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Marketing Empathy

11/24/2016

by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Imagine driving through your town or city and seeing a very old man pushing a food cart. His frail body hunched and weakened from years of physical labor, he struggles to move the cart down the street. What would you do if you saw such a man?

Restaurant owner Joel Cervantes found himself in this situation one day while driving in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. Heartbroken by the scene, Cervantes stopped and approached 89-year-old Fidencio Sanchez, who was selling “paletas” (popsicles) from his cart. Cervantes asked Sanchez for 20 paletas and paid him $50, about $20 more than the price of the product. Sanchez was extremely grateful.

The encounter could have ended there, but Cervantes felt moved to do more. He later learned that Sanchez was a Mexican immigrant who had been pushing his popsicle cart for 23 years. He and his wife Eladia were compelled to keep working at such an advanced age because their daughter had died and they were left as the sole caregivers for their grandsons.

Cervantes posted on Facebook a picture he had taken of Sanchez, hoping that others would share his sympathy for the man’s long-suffering labor. Social media responded with overwhelming concern. One person in particular, Jose Loera, suggested that they start a GoFundMe campaign to try to ease Sanchez’s struggle. So, Cervantes and Loera set a goal of $3,000, and they kicked off the e-crusade.

The outpouring of support far exceeded anything the two altruists could have imaged. Within a few days, benefactors gave hundreds of thousands and dollars. By the end of the campaign more than 17,000 people from 69 countries contributed a total of $384,290. An attorney agreed to work pro bono to establish a trust and help the couple manage their incredible endowment.

One person who contributed to the GoFundMe campaign, Kay Vasquez, recounted how she and her husband had happened upon Sanchez on a trip to back to Chicago and the Little Village, where she had been born. They bought meals for him and his wife and gave them to him along with some money. Sanchez was extremely grateful, wanting the good Samaritans to take some popsicles, but they wouldn’t. Vasquez couldn’t stop crying as she thought how hard the elderly Sanchez was working to care for his family, even as much younger and healthier persons just look for handouts.

While Sanchez’s situation elicited some truly heartwarming acts of human kindness, one might wonder what this story has to do with marketing. Well, there are many different things that can be marketed. We usually think of the marketing of tangible products (‘goods’), or intangible products (‘services), but individuals and organizations also market ideas: concepts they want others to adopt.

GoFundMe markets thousands of different concepts ranging from enabling families to rebuild their lives after a devastating fire, to allowing newlyweds to start their lives with a special honeymoon, to providing life-saving medical treatment to those suffering from a serious sickness. What do all of these funding campaigns have in common? Each gives individuals the opportunity to understand the unique needs of others and to do something large or small to support them. In other words, GoFundMe markets empathy.

In another headline-grabbing story of kindness, a repo man in Illinois, Jim Ford, setup a GoFundMe account for an elderly couple whose vehicle he had to reclaim. The campaign quickly exceeded its goal, allowing the couple to get their car back so they could continue getting their medications from the drugstore and food from the grocery store.

In an age of selfies, personalized products, and the fear of missing out (FOMO), the focus of so many lives is on ‘me.’ It seems extraordinary, therefore, for an organization to promote a value proposition based squarely on supporting others. A sense of selflessness, however, is at the heart of GoFundMe’s business model.

That kindness doesn’t mean that people gain nothing from giving money to Sanchez or hundreds of other GoFundMe campaigns. Deep satisfaction often flows from helping individuals in need, and a sense of pride can come from doing good deeds. There’s nothing wrong with receiving such intangible returns on investment. As Proverbs 11:17 reminds, “Kindness is its own reward . . .”

Being moved by compassion and finding creative ways to help others in need are distinctively human behaviors that people have practiced for millennia. Through its interactive website, GoFundMe has brought these acts into the digital age, enabling aid to transcend geographical boundaries and established networks. By marketing empathy, GoFundMe offers an excellent example of “Mindful Marketing.”

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Divided Over Shopping

11/18/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Before and since the election, our nation has gone through trying times. Thanksgiving should cause people to put aside political differences and seek common ground, but even the upcoming holiday has elicited polarized opinions: whether or not to shop on Thanksgiving Day.

The open-or-closed Thanksgiving Day decision continues to be a hot-button issue in retail. While some consumers appreciate companies that allow them to get an early start on their holiday shopping, others, bemoan store hour creep, which invades special times that should be shared at home with family and friends, not with strangers in department stores.

