.  And you don’t have to have a seat at OPEC to put it to work, you only have to wrap your mind around the inherent power of human desire to make yourself orders of magnitude more effective in getting others to want what you’re offering.  And the first step in doing so is to threaten to take it away.

A Preponderance of Scarcity

            Like gravity and gas prices, we are subjected to the Supply-Control Technique each and every day, and in some cases we have been raised on it.  Mothers teach their daughters that playing hard to get is a strategy that makes them more attractive to boys.  Toys and privileges are withdrawn in exchange for proper behavior and penance.  Birthdays are special because they only come once a year… and so on.

            One of the most common and powerful techniques in advertising is the limited time only ploy, or the while supplies last approach.  The perception that you must drop everything and rush to pick up whatever is being advertised may or may not have any relationship to the truth; more likely, a more forthright pitch would say while these prices last, since it’s the sale that’s most likely going away, not the product.

            Sometimes, as is the case with many so-called sales, scarcity is a completely contrived dynamic.  Where natural resources are concerned, we have no control over the planet’s supply of diamonds, though the DeBeers Corporation certainly isn’t above buying up global inventories in order to keep prices elevated.  Nor did the U.S. government apologize for paying farmers to not grow certain crops in order to keep supply in check.  Both are contrived realities of the first order, and they are accepted practices in a world in which supply and demand economics is as pervasive as gravity.  In the 1970s when we experienced the first of what promises to be a decades-long stretch of perceived shortage of gasoline, cars lined up for blocks to fill their tanks at prices double that of just a month earlier (and are less than half of what we’re paying now).  Turns out there really wasn’t a shortage of supply at all, just a brilliantly rendered perception of one, with the result being no different than had it been real.  That perception exists today, with no real relationship to actual supply, other than the implication that if you don’t like it, process your own oil and charge what you want.

            Other contrivances are less sinister and simply accepted as smart marketing.  For example, limited edition prints of paintings and copies of sculptures hold their value because the supply is finite.  The artist could have elected to duplicate 2000 pieces instead of 500, but with their accountant nearby, the decision is made purely and overtly to optimize the economics.  The same holds for private label liquors and so-called signature editions of everything from perfume to cars – there are only so many to be had, and the price reflects this exclusivity.  Thus, demand soars.

            Of course, when the expansion of supply is ridiculously easy (at least in theory), as it is for products such as computer software, DVDs and CDs, a whole new level of sophistication kicks into gear to keep supply in check.  While technology has been developed to hamper the efforts of layman duplicators with a laptop, it’s still easy to copy a disk if you know what you’re doing.  In this case it’s the law that puts a ceiling on demand, with licenses and penalties playing a role in managing.

            The Supply-Control Technique applies with equal validity in the realm of interpersonal relationships (hence, the tried and true hard to get strategy).  On American Idol, with grouchy Simon Cowell spewing insults to everyone from the host to the most hopeful of supplicants, compliments and positive feedback are the currency of success.  When Paula Abdul used to say you’re great, hey, that’s no big deal – she told the valet he looks like Brad Pitt and praised the mailman earlier that day for closing the box when he was done.  But when Simon breaks character and sends a little love your way, now that’s precious.  That’s the feedback you seek.

            Even the courtroom is a laboratory for supply-demand dynamics.  In injury liability cases, a fundamental strategy is to allow the jury only a brief glimpse of the injured plaintiff.  Lawyers pull out the stops to find ways to keep their injured client out of the courtroom.  The more visible the injury, the more valid the strategy.  Why?  Because that one brief glimpse of the maimed or disfigured victim by the jury is the most powerful image of all, and practice has proven that the longer the jury gazes at the poor soul in the wheelchair or the horrific scars, the less emotional they become. They simply become anesthetized to the gut-wrenching wallop those images present and stop responding.  And that, any trial lawyer worth her or his retainer knows, is no good, as emotion is precisely the ticket to the award of a hefty settlement.  The Supply-Control technique dictates that, if, after whetting their appetite, the jury can be deprived of what they naturally want to see, they’ll respond with more emotion and vigor to the brief glimpses of suffering they were able to catch.

            And then, of course, no discussion of supply and demand is complete without mentioning the pricing of seats on airplanes.  When you book in advance the fare is lower, simply because there are so many seats available.  But the closer you get to the date of travel the more expensive the seats become – same airplane, same seat –for the obvious reason that there are only so many seats remaining, and they’ll most certainly be gone soon.  The most remarkable thing about this is that the airlines haven’t resorted to auctioning off the last seat on the flight to the highest bidder… but don’t hold your breath, anything is possible in that industry, where logic left the building decades ago.

Applying the Supply-Control Technique 

            Another example – an analogy, really – emerges from the aviation field, and it clarifies the need for entrepreneurs, sales professionals, or anyone else with an agenda, to understand the nature of the law of scarcity and its power over the Supply-Control Technique.  Imagine that you are an airplane designer and manufacturer.  It goes without question that everything that appears on a blueprint or rolls out of your factory has been created in context to the basic laws of aerodynamics.  It would be impossible to create a functional product without first mastering those principles.   And yet, where business is concerned, and where people who are frustrated with their effectiveness as communicators are concerned, too many people seek to gain altitude for ideas and products without the remotest clue (beyond an intuitive awareness born of personal exposure) of the psychological principles that dictate their success.  Less is more.  No matter what the playing field or context, strategies should be developed in light of this truth.

            Sometimes demand manifests relative to the image of a product or person as much as their availability.  People or products that are hard to come by are perceived to be of greater value.  It is paradoxical, perhaps, to note that value is often pegged to price, which means the more expensive a product (think Ferrari) is, the rarer it is, and therefore the more prestigious and valuable.  Hyundai argues that their cars are every bit as technologically amazing as a BMW, but the price says otherwise, and so does the perception, with truth not getting a vote in the matter.  Jude Law appears in more movies than anyone, and many believe he is as fine an actor as, say, Leonardo DiCaprio.  But, despite the absence of any real difference in audience attraction, which actor gets more money per role?  DiCaprio, a Scorsese favorite, picks and chooses his projects carefully and appears on the screen only once every few years, compared to several roles per year for Law or, say, Robert Downey jr.  Exposure is something celebrities must manage as closely as their weight, or it can quickly turn into overexposure and the deterioration of their perceived value, talent not withstanding.  Just ask Madonna, who has virtually disappeared from the media.

