The godfather of PR

November 2008

There is nothing new about trying to convince someone to buy a product or service, but the art of persuasion came along in leaps and bounds in the last century, thanks in no small part to a man named Edward Bernays.

Vienna-born Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud, so it might not come as a surprise that he had a deep interest in mass psychology, which he used to develop the discipline we call public relations.

Here are six things that today’s PR consultants can learn from this pioneer of persuasion:

1. Research your audiences

Bernays found out what made his target audience tick, and made that central to his campaigns. In his own words, his approach to PR was to “advise the client on attitudes and actions to win over the public on whom viability of the unit depends, and then educate, inform and persuade the public to accept these social goods, ideas or concepts.”

He understood the importance of researching audiences before engaging them – not just what they wanted, but also why, when and how often. He used this insight to reposition his clients’ products and fundamentally change people’s attitudes towards them.

2. Do not assume

He also realised that you can’t always tell what people want just by asking them. If you find someone who always has coffee and a roll for breakfast and ask them what they want for breakfast, they will probably tell you that they want coffee and a roll. Bernays, however, realised that people might not actually know what they want and need. In promoting sales of bacon, he revealed to the American public that what they actually wanted for breakfast was bacon and eggs, and not the coffee-and-roll combo that was popular at the time. He appealed to their concern for wellbeing with a campaign that focused on how important it is to start the day with a substantial meal.

3. Establish credibility with third parties

This bacon campaign also shows how PR can use the credible voice of an independent third party to support key messages. Bernays persuaded a physician to send a letter to 5,000 other physicians, asking them if they would concur that a heavy breakfast is healthier than a light breakfast on the grounds that the body needs to refuel after losing energy overnight. The majority concurred.

4. Give the media a good story

Bernays used the press to deliver the physicians’ message to the breakfasting American masses. The story was engaging: it offered expert views which challenged the conventional wisdom on a subject that everyone could relate to. So newspapers throughout the country published the story and bacon sales went up. Even today, bacon and eggs is still the quintessential American breakfast.

5. Think outside the box

Bernays used psychology to sell in ways that few had previously considered. He did some psychological research when he found that kids didn’t like how Procter and Gamble’s soap got in their eyes when their parents washed them. His bright idea was to appeal to children’s creative instincts with annual soap sculpture competitions. Pretty soon American kids learned to love soap for its cleaning power as well as its artistic potential, but it was a creative idea unrelated to washing that won them over.

6. Plan ahead

The remarkable success of Bernays’ campaigns shows us just how important it is to make a plan before launching a PR campaign. Bernays did not make quick and easy assumptions; he uncovered genuine opportunities by taking the time to understand audiences before he engaged them.

 

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