As might be expected, there are retailers supporting both sides of the consumer debate. Some of the stores that will be open for business this Thanksgiving are: JCPenney, Best Buy, Walmart, Walgreens, Bass Pro Shops, Sears, Dollar General, Macy’s, Toys R Us, Target, Kohl’s, Kmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Fossil. The hours these store will keep varies. For instance, Bass Pro Shops will be open from 8 am to 6 pm, but Best Buy won’t open until 5 pm and will stay open until 1 am Friday morning.

Meanwhile, there’s a growing list of retailers that have decided to remain closed on Thanksgiving Day, which the New York Times suggests is the most recent trend. Among those taking Thanksgiving off this time are Nordstrom, Lowes, Staples, Sam’s Club, Game Stop, Costco, Home Depot, Marshalls, Barnes & Noble, Home Goods, Ikea, Patagonia, PetSmart, Publix, HH Gregg, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Cabela’s. Even the Mall of America will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

So, who’s right about Thanksgiving Day shopping? With ‘A-List’ retailers supporting both sides of the debate, it appears that compelling arguments can be made for each case.

For instance, those in favor of being open on Thanksgiving can argue that retailers are in business to meet consumers’ needs. So, if people want to shop on the holiday, it’s fitting for companies to help satisfy that desire. Businesses also need to make money in order to remain viable, which an extra day of sales should help, especially at the height of the holiday shopping season.

On the other hand, perhaps the retailers that are open on Thanksgiving need to work smarter not longer. The companies closed for Thanksgiving are making a go of it, maybe by more effective promotion or more efficient operations. Furthermore, there are examples like Chick-fil-A, which is closed not just one day a year, but one day each week. Taking off every Sunday hasn’t seemed to hurt the restaurant; in fact, it probably has contributed to its success. When it comes to the bottom-line, maybe less is more.

Still, one shouldn’t evaluate Thanksgiving Day shopping only through an economic lens. There’s also the relational impact. Sure, shopping can be a social activity, but what’s the likelihood of shopping strengthening relationships versus a variety of other things people can be doing with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day? Often when families go together to stores they scatter, each to his/her area of interest. Ultimately products take priority over people.

The preceding argument also fails to consider another very important group of people—employees. I was talking recently about the holiday shopping season with one of my marketing classes, when a student spoke up to say that a friend of his resented being forced by his employer, a large and well-known retail store, to work on Thanksgiving Day. The young man wanted to spend that special time with his family, but he couldn’t, short of quitting his job.

One can only imagine how many times similar scenarios play out in households across America. Such situations tear at the fabric of families. Here’s where the economic and social rationales for staying closed reconvene. If the retailers that stay open on Thanksgiving are actually doing a disservice to consumers and jeopardizing their employees’ well-being, they’re also not doing any long-term favors for their bottom-lines.

Two years ago, I wrote a brief blog titled “A Time for Shopping” about stores being open on Thanksgiving Day, and I argued it was “Mindful” for retailers to remain closed. Last year, however, I shared the story of George’s Senate & Coney Island Restaurant, which is not only open on Thanksgiving, it also offers a free meal to anyone who is alone. So, which Mindful Matters blog was right? I’d like to think they both were, for the following reasons.

Some people simply have to work on Thanksgiving Day and other holidays, for example, police officers, nurses, and firefighters. Our lives are too dependent on their services to risk being without them for even one day. Some other occupations are not as critical, but are still very important, especially on and around holidays, for instance, hotel and restaurant workers. Not everyone can be at home and cook for themselves, so these individuals give up some of their holiday so many others can enjoy theirs. George’s Restaurant represents this second category.

One can argue, therefore, that the work of people in pubic safety and the hospitality industry is critical, or at least very important, on holidays. No one’s life or well-being is on the line, however, if Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Fossil fail to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day. However, their employees, like the young man mentioned above, realize that they are sacrificing their holiday for less-than-compelling reasons, which doesn’t bode well for these retailers in the long-run.

As more retail moves on-line, the effect of Thanksgiving Day shopping on employees should decrease, but it won’t go away. What’s more, there will continue to be the impact that holiday commercialization has on consumers wherever they are, particularly as digital connectedness grows and retailers reach them even more frequently through those virtual avenues. Taking a break from buying and selling once in a while, especially on a holiday like Thanksgiving is a good thing. Being grateful for what we already have and putting people ahead of products is always “Mindful Marketing.”

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Harvard Suspends Men's Soccer

11/11/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

“Quitters never win.” “The show must go on.” “Never say die.” These and dozens of similar quotes remind us that it’s important to not give up but rather to persevere despite difficulties and to work to overcome obstacles. We’re familiar with these principles from the lives of Einstein, Edison, Curie, Churchill, Parks, and others who exemplified endurance. Why, then, has America’s most iconic educational institution cancelled one of its major men’s sports?