            Rather than prescribe a specific strategy for withholding supply and creating the perception of value – something that entire bookstores full of wisdom strives to do – better here to land on the conclusion that one must learn the aerodynamics of supply before seeking to manipulate the flight plan of demand.  Context is key here – one must understand the field of battle (the market), the competition and the levels of supply and demand across the aisle, and adjust accordingly.  But just as it is in the aviation industry – what goes up must come down –an entry-level awareness of basic supply-demand truth can serve even the most modest of campaigns.   

It is simply this: seek to make your product, your idea, or even yourself, more exclusive by managing exposure and availability.  The tools for this include price, proximity and schedule, and the combinations of these and other variables are endless.  Those who enter a market first, or with the most differentiated features and benefits (like the iPod), usually command the greatest value, though always with an eye over their shoulder to respond to duplication by others.  Those who enter a market strategically, however (like the recent flood of new phones that pick up where the iPhone leaves off), are masters of their fate by virtue of controlling how they are perceived though the use of The Supply-Control Technique and enlightened marketing.

            Nothing about human relationships, be it marketing and selling products, applying for a job, swaying an audience or getting a date – or even writing a song – is an exact science.  But at the heart of it all is a very exacting principle of human behavior: we want and value that which is difficult to attain.  Strive for that perception in context to the specifics of you situation and the market in which you operate, and you will find yourself desired in ways you may not have imagined.

© Harrison Monarth 2009

Sociologists tell us that there are three primary types of authority, all of them running rampant in our lives.  We take all three for granted, and in a big way.  Once you understand them you won’t suddenly be inclined to picket city hall.  No, understanding authority is like an athlete understanding their game—you play by the rules, you have a role to fulfill and obligations to meet… but equally, in the context of understanding the game, you have an opportunity to make a move, to assert your position and persuade others to follow your lead.

Traditional Authority – It’s Not Just for Kings and Queens Anymore

Since the beginning of civilization, society has run on traditional authority.  There is sense of entitlement, of one’s inherent and inherited right to power, that comes with traditional authority.  Traditional authority quite literally owes its existence to little more than tradition.  And though our culture is evolving and blurring the lines between traditional and other types of authority, it remains as a factor in modern society.  The best examples are associated with traditions that create a monarchy—from kings and queens to Tudors to land barons to ruling families within class systems, but there are others, some as close as your living room.

In many homes, the man assumes the role of head of the household, with certain understood and assumed rights and powers.  The mother, because of tradition, has her own rights and powers, her own authority, and woe to the man who challenges it.  This domestic authority model is traditional in every respect, owing its origins and its empowerment to nothing more than, well, tradition.  When the tradition stops—which is a choice some families make—and the power is nullified by the parties who have been subjected to it, any authority associated with the position vanishes.  Literally, authority can be unauthorized by those who have authorized it.  Divorce is often the result when this happens.

This very insight, subtle as it is, and when taken to a global, geopolitical scale, is the very essence of war.  Authority can be vested, but it is always licensed by those over whom it is wielded.  When power is forced upon a constituency without that license, it becomes something other than authority—it becomes coercion. 

Rational-Legal Authority – The Empowerment of a Badge and a Title

Traditional authority is not inherently rational or even legitimate.  Traditions are hard to break, and their origins dating back to times with different social norms and values.  But when authority is vested for rational, legitimate reasons, it becomes something different entirely.  Rational-Legal authority, more than traditional authority, is the stuff of society and politics.  It is what establishes and keeps order and generally provides structure, which those same sociologists assure us resides at the top of the list of things human beings crave and require.

Elected officials are prime examples of rational-legal authority.  Police and military power is nothing other than rational-legal authority in a uniform—it has been authorized not by tradition, but rather by legitimate need and the licensed consent of the constituency that ascribes to the power vested in those positions.  When a policeman switches on his lights, we pull over.  Why?  Because we honor the authority those lights represent (and, the fine doubles if we don’t)—in addition to the programmed response the lights elicit.

Another example of rational-legal authority is the highly specialized knowledge, skill and expertise possessed by all types of experts, specialists and so-called “gurus”.  An MBA after your name signals to the public at large that you know a thing or two about Quantitative Analysis and Probability Theory, while a Psy. D. advertises a different skill set altogether. Even non-official labels like New York Times bestselling author or definitions created by media outlets, like “Security Expert to the Stars”, create a perception of authority that separates the “gurus” from mere mortals, entitling the former to charge the latter a lot more money for their services; all because of real or perceived rational-legal authority.  

Rational-Legal authority differs from the other two types of authority because we are bound by consent and consequences to submit to it. As long as the rationale is logical and legitimate, and the consequences of disobeying are in line with the objectives it serves, then such authority will continue and prevail. Those who seek influence and the vesting of this type of authority need to understand this concept—when the nature and balance of power and influence exceed the boundaries of legitimacy, authority is compromised and weakened. In fact, it is doomed. Abusive managers should take heed of this.

Charismatic Authority – A Star Is Born

“Charisma,” by definition, is a quality that draws the attention and admiration of others.  We tend to vest authority in a person who is charismatic, we want to be like them and follow them, or at least be near them.  Religious leaders and icons rise to their position through charismatic authority, even if the position exists (think Pope) because of tradition.  Same for politicians—it’s tough to get elected without charisma (but it does happen—think Britain’s Gordon Brown or Germany’s Angela Merkel) and once elected, your charismatic authority becomes rational-legal authority by virtue of the office you now occupy. The distinction here is critical—charismatic authority comes from the person, rational-legal authority comes from the position within a structure.  Look no further than the great state of California in the US for an excellent, muscle-bound example.  Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t gain the authority to veto bills and sign petitions into law because he can bench press a Range Rover and looks good on the silver screen.  Nor was he elected to the office of Governor for any other reason than that he can do precisely that. His authority, both charismatic and rational-legal, is markedly separate and different among those two types, with vastly different powers and limits for each. 

The Very Human Need to Follow Authority

All three types of authority have one thing in common—the power that defines the scope and nature of it is given by those subjected to it.  Even kings born to power are in essence powerless, they are completely without authority, unless their people submit to his position.  It may be challenging to escape that power, especially if the traditions are deep, but history has proven that without the licensing of power by the people, it is destined for failure.

