Unfortunately, there are still too many people in civil society who refuse to understand how anyone could find Trumpian ideas appealing. But Trump and his European counterparts are winning precisely because they’re appealing. 

That’s why their messaging works. They offer a vision that makes sense to more and more people — a vision that promises them and their families a better future. 

At the same time, these same people in the public sector are still so convinced that their ideas are right that they don’t see the need to package them effectively so they resonate with the majority.

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 “𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻. They’re the good guys, after all. They’re fighting for what’s right, for democracy, for the planet — so why should they need to “sell” their ideas? They’re skeptical about marketing. It’s slimy and manipulative.

But here’s the thing: if we compare engagement stats between pro-democracy and anti-democracy content, we get a dose of cold objective reality. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄.

This fact is all the more mind-blowing knowing that in the last years the cause driven sector started to focus more on storytelling and hope-based communication, which is a good first step. But we’re still communicating based on how we want the world to be, not based on how our potential audience wants the world to be. 

They’re actually not too far apart – but right now the ideas and the language we’re using don’t connect with their reality.

If we want to win the battle of ideas, we need to rethink what we say and how we say it. It’s not rocket science: 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻.

No matter how many billions we spend on technology, campaigns and ads, if the messaging doesn’t work, it’s never going to fly.