If there’s one story that bears examination in the wake of the 2012 Presidential election, it’s why so many people were so profoundly shocked by the outcome. This is a tale about the power of narrative, and how the stories we believe shape the way we interact with the world.
Jonathan Martin provides us with a vivid illustration of the concept in his Politico article, The GOP’s Media Cocoon. There are several points in there that are vitally important for those of us who are brand managers to understand.
Prior to the election, there was a significant portion of the American electorate that was absolutely confident that Mitt Romney was going to win in a landslide. This confidence was based almost entirely on what people were hearing from the media.
As Martin points out, today people can customize their media intake. They have a range of television stations to follow. There are countless websites, blogs, and internet pundits to adhere to. Those folks who still read newspapers can choose their favorites.
What we’ve learned here is that people have an overwhelming tendency to choose those media sources that present the stories they like best; the tales they find most in alignment with their own values and beliefs. This tendency is hard-wired into us. One of the fundamental aspects of cultural formation is the sharing of a common narrative among many individuals. It is not inherently a good thing nor a bad thing; it is a human thing.
Where the train goes right off the rails is when a widely shared narrative diverges significantly from observable reality. These situations present a crossroads for the individual. Do they trust in evidence presented by their own eyes and ears, or do they cleave to the narrative that mirrors their own personal belief system?
Cultural Stories: What Do Your Customers Believe?
This is not a quandary unique to Republicans. This conflict comes up time and time again throughout an individual’s life. Do Nike sneakers make you a faster runner? Will riding a Harley-Davidson make you a bigger badass? Does choosing Ikea furnishings for your home really make you a more stylish individual? One hopes for the best, but at the end of the day, we are who we are.
In individual situations, the stakes are relatively low. If you’re jogging a 22 minute mile before you buy your new Nikes, and you’re jogging a 22 minute mile after you buy your new Nikes, no one’s going to know this but you. Your relationship with the narrative Nike presents can continue unchanged. Or you might lose faith in Nike. Or you might become an even bigger believer and decide you need even more Nike gear to reach your personal athletic goals.
What happens when we scale the concept up? Group dynamics are complicated things. The more prominently and heavily invested someone is in continuing a particular narrative, the more vehemently they will cling to it, even in the presence of direct evidence to the contrary. This phenomenon explains Karl Rove’s now infamous meltdown when confronted with poll results that ran counter to his expectations. A narrative can be so compelling and central to one’s existence that having it disrupted or disputed creates great tension in the individual.
As Brand Managers, we need to know what narratives are central to our customers’ lives. More importantly, we need to know how they see themselves relative to these central driving stories, and where these tales fit into the larger collective experience of reality.
Our job is to resolve, rather than create, internal tension in our customers. Brand Modeling presents the most efficient way to identify the points where the tensions can be eased. The Republicans have left their base with a significant amount of tension, and it could be that their brand suffers significantly as a result. Given a roadmap that more accurately predicts human behavior, everything could have been different. We’ll see if the party has a greater understanding of the power of narrative the next time around.