All of this is the product of human psychology.  In a well-documented experiment at Yale University in 1960, our need to follow authority was illuminated in a dark and disturbing way.  The same way, in fact, that entire populations follow the authority of powerful and charismatic figures like Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro.  Such leaders, those who understand this very basic human need and somehow tap into it, are capable of assuming great power and authority, at least until the legitimacy of it—always a necessity for authority to endure—remains unchallenged.

In the Yale experiment, one unsuspecting test subject and two people posing as volunteers were involved.  One of the fake-volunteers was a “student,” who was wired with electric probes which would impart a shock if he got an answer wrong.  The other fake volunteer was the person asking the questions.  The test subject was the person who actually administered the electric shocks when the student gave a wrong answer, as ordered by the questioner, who without instruction assumed the role of authority in this scenario.  The more wrong answers the student gave, the stronger the electric shocks became, each one a response to the questioner’s cue to administer the shock.  The process continued until the shocks—which were faked by the two shills—became severe to the point of apparent torture, complete with writhing and screaming. 

Here’s the scary part.  The test subject delivering the shocks could have declined to do so.  They could have said no and headed for the parking lot.  But the vast majority didn’t.  They continued to administer the shocks long past a point that constituted torture.  Further tests confirmed this had nothing at all to do with latent sadism or other psychosis.  Rather, it had everything to do with the human psychology of a perceived duty to follow authority.  In this case, even when there were no consequences of not doing so.

The Icons of Authority

Because rational-legal authority and charismatic authority—the only two forms we can realistically apply in our own lives to create consequences, and the two that impact our lives as part of a constituency—are vested, it follows that people will make efforts to acquire it.  Once people perceive authority in others, they quickly vest authority in that person through their programmed response. 

Keep this information in your back pocket, as it can shape the way you influence others from this point forward: The three primary social clues that are perceived as authoritative are titles, clothing—like that pin-striped Savile Row suit you’ve been eyeing—and perceivable wealth. 

As mentioned earlier, if you have an “M.D.” or “Ph.D.” after your name, you most certainly walk through the world within an aura of authority surrounding you. Likewise, identify yourself as the president of your company, and authority follows. Oscar winners, Nobel Prize laureates and elite athletes elicit the perception of authority within their realm of expertise.  Even the implied title of one’s occupation—lawyer, personal trainer, journalist, standup comedian—imparts some authority within a defined niche.  Human nature, not the title, imparts that authority.  Which is why many people who run a one-person company have the title of “Chief Executive Officer” on their business card—it empowers them with authority in a way that “One Man Shop” just can’t. 

Police officers wear a uniform for a reason—it imparts the essence of authority.  When a uniformed officer appears at your front door, you probably have a different context for your response than if you believe the caller is selling vacuum cleaners.  But you don’t have to be on the NYPD’s payroll to elicit the perception of authority with your threads. A well-known social experiment illustrates the power of the common business suit, as a young man in his thirties, dressed in a pin-striped suit, shirt and tie, deliberately broke the law as he crossed the street against the traffic light and—almost four times as many people followed suit (no pun intended), as opposed to when the man just wore a regular shirt and trousers during the same experiment.  When Mark Twain said, “clothes make the man,” what he really meant was that clothes position a man, or a woman, as a person of authority by virtue of the perception the clothes elicit.

The illusion of perceivable wealth—driving an expensive car, wearing tailor-made clothing or pricey jewelry, even a trendy haircut—have a powerful effect: it imparts a perception of authority, which causes people to react in a way that actually vests authority.  It’s hard not to listen to someone who simply reeks of success, whereas we walk right past the poor fellow on the street holding out his hand, and reeking of something else entirely. The former has authority; the latter simply needs a sandwich and a shower.

Need more proof? Consider another example from the literature of the social sciences: A study conducted in San Francisco tells of motorists waiting much longer before honking their horns behind drivers of luxury vehicles when the light was green. The study goes on to report that a full 50 percent of the time, those stuck behind a luxury car at a green light waited so patiently, as to never even sound their horn at all.

You might imagine what happened when the traffic-blocking vehicle was an old economy model as opposed to the latest sports car; a concert of horns unleashed upon the less fortunate driver of the low-rent vehicle, with a couple of impatient motorists even ramming the car’s bumper in protest.     

Playing the Authority Game in an Authority World

So what is the start-up entrepreneur and business professional to do with this sudden enlightenment about the nature and power of authority in our lives?  For starters, this understanding might enable you to recognize an effort to manipulate you through the illusion of authority—such as the actor dressed in a physician’s lab-coat who is really just trying to sell you the latest revolutionary diet supplement, or the banker whose impressive financial vocabulary and title after his name may be all decorum and no substance; at least none of benefit to you. It may also enable you to recognize when a situation has crossed the line from authority to coercion, as defined by the absence of legitimacy and perhaps the waving of a very big stick.  Your understanding may empower you to make a better choice in these situations, or avoid them altogether.  At the very least, you’ll be aware you are yielding to authority of which you may or may not approve.

Or, you can assume the tools of perceived authority, from clothing and titles, suggesting specialized knowledge and expertise, to the status symbols of wealth, and apply them to your ability to create desirable consequences in your life.  Rather than aspiring to leadership, this understanding will empower you to acquire authority through action that earns the licensing of authority from your constituents.  Rather than posing, you might now create real authority by understanding where it comes from and what it means.

Authority permeates every part of our lives, and its nature is evolving, as the lines between the three types are blurring.  But if you keep your eyes open to the truth behind the perception of authority, what has always been invisible might just become crystal clear.

© Harrison Monarth 2009

But long before MBA jargon and terms like ‘target market’ existed, our ancestors influenced one another with a technique that harnesses the enduring power of gratitude. A technique, much discussed by social researchers like Cialdini et al, so basic and effective, that we can observe it even in the communities of our distant cousins, the chimpanzees. 

It’s called the Reciprocity Technique, and while the aforementioned monkeys regularly repay one another with food for grooming, the only non-human primate to do so, this influencing strategy has been a factor in the evolution of human culture since man began trading skins for alcohol and a bunk. And it’s very much alive and well in the realm of advertising and sales.  It is influence in its purest form, and highly effective at that.  It involves one party giving – as in, no obvious strings attached – something to another party, a small gift or a favor, thereby eliciting an emotional response that naturally opens the door to reciprocity, or the returning of the favor.  It might be subtle, it might appear to have no strings attached, or it might be a blatant ploy to hook you into buying something.  But it works, because in each case you, the receiving party, walk away with something you didn’t ask for and didn’t have to pay for, and while ultimately the free lunch may not end up being free at all, it certainly feels that way. In fact, it’s how it feels that makes it all work in the first place.

