Mister Three Sixty

UK ADVERTISING: Who can forget the fat dripping from cigarettes, the dead child brought back to life zombie-like or the pub that transforms into a car-crash scene? Some of the most strategically-sound and powerful campaigns of the last decade have emerged from the Public Sector. But to believe that the lessons they offer are only really applicable to those of us who work on Public health and information campaigns or at the Central Office of Information is deeply misguided.

Whether we are working in the Public or the Private sector, most of us are in the business of persuasion. We persuade in order to encourage a desired set of behaviours. Sometimes we want people to stop smoking, to stop drinking and driving, to resist the lures of Class-A narcotics. Sometimes we want people to start saving for a Pension, to sneeze into a tissue, to take exercise, to eat healthily, to file tax returns on time. The list of behavioural change campaigns goes on and on.

But actually changing behaviour in any lasting way is incredibly difficult. Humans are creatures of habit. Habits that can be deeply ingrained, habits developed in childhood, in specific social and economic contexts that are part of the fabric of our lives.

This explains the wide-range of behavioural change campaigns that we see. Broadly speaking these campaigns can be divided into two types; Compliance and Individual Action. The trick of course in knowing which is right for you.

Compliance campaigns tend to be based in rational facts. The information is what counts above all else, so these campaigns lend themselves well to traditional PR. They are designed to inform people in bite-sized chunks that can be easily digested. Think ‘Tax doesn’t have to taxing’ or the Congestion charge.

Individual Action campaigns tend to be far more emotive. They can be designed to highlight the emotional worst consequence of the wrong kinds of behaviour, or to dramatise the benefits of doing the right thing. Think here of drink driving, speeding, smoke alarms but also learning and skills, literacy and exercise.

The most challenging briefs are those that require long-lasting changes in behaviour, particularly when the desired change has no immediate benefits. Setting money aside for a Pension or losing weight are activities with limited short-term payback. It makes communicating in a compelling persuasive way very difficult. People regularly do not behave in the way that is best for their long-term wellbeing – they smoke, drink and eat too much – not least because the consequences of those behaviours in the here and now are actually rather pleasurable.

Professor Ian Stuart-Hamilton, a Professor of Developmental Psychology suggests that the problem boils down to the fact that people cannot bridge the psychological gap between their lives now and their future selves. It is very hard to imagine yourself in 40 years’ time, let alone figure out whether you’ve made sufficient pension provision.

This is compounded by the strong aversion people feel towards thinking about unpleasant things such as ill-health, obesity, cancer or poverty in old age. In these cases a message that tries to shock people or play on their fears turns them off even more. It feeds their aversion.

Tim Harford, a Behavioural Economist, has suggested that what is required instead is to create a sense of positive opportunity, of enjoyment and reward now for behaviour change with a future outcome. Brands have also understood this. Weightwatchers has an implicit understanding of the power of positive self-belief in creating behavioural change.

Our PR industry is well-regarded worldwide. But for sheer scale of challenge and brilliance of strategic response, it is time for the Public Sector’s contribution to be recognised by all of us.