The beginning chapter starts out with questions to ask on how to ultimately reach your target audience, and how to identify who they are. My father ran his own advertising firm for many years and always told me to “Fish where the fish swim”. I always thought it was corny, but it makes sense. You have to figure out who you want to reach, what message do you want to get across, do you want them to take action or just stress the importance and what is the best way to get the message to your audience?
To answer these questions, it is necessary to brainstorm about the audience with regards to age, race, marital status, etc. Once you have the target audience breakdown then you can conduct research. The first is media trend analysis: story placement, tone, bylines, spokespeople (who is quoted), and messages (research past coverage). Once there is a sufficient sample you should look for patterns. The second is public opinion polls, which is more quantitative information. For this you need to gather information for message development, measure awareness, quantify support level, and again identify your target audience. Focus groups are conducted after a survey, and this is more qualitative research. This is where 12 to 20 people discuss what they thought in a group while in-depth interviews are for 1 or 2 people at a time to deal with more sensitive issues. I would imagine that Safe Harbor would go more towards an IDI than anything else. Though in statistics class we were taught to stay away from online research, it can prove tobe quite helpful because it encourages honest dialogue. The ultimate part of all this research is understanding your audience; if you understand them, you are better prepared to reach them.
To develop the message you must understand the values that people hold closest. The book gives a list of 11 values, both primary and secondary, that people surveyed have. Responsibility for one’s self and one’s family hold the highest on the primary side. Before any message is sent it is important to know what core values your target audience has, and if any of those values collide and if any value trumps another in a particular situation. People also have different levels of thinking, while most people you will reach are in level one, to maybe reach out to scientist or experts in their field you would need to appeal to the level three type of thinker.
I also love the storytelling section. If the problem is too overwhelming for someone to solve their eyes “glaze over.” This is true, when I first saw the humane society commercial I was overwhelmed by statistics. Now they show the poor animals and talk about “for a few dollars a day, you can rescue a helpless animal” as in one. That doesn’t seem as overwhelming and I feel more likely to help. They do the same with the Children’s Hospital commercials; pennies a day. That doesn’t seem too far out of reach. It is also true that most people’s beliefs and values come from their families. The media is the last and outer lining of the circles of communication effectiveness… but it’s not hopeless to change someone’s mind. The words used in a message dictate how people will perceive it. If it is in stride with the language your target audience understands and aligns with their values them your message will be a success.
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