Want a pastry with that?

When you take a free coffee drink coupon into the nearest Starbucks, with no requirement to buy a pastry, sandwich, or other food to go with your Grande Mocha Cappuccino – just order the drink and leave if you want – you are subjected to the reciprocity technique. Because, Starbucks knows, the vast majority of people won’t just leave with free drink in hand, they’ll buy something in response to a subconscious sense of gratitude. And while that $2.89 drink certainly might be worth the time it takes to stop by, the 35 cents worth of syrup, milk and coffee required to pour it is certainly worth the risk to the retailer that one out of twenty-five people will refuse to pony up three dollars for a snack to go with it.  Companies from across the vast spectrum of commerce promote their business on this fundamental truth – give something of perceived value for free, preferably something of low cost, and watch the consumer repay you with a purchase of high margin items and a strong sense of loyalty via a feeling of gratitude.

US insurance giant Progressive Insurance builds the reciprocity technique right into their sales pitch. To make it easier for consumers to compare rates from various carriers, one call to Progressive will allow you to comparison shop without having to look anywhere else. Along with their own, they’ll provide you with quotes from their top competitors, right on their website. And while Progressive is not always the cheapest provider, they consistently rank number one among consumers, who reward them with business for their one-stop shopping service. That’s reciprocity in action.

Of course, reciprocity marketing is all around you.  From grocery store coupons to the promotion and bonus you receive at work and in response put in more weekends at the office to the free coffee served at the local car wash, make no mistake about it, you are experiencing the gravitational pull of gratitude. The only proverbial free lunch that doesn’t come with an agenda is the one they’re serving daily at noon in the soup line downtown, and even then, you’ll feel compelled to listen to Father Brown for a few minutes of salvation before you sit down to eat.

It is human nature to reciprocate, be it good or bad.  When it’s bad it’s called revenge, but when it’s good the evolutional psychologists like to explain that this evidences the benefits of community in our survival.  Robert Cialdini, social scientist and professor of Psychology at Arizona State University has devoted years to the study of the rule of reciprocity, and in the process has discovered a few ideas astute marketers need to understand if they want to apply this technique effectively in the market place.

Gratitude is a two-way street

Successful reciprocity techniques leverage the sense of obligation that the delivery of a freebie or favor achieves.  The following example illustrates how the reciprocity principle works even indirectly, with gratitude benefitting not the initial source of the favor, but others who interact with the person who received a favor earlier. In rush-hour traffic, for instance, a situation all drivers face at times is the interaction between those who have the right-of-way and others who want to merge into their lane. The driver who lets someone else merge in front of them often gets a nod, a wave or a friendly smile as a response. The feeling may further transfer however, to others whom the driver who benefitted from the initial kind act interacts with in a similar situation. From a similar act in traffic to the holding open of a door at the office for another, the feeling of gratitude can produce any number of reciprocal acts, directly or towards a third party.

Back to business – take online service providers like Travelocity, Expedia, or eBay. All offer a feedback system where recipients of a service can leave ratings of the quality of service they received without getting anything in return. If the service was bad enough, the reciprocal action in form of an appropriate review by the unhappy consumer will certainly reflect that.  If the service was great, the review will reflect that too, a result of the feeling of gratitude that will directly benefit the provider of the service.

According to extensive research, there is a fundamental need to continue the relationship when someone takes possession of a gift.  Enterprising street cons are still washing windshields on the come in big city traffic, and while the airlines aren’t serving that free lunch anymore, those frequent flier miles are still pulling them in.

This urge to reciprocate is extremely powerful and should never be under-estimated, and is in direct proportion to the significance of the gift itself.  It overwhelms other urges – such as the one to gain a car-length in traffic to make it to the appointment on time, to saving oneself the hassle of logging on to a service provider’s feedback system without immediate gain, or any tangible gain at all. For entrepreneurs to receive the full benefit of the reciprocity technique a favor or gift has to be positioned properly – such as, a free lunch at a fund raiser – and the reciprocation can far exceed the scope of the original consideration, which is precisely the point.

Ask for more to get what you want

One twist on the Rule of Reciprocity is a deliberate variation: the implied scope of response is so far out of line with the original favor that the receiving party feels guilty for not complying, so they make a nominal gesture of response to salve their guilt and save face.  Take that fund raiser for example, where the donation card may have boxes available for ticking beginning at $100, and going up from there.  Then, at the bottom off the card, there is space to insert a different amount of your own choosing.  The host does this with the full knowledge that the number of guilt-driven $25 contributions will more than compensate for those who don’t follow their reciprocity nature and depart without making a donation at all. 

Don’t underestimate the customer

Smart marketers know that their motives are often transparent, so the gift needs to be substantial enough – a freebie for you when you sign up a friend – to overcome any cynicism the obvious intention might create.  Also, the more the favor or gift is a stand-alone proposition – rather than a buy-one-get-one-free gesture, better to simply offer a freebie and hope for the best, with no obligation to buy anything – the better the results.  One NBA team gives the entire crowd – this in the largest arena in the league – a free chalupa (a deep fried Mexican sandwich that resembles an omelet) – whenever the home team scores 100 points or more.  Such a strategy sells an awful lot of 2000 percent-markup sodas, and the receiver places the order with a hearty thank you and a smile.  A win-win proposition in any business school.

Whether you offer to fill in for a team-mate, give a colleague a lift from the office or offer a free seminar on the virtues of retirement planning, you are about to set in motion the powerful magnetic pull of gratitude in the other person. Like the other influencing techniques outlined before on this blog and in my book, Executive Presence-The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO, your moral compass, or executive management, will guide you in whether you’ll use this strategy to ethically influence, or cunningly manipulate your fellow rat-racers. If you’re smart, this technique will not just help you in getting what you want, but open the doors to some wonderful relationships as well. And relationships are what good business is ultimately about, isn’t it?

For more information on asserting your influence and achieving success through strong interpersonal relationships, get my new book, Executive Presence-The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO.

© Harrison Monarth 2009

 The term “Claqueur”, literally meaning Clapper, originated in 19^th century Paris, where two gentlemen named Sauton and Porcher, both patrons of Parisian opera houses, had the idea to offer applause by request. They accomplished this by hiring paid applauders, whose only job consisted in clapping as loud and enthusiastic as possible, enticing the rest of the audience to loudly join in the applause and cheer. Thereafter it became a routine occurrence in the theatres of Paris, boosting the appeal and positive perception of any play where Claqueurs operated.