The Harvard Crimson revealed that the University’s men’s soccer team had taken “locker room talk” to a whole new level. After reviewing pictures of incoming athletes for the school’s women’s soccer program, members of the men’s team rated their female counterparts “on a sexual appeal scale of 1 to 10, including explicit descriptions of their physical traits and musings about the women’s preferred sexual positions.”

What made matters even worse was that an investigation by Harvard’s general counsel confirmed that the lewd evaluations were not just a one-time, insidious lapse in judgment. Rather, the sexually-charged assessments had been happening since 2012 and evolved into what some have called an annual “scouting report,” published in a Google document and made publicly searchable.

In response to these revelations, Harvard has issued itself a ‘red card.’ The University has cancelled midstream the remainder of the men’s soccer schedule. At this point in the season the cancellation means the forfeiture of just two regular season games; however, the self-assessed penalty is more painful given that the team seemed poised to win the Ivy League conference and gain entry into the N.C.A.A. tournament.

Some may wonder whether Harvard has come down too hard on these hormone-driven young men: ‘Boys will be boys,’ so shouldn’t they be given some grace, not penalized for adolescent acts? Yes, many young men are obsessed with the opposite sex, but even that personal preoccupation is different than developing and publishing a comprehensive rating system, particularly one based entirely on physical appearance and perverted sexual appeal. The only things worse would be to involve multiple team members in the process, to target a particular group of women, and to repeat the irreverence year after year, which is what the Harvard men’s soccer players did.

Phyllis Thompson, lecturer in women, gender, and sexuality studies at Harvard wrote a poignant piece about the scandal, which appeared in The New Yorker. In the article, Thompson detailed the events leading to the soccer season’s cancellation, but more importantly she provided critical context for understanding the significant negative impact such vulgar sexism has on women at Harvard and elsewhere.

For instance, Thompson cited a 2015 survey by the Association of American Universities, which found that “29.2 percent of female Harvard seniors reported that they had experienced nonconsensual penetration or sexual touching since arriving at college.” Also, in the same survey “72.7 percent of all undergraduates reported that they had been sexually harassed.” According to Thompson, these Harvard statistics were typical of those of other schools that participated in the survey. Nationally, “One in 5 women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.”

These and similar sobering statistics about sexual violence on college campuses suggest that the sexual environments of many universities are already volatile. The last thing any school should want, therefore, is activity that perpetuates objectification and encourages unhealthy sexual interaction. The actions of the Harvard men’s soccer players did both of those things. The University was wise, therefore, to take drastic action against the very callous conduct.

However, how does a topic like this one fit within the focus of this Mindful Matters blog? What does the lewd behavior and Harvard’s response have to do with marketing? The key connection is Harvard’s brand.

To test this premise, what words and phrases come to mind when you think of Harvard? A few possibilities might be intelligence, prestige, high quality, and rigor. Harvard also likely hopes that people associate it with integrity, fairness, and respect. The iconic Harvard shield contains the Latin motto “VERITAS,” meaning “verity,” or “truth,” which in a broad sense encompasses all of these virtues.

Members of the Harvard men’s soccer team publicly compromised this esteemed identity and these lauded values. Consequently, the University had to issue a strong countervailing message that what those individuals did does not represent Harvard. In doing so, Harvard was protecting not just the reputation of a 375-year+ undergraduate school, but of every entity that shares the family brand, e.g., Harvard Business Review, Harvard Law, Harvard Medical School, etc.

Cancelling a major collegiate sport mid-season is something that many would not readily consider marketing, let alone a wise strategic move. Harvard, however, had very good reasons for suspending its men’s soccer program, mainly to support and protect its female students, but also to shield its venerated brand. Yes, the school will experience some short-term loss, but in the long run the University will increase stakeholder value even as it upholds important societal values. In the end, Harvard earns an ‘A’ for “Mindful Marketing.”

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Exercise for Everyone

11/4/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Our world favors people who can function fully physically and mentally. Buildings cater to occupants with complete capabilities, and businesses tend to target similar consumer segments. Regrettably, these approaches exclude many people with special needs. Fortunately, though, some firms not only accommodate this later group, they create business models specifically to serve them.

Like other areas, Central Pennsylvania has dozens of different gyms and fitness centers for people wanting to workout. Some are for serious weightlifters, while others are for more casual exercisers. Virtually all of these firms assume that their members have no special needs, with one notable exception: Fitness 4 Focus.