We’re being claqueured all the time, often finding ourselves on the receiving end of what we later realized was less-than-logical behavior, simply because the masses, particularly those who we consider peers, were doing the same.

Of the many means of influencing people, none is quite as powerful as the use of what is known as “social proof.”  Get someone to lead and the crowd will happily follow.  Entire political, social and economic strategies are hatched from a focus on landing that one critical endorsement that will create an ensuing groundswell of mindshare and momentum.  It is the cornerstone of all advertising and marketing, the selling of the impression that the smart money is buying a product or service in the hope that you will do the same.  And the chances are good that you will.

Social researcher Robert Cialdini defined this as the art of getting beyond people’s logic in order to convince them of something, the nature of which may or may not be logical.  Anybody who once bought a pet rock or paid $100 for a moon rock has felt the power of this approach.  If you’ve gone to see “the number one movie in theaters today!” you’ve been the target of a social proof strategy.  If you’ve purchased a pair of jeans primarily for the label, and paid a healthy premium for the privilege, welcome to the social proof fashion club. 

It’s powerful stuff, and when applied beyond the scope of selling products it can have devastating effects.  A fellow named Adolf Hitler understood this.  Charismatic leaders rely on it to this day.  Cult members who commit suicide in the belief that they will hop aboard a passing comet have it written on their tombstones.  Logic has left the building, in favor of the notion that if everyone else is doing it, it must be right.

The Seductive Allure of Mass Appeal

We are all attracted to quality on some level.  Trouble is, the notion of quality is subjective, and we are constantly looking for some external element to tell us what it means and to validate our choices.  This need for validation is one of the most powerful of human drives, as it attaches us to something that makes us feel good about ourselves.

Why is it that we happily pay several dollars for a cup of coffee that we can find at an equal level of quality elsewhere for half the price?  Why are there celebrities out there, smiling for the camera at every turn who are famous for nothing more than simply being famous?  Why do people indulge in behaviors that can kill them, some quickly, some over time, primarily—or at least initially, before they become addicted—to be cool, to be one of the crowd?  All of these are variations on the social proof theme, and the fruition of carefully crafted strategies that play upon social norms and the very human desire to belong.

If your goal is to be popular, it begins with your first new friend, ideally someone who enjoys the respect and admiration of others.  Once the new friend is by your side, the next will come much easier and more willingly.  New recruits see that you are someone worth knowing, that others are already there, sitting at the lunch table next to you, and they seem to be enjoying the experience.  The same is true if your goal is to introduce a new product or service.  It all begins with that first enthusiastic testimonial and it builds from there. 

The Eternal Law of Social Proof

 A startling social proof example in the realm of commerce took place in 1559, when the first tulip bulbs were imported from Constantinople to Holland and Germany.  It was like the Beatles arriving on American soil in 1962—people immediately fell in love with them.  Or more accurately, mass hysteria broke out among the people who had never laid eyes on this flower before.  Tulip bulbs were suddenly a status symbol for the wealthy because they were beautiful and hard to acquire.  As tulipmania spread, the flowers were being bought and sold as stock commodities.  Incredibly, the most expensive bulbs sold for up to $76,000!  Can you imagine spending $76,000 for a single tulip bulb?  In 1559?  My guess is you can’t. That’d be Millions today, enough to start an entire chain of your own florist shops.  But consider this question: what if everyone around you thought this was a fair price?  What if everyone was buying them?  Social science says that you’d want to be like everyone else and have your very own tulip.   

It’s easy to say no, of course not.  But not so fast with that answer.  Because if you’ve paid close to three dollars for a cup of fifty cent coffee recently, you’re already on the cusp of contradicting yourself, and like it or not, you’re part of the mass hysteria to belong to the three-dollar-coffee crowd in spite of the inherent illogic of it all.

Of course the inevitable happened, the bottom eventually fell out of the tulip market and people had to sell, and fast.  Europe was left wondering what the fuss about tulips had been about in the first place.  Logic returned as quickly as it had vaporized—they were just flowers, after all.  Those who had bought a tulip for $76,000 found six weeks later that it was now worth less than one dollar.

And if you think this is an isolated example, think again.  In fact, you have only to think back no more than ten years to see that it isn’t isolate at all.  Because we had a modern outbreak of mass hysteria of our own, one of tulip-like proportions: the dot-com boom and subsequent bust of the late 1990s.  The parallels are disturbing—despite the better judgment of normally savvy investors, billions of dollars were invested in companies that had no solid business model in place, in companies that were simply there, alongside other companies that had already recruited their own early adopters.  

Lemmings, Anyone?

Consider these examples of social proof triumphing over logic: Nazi Germany, smoking, medieval witch hunts, the Hip-Hop style of wearing one’s trousers below the buttocks, underpants exposed and all, or the practice of piercing or graphically altering one’s body as a fashion accessory.  Television programs use the Claqueur technique known as ‘canned laughter’ as a means of manipulating viewers to laugh along in certain places, counting on the fact that the audience perceives the laugh-track enhanced shows as funnier than they otherwise would.  All these examples are inherently illogical, yet completely explicable when we understand the power and context of social proof.  The behavior of many inevitably becomes acceptable to individuals not yet on board.  And when they do sign on, the individual will feel that they have acted out of a logical chain of reasoning, rather than listening to the sound of a Claqueur somewhere nearby.

The Social Proof Psychology of Selling

Advertisers use the social proof rule as a matter of course these days, claiming their product is the fastest growing, or the hottest selling, or that more than a million customers can’t be wrong.  Best-seller lists are nothing more than tools of social proof designed to motivate you to join in the reading tastes of others ‘just like you’.

Recall the story of the Emperor’s new clothes.  Although the king was naked, none of his thousands of subjects would admit—even to themselves—that he wasn’t wearing fine new clothes fit for a king.  The cunning tailor—who in another era might have been the marketing head of a major fashion label—proclaimed that only a fool wouldn’t be able to see the fineries.  It was less a fear of the king’s wrath than the fear of being considered a fool that moved the masses into silence upon seeing their king being ferried about the streets in the buff.   It took the direct perception and clear straight-forwardness of a child in the crowd to point out the Emperor was in fact, the fool.