The mission of Fitness 4 Focus is “to promote a healthier and happier lifestyle through physical activity for individuals with special needs.” That means people can go to Fitness 4 Focus and receive individualized instruction from coaches who are specially equipped to design workout sessions for persons with physical and mental disabilities. The coaches confer with their clients and their parents to set goals and develop personalized fitness plans to improve cognitive ability, hand-eye coordination, and strength.

One Fitness 4 Focus client is a young man named Alexander who has several intellectual disabilities, in addition to being blind, autistic, and epileptic. While most of us can find many less-than-compelling reasons to avoid a workout (e.g., “I’m feeling tired.”), Alexander eagerly does his, despite his multiple disabilities, largely because Fitness 4 Focus has uniquely equipped him to succeed. Alexander’s story is typical of many other Fitness 4 Focus clients, as testimonials like the following from the firm’s website support:

"Fitness 4 Focus is an amazing resource for families in the autism community of Central PA! My daughter is too sensory sensitive for organized sports and even Special Olympics was too stimulating. Chris Russell and his team know autism, have the kindness and patience to keep encouraging my daughter even on her bad days at F4F!” – Jen K

“Since starting F4F one year ago Chase has improved his agility, endurance, strength and most importantly his confidence. He looks forward to seeing Coach Chris every week and for the first time ever he doesn’t ‘fight’ therapy! – Sarah R

"I cannot recommend Fitness 4 Focus enough. This is one thing Caden looks forward to going to every week and yet I could never get him to exercise with me before. He loves working on his muscles and I love the improved confidence and independence I see in him. We use Fitness 4 Focus in place of physical therapy as it is refreshing to be out of a clinical setting and much more motivating to Caden." – Jessica C

"At Fitness 4 Focus, they work with Bryan and he has gained confidence and flexibility plus strength, and is both healthier and happier now that he has a place to go to work out the only way possible for him, given his multiple special needs and behaviors.... There is no other place to go for this kind of attention to such a vast array of needs.” – Patty D

Given my limited experience working with people with special needs, I wanted to talk with someone who could offer a more expert evaluation of Fitness 4 Focus, so I contacted my friend Dannie who has an adult child with Down syndrome. I shared with Dannie an article on PennLive.com that provides a brief overview of the business. After learning a little about Fitness 4 Focus, Dannie offered the following input:

“It's a great idea and I applaud the owners for doing this. While it's great to be integrated [like the typical gym], people with special needs do have ‘special needs.’ Their bodies are built differently than yours and mine and develop in different ways.”

Notwithstanding his enthusiastic endorsement, Dannie did also caution that when working with individuals with special needs, you must “deal with the whole person; not just their physical development.” He went on to explain, “I think the #1 ‘need’ is psychological and I would be greatly concerned that the personal trainers be supplemented with specialists who can deal with the behavior ‘needs’ of the clients and not just the physical.”

Dannie’s point about working with the whole person is sound advice, in a special needs context or any other circumstance. There’s no clear indication on the Fitness 4 Focus website that it employs separate behavioral specialists; however; the parent testimonials shared above do support that the firm’s clients are developing in more than just physical ways. For instance, three of the four parents mention improved confidence, one says that her son is happier, and another described increased independence. These are encouraging outcomes that do suggest that the Fitness 4 Focus staff functions on more than just a physical level.

So, people with special needs can benefit from a specialized gym, but does such a business really have long-term potential, or is it a forever niche market for kind-hearted do-gooders? According to a 2010 U.S. Census Bureau study, 19% of the population, or nearly one in five people, has a disability, and half of those people say their disability is “severe.” Furthermore, TheInclusiveChurch.com reports that 2% of children have autism, 8% have a learning disability, and 14% have a developmental disability.

So, although the special needs population is diverse, it’s much bigger than a niche market, even if only a portion of its members want a specialized gym experience. Fitness 4 Focus has seen this potential and grown its operations from one location to three in only a few years, and that’s just the beginning, according to Founder and CEO Chris Russell. He would “love to see one of these on a corner in every town” in order to “strengthen people and make them healthier.”

Despite their large numbers, people with special needs sadly are often an underappreciated and overlooked market. Consequently, finding viable business solutions to serve them both creates stakeholder value and supports societal values, such as fairness and respect. Fitness 4 Focus is at the forefront of this movement and an excellent example of “Mindful Marketing.”

Subscribe to Mindful Matters blog.
Learn more about the Mindful Matrix and Mindful Meter.
Check out Mindful Marketing Ads and Vote your Mind!

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Marketing Empathy

Divided Over Shopping

Harvard Suspends Men's Soccer

Exercise for Everyone

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