You’re probably aware of the fact that thousands of people routinely stand in line to buy Apple’s newest version of the iPhone, which is orders of magnitude more expensive than most phones on the market currently.  Maybe you are one of them, and if not, chances are you know someone who is.  These events—and that’s what they are—are predictably and reliably covered by the international press, playing into the precise strategy Apple has in mind when they release the latest product.  Bloggers fueled this mass hysteria; further adding to a frenzy that many described as religious fervor (indeed, some sociologists content that organized religion itself is a textbook example of social proof and mass hysteria in its most enduring form).

It is interesting to note that shortly after the mass hysteria dies down, Apple promptly reduces the retail price.  Of course, the strategy is in place from the beginning, and the primary force at is core is the phenomenon of social proof. 

Social proof and the use of the Claqueur technique is the most powerful tool in growing a successful business, helping you sell products or services simply by showing how much others are enjoying your wares.  To be sure, the quality of your ‘stuff’ is a critical element, but creating and then effectively publicizing and touting top demand for it may well dictate whether you turn a prospect into a customer or a new visitor into someone who bookmarks your website. Glowing testimonials are another tool that relies on social proof, and continue to be the cornerstone of direct selling on the internet and elsewhere.

Even as technology is changing the landscape of marketing on a massive scale, it’s interesting to note that social proof continues to be the cornerstone of all effective strategies and tools.  The emergence of social media, with its blogs, tweets and membership venues, is the digital equivalent of a crowded morning at Starbucks or a line to get into the hottest club in town.  This is where the “buzz” originates and flourishes, and though unseen by the target demographic, is where the subtle nuance of the best marketing minds on the planet are busy planting seeds and nourishing momentum.

So what does this mean to you?  It means you have the opportunity to harness the power of this understanding toward the achievement of your goals, whatever they may be; to adopt a social proof strategy of your own, with the vast power of the internet as your implementation tool.  Virtually any marketing goal requires the approval of a constituency in some form or another and the smart money knows that it begins with the recruitment of a single advocate.  Get him or her to clap for you—to be your Claqueur—the rest will soon follow.

Social proof has been around since the great ancient civilizations, and it’s not going away any time soon.  It is an inevitable and necessary component of any communications strategy, and as I’ve shown here, it has a social consciousness of its own, and it can influence in any and all directions.  This makes it incumbent upon you, the designer of the strategy, to understand the very tools that you employ.  To the extent that you do, the power of persuasion can be yours, Claqueurs and all.

For more on this and many other techniques, strategies and coaching advice on building a powerful executive presence, get the new book, Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO

© Harrison Monarth 2009

In the derby for success in business and politics, contestants square off not only against each other, but a plethora of obstacles, variables, decisions and responses, deal-killers all, that can originate from that darkest and most dreaded netherworld called the self.  In other words, many careers are arrested or even derailed because someone inadvertently shoots themselves in the proverbial foot, or they simply disappear into a crowd of more likeable people. Conversely, some soar to unlikely heights because they understand how to steer the voting constituency—and make no mistake, there is a voting constituency in business; they’re called customers, co-workers and management—toward other aspects of their game. They’re just so darn likeable, even when they are something less than perfect, so they get the promotion, they win the deal, and in spite of thin platforms and lack of experience, even in spite of all that is logical and good, they get elected.

Likeability Case Study: Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton, he of eight years of White House occupancy, is perhaps the most charismatic and likeable of all recent American Presidents, with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.   And yet, consider what he had to work around to maintain that status today—he had sexual relations with a staff member in the Oval Office, he lied to the citizens of his country when caught with his pants down, then he lied to the grand jury, he tried to spin words of explanation with embarrassing desperation, and he emerged virtually unscathed—his court-mandated $90,000 fine for contempt of court was even paid from voter contributions; later, when he received an $8 million advance for his memoirs, no payback was forthcoming.  Today he complements his Secretary of State spouse, the once-upon-a-time Democratic front runner for US President Hillary Clinton, not as a liability, but as a PR superstar who draws crowds and adulation exceeded only by Oprah Winfrey. 

You Are Nothing More Than the Sum of Who Likes You

The power of likeability is no less critical to success in the private business sector, though like politics, outside influences often sway the vote.  But personality and likeability are invaluable assets to cultivate, and they are learnable skills to all who are willing to do the homework and bring a mirror to the process.  Because while some are certainly born with a natural charm and tendency to project likeability, the traits, characteristics and behaviors associated with it are definable and accessible, and they can be learned by anyone looking to improve their prospects.

Like athletes who must compensate for their weaknesses in order to win–a poor defensive team can still win if their offense is strong enough–the entire likeability proposition must be considered as the conglomeration of many parts, while recognizing that the egregious violation of any single element can take you down.  But here’s the good news about likeability: cultivate enough of it and when your dark side occasionally pops up–again, think Bill Clinton–the equity of your sparkling personality and humble countenance may just buy you a get-out-of-jail-free card, not to mention preserve your popularity with the adoring masses.  

What, however, if ‘Former President of the United States’ is not part of your Curriculum Vitae? Can you still catch a break in court, just because you have a nice smile?  The evidence suggests just that. Author Dulin Kelly wrote about this in 1977, in the court preparation trade publication Voir Dire. She says: “One item that keeps reappearing in cases tried or settled, is the likeability factor. If your client is a likeable person, this characteristic will in all likelihood affect the outcome of your case in two ways: First, the jury will want to award compensation to your client, because the jurors like him or her. This may overcome a case of close liability. Second, there is no question that if the jury likes your client the amount of compensation is likely to be higher.”

While it might take an entire bookstore wing or a year of graduate school to fully appreciate the underlying psychology of likeability, the basics are easy to spot and understand.  Test these against the people in your life that you consider likeable, and you’ll see they are consistent and inviolate.

Positive Energy – the Catch-All of Likeability

Likeable people project positive energy. They are the anti-Dick Cheney, the reversed reflection of Britain’s Gordon Brown: they smile, they ask questions, they show interest in others and in things that are important to others. Their body language shows no impatience, there is no quintessence of superiority in their demeanor or manner. They are just like you, and perfectly happy to be so.  They laugh often, smile constantly.  They are resolutely polite, yet not so polite that they seem cold or distant. Then, when the moment for contemplation or gravity arrives, they go there effortlessly and with sincerity. Watch certain movie stars being interviewed on late night talk shows and you’ll see this in spades; millions of folks at once are saying, “wow, she’s just like the rest of us!  Only prettier and much, much richer.”  Likeable people are fun to be with; easy to watch and to listen to, engaging and generally attractive in all aspects of how they consume space on the planet.

Humility

Likeable people are invariably humble. Nothing puts others off quite like arrogance or the slightest perception of superiority. The combination of competence and achievement with humility is an unstoppable force for likeability.   That’s what makes some of our favorite business tycoons, like Richard Branson and Warren Buffett, so interesting to watch; they bring a sense of humility to their conversations, despite their extraordinary fortunes and fame. Sometimes they even seem embarrassed by all the attention. And yet they walk through the world with assured confidence. The line between confident humility and an over-wrought ego is thin, but it is crystal clear to just about everybody, and it is defined not only by words, but by tone, facial expression and body language. If you wonder about your own score on this one, ask a trusted friend to be honest with you, and get to work on getting humble.  If you don’t, life usually finds a way to teach it to you anyway, and it likely won’t be on your terms.

Competence

The desired by-product of competence, at least within the confined space of the likeability equation, is to elicit respect and the confidence of others. You are trying to earn the admiration of those around you and those whose support you need, rather than assuming it or asking for it. Once earned, you will have created a buffer that will forgive your humanity at some future point. Without competence, even the most likeable will find themselves in the audience instead of on the stage.

Controlling the Negative

Consider, for a moment, the dynamic of marriage, one in which the role of likeability is huge. Many marriages end despite the partners saying that they really love each other, but they no longer like each other. They can’t live together; they are out of harmony. The primary element behind this—and one that can destroy careers as quickly as it does marriages—is the manner in which they handle conflict. Anger and hostility are archenemies of likeability; it’s virtually impossible to like someone who throws things, literally and figuratively, at you when angry, despite inherent charisma, generosity and otherwise positive energy. How you handle yourself in the face of challenging situations is of paramount importance to your likeability scorecard, because you can be sure all eyes are on you to see what you’ll say and do. Handle it right and it’s an opportunity to raise your stock. Blow it, and you’ll disappear into the crowd, or worse, the end of the queue. 

Be Present, Be Relevant, Be Real

There are degrees of likeability, and understanding how to elevate yours will serve you. The janitor in your building may be likeable. The guy who made your Venti Cappuccino on the way to work this morning may be likeable. But you aspire to bigger things, and it will take more than the essential entry-level qualities of positive energy, humility and competence to get you there. What you really need, to send your likeability quotient through the roof, is to boost your competence factor by making a difference in whatever situation you may find yourself.  Don’t be a by-stander; get involved, be present and accounted for.  Take on responsibility and then nail it. Be creative, passionate, but keep it real.  And most of all create consequences and own them when they arrive. Nothing erodes likeability quite like failure in the face of bluster, so match your level of energy with your ability to win. Then, when you do, spread the credit around and stay humble, with the perception that you are more interested in the results than the reviews.  

Like any interpersonal power, likeability is a craft that must be cultivated and learned, even if you bring natural skills to the party. It requires self-awareness and complete honesty about your place on this tricky learning curve. And while some would consider the very notion of purposefully crafting a higher level of likeability to create positive consequences in your own life as calculated and self-serving, the truth is that once you achieve it—and by definition, you won’t unless you do it right—the real benefit is bestowed on those around you. That’s the true hallmark of likeability; others simply want to be with you, to listen to you, to learn from you, to support you and tap into your positive energy toward the pursuit of a common goal. And that sounds like a win-win situation to me.

For more on this and many other techniques, strategies and coaching advice on building a powerful executive presence, get the new book, Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO

© Harrison Monarth 2009

I call it the Visibility Technique. This principle holds—and it’s been scientifically proven as a valid and predictable human response—that repeated exposure to an image, thought, object, person, message or other stimuli tends to induce a positive reaction, all things being equal and, this is important, without the presence of a negative prejudice. This, of course, sends advertisers and image consultants into throes of strategic ecstasy, since it validates their purpose and very existence: the more you put it out there, the better your chances are of successfully reaching your target demographic. This used to be thought of simply as “branding,” but that doesn’t do the Visibility Technique the justice it deserves. More accurately, the Visibility Technique is all about the powerful psychology of subliminal familiarity.

One only needs to peruse the aisles of the neighborhood grocery store to witness the Visibility Technique in play. Right next to the familiar brand names that fill the pages of our magazines and the airwaves of our radios and televisions are less well-known so-called “generic” products that are, in fact, the very same products with a different label. Yet even though those generics sell for less money, people continue to regard the branded items as superior in quality and desireability. The generic version may not carry the slightest negative bias, but the branded version leverages a very real positive context toward consumer preference. The only chance the generic stands is to price itself into the game.

If you’ve winced when your pharmacist asks if you’d like the generic equivalent of a prescription drug, fearing something less than the results (hair growth, a calmer stomach, hemorrhoid shrinkage, pick your cure) promised in that 30-second spot on television, then welcome to the Visibility Technique. And if you’ve ever taken a teenager shopping for athletic shoes, you’ve already felt the effects of this branding/marketing panacea right where it counts, in your wallet—if it doesn’t have a swoop or three stripes, or the name of a branded superstar on the label, then it’s just not cool, even at half the price.

Marketers, agents, trainers, campaign managers and others engaged in the profession of propaganda are positively apoplectic about the possibilities, as well they should be. Because suddenly, with this awareness, the message is no longer all that matters—it’s all about frequency of exposure and the context within which those exposures take place. While you could read the scientific white papers that justify all the excitement, it boils down to this: the more you’re exposed to something, the more likely you are to form a positive attitude, and a preference towards it. In the absence of any reason to attach a negative context to the ‘thing’ or person—such as a bias, a bad prior experience or a contrary opinion from someone you trust—the mere frequency of the exposure creates a comfortable familiarity on a purely emotional realm. Chances are you won’t even know why you prefer the ‘thing’ or person—the feeling just sneaks into your subconscious. This, then, becomes an attitudinal paradigm irrevocably—again, at least until something negative creeps into the picture—attached to the object or person at hand. Now, cut to the moment at which your attitude or opinion counts: you are considering a purchase, a vote, or the opportunity to make a decision. The only cognitive resource available in this moment is that subliminally positive context resulting from repeated proximity and visibility. While some negative influence is required to shift your attitude to the dark side, it’s also true that your positive attitude requires none—zero, nada—of the mediating cognitive or motivational processes normally associated with opinion-making. All that is required is that you are familiar with, and comfortable with, what you’ve seen or been exposed to. Why? Because we feel “safe” in holding a positive context for the object or issue at hand when it is familiar and without negative context. And safety is the cornerstone of human response.

You can conduct a little social experiment yourself; Next time you’re riding the subway with your fellow commuters, look at the people around you and ask yourself—if I had an emergency right now, who would I most likely approach to help me? Chances are you would pick a person that you see often, even though you’ve never had either a good or bad experience with them. In fact, you’ve never exchanged a word with them. The natural preference you feel towards that person is the sense of familiarity that breeds not contempt, but security.

Speaking of scientific white papers, there’s been plenty of them written on this issue. For the most part they yield the same results: the Visibility Technique is as reliable as gravity and taxes. The hypothesis was first put forth by Robert Zajonc, the Polish-born American social researcher who in 1968 termed the phenomenon the “mere exposure effect” (at last, a scientist not given to the pomposity of laboratory labeling) and has since been challenged, studied and proven again and again by notable social researchers, from A.H. Eagly and S. Chaiken in their 1993 book, The Psychology of Attitudes, to the website-specific research conducted by Singh Fang in 2007.

The Visibility Technique boils down to two essences: put it out there, and don’t let it get dirty in the process. Nowhere is this two-sided coin more in evidence than in the political world, as candidates hump the stump across the land with the primary objective of getting face-time on the local news. The press hovers nearby, thirsty for a verbal misstep, and when it occurs, they pounce like famished birds of prey to blow it into the latest scandal of who-said-what, followed by urgent clarifications, repositionings, denials, and occasionally, the reluctant apology. But let’s call this game what it is: it’s the Visibility Technique in full and glorious action, and the entire process of campaigning for office hinges on it. The more the candidate is seen and heard, the more voters will pay attention.

The science of exposure has, of course, been kicking around the advertising and PR community since the advent of media. From corporate logos and other branding symbols appearing on everything from Formula One race cars to your little sisters lunch bag. In the U.S., there hasn’t been a Budweiser television commercial that’s really about beer since the first American Football Super Bowl. You’d think Anheiser-Busch was peddling horses. But the commercials make us laugh; we are generally having a good time as we watch the game that brings us those commercials, thus the context of the experience of being exposed to the brand is a positive one. The rationale is simple: people buy what they know, and what is highly visible becomes what they know, even if they’ve never sampled the product. And if the context of their “knowing” is a positive one, the product has to tank badly to fall out of favor.

One of the key strategic levers of applying the Visibility Technique to product promotion is that it gives you the ties. In other words, when a consumer and a product first come together, and if the consumer has at least a neutral attitude about the product, then, thanks to the effects of the Visibility Technique, repeated exposure creates a preference for that product. Even if the experiences with that product have been non-extraordinary, they emerge as a positive perception of the wares you’re selling. People, for instance, talk up a certain brand of vodka because the logo is all the rage, and—let’s get real, nobody with a shred of honesty or ego in their bones can really say that one vodka tastes any better than another—it’s love at first sip for the new initiate getting stuck with the tab.

One aspect of the Visibility Technique relates to the venue or vehicle of the exposure itself. The time and place of exposure has much to do with the context in which that exposure occurs, which translates to the degree of positive context applied to the product by the observer. Studies show brand names prevalent at sporting events, for example—similar in this case to the Budweiser advertising strategy—create a generally favorable impression for the underlying sponsors, even without actual advertising content in a features-benefits sense. The same is true for branding and messages promulgated over the internet in the form of banner advertising and paid search engine visibility—that particular audience demographic, which is both wide and diverse, quickly assigns meaning to any company progressive enough to invest in this venue, and the meaning is generally a good one.

Without the opportunity to deliver content, though, the Visibility Technique does present certain limitations. The product itself is the primary deliverer of context—people like beer, they like expensive athletic shoes, they water at the mouth at the sight of Colonel Sanders’ face on a bus. It’s all positive, and thus the repeated exposure has the desired payback. But people who don’t drink may not agree. Toss in even the slightest shadowy perception, or even worse, a negative context, and the effect diminishes rapidly—imagine the British Labour Party promoting itself with a profile of a grinning Gordon Brown—a rare image, granted—and you get the idea here.

Where people are concerned—again, the Visibility Technique applies to relationships as well as branding—there is risk when not everyone shares the same opinion. If a negative context is present, then repeated exposure stands to actually amplify the tension with each glimpse. Just ask a Conservative in the UK about spotting the Prime Minister’s face on every bus that passes him. Small irritations, easily forgotten when the other party is both out of sight and out of mind, become outright personality conflicts when the two parties get too much of each other too quickly. Here in the United States, during a dramatic and historic election campaign for President, former Senators Obama and Clinton may have made nice on the dais before and after a debate, but the mutually projected civility barely masked either candidate’s icy resolve. Both realized that the exposure they were getting couldn’t overtly portray negative behavior towards each other, as this would have diminished the Visibility Technique’s effect of preference via neutral or positive experiences. No-one likes a sourpuss. Particularly Secretary Clinton had been learning this lesson in stages.

Speaking of Mr. Obama, it was no coincidence that he’d been breaking records during his fund-raising efforts for campaign ‘08. The rap on him was that he was more effective for the way he said things than for what he actually said, which, in essence, is the Visibility Technique in action. Critics charge he’s still at it. He shows up, smiles, exudes abundant charisma, and the faithful quickly rip open their checkbooks. Only a verbal miscue—they speculate—would rain on this rainmaking parade, which he has thus far managed to sidestep and explain away with great skill and the advice of a bus full of executive speech coaches—like yours truly—strategists and image gurus.

In summary, we all suspected that advertising and promotion was nothing if not the application of psychological science to the shaping of public opinion. As branding and sponsorship efforts increase—there is nothing more visible than a company’s name permanently grafted onto the side of a stadium—we sense the move from content-driven product promotion to a pure and simple use of the Visibility Technique as a strategic centerpiece. If nothing else it cuts down on copywriting and production costs. And where relationships are concerned, from business to the political and personal, another old adage becomes valid more than ever: truer words were never spoken. This in today’s promotional world translates to, the less said, the better. Just stay visible and the rest will take care of itself.

For this and many other techniques, strategies and coaching advice on building a powerful executive presence, get the new book, Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO

© Harrison Monarth 2009