In his latest for B&T, DDB Australia’s managing director, strategy and growth, Leif Stromnes, takes a look at why being vulnerable exudes a sense of power. And whether it works to sell more things.
In 2010, social researcher Dr. Brené Brown delivered one of the most watched TED Talks of all time, ‘The Power of Vulnerability’. She used data from 10 years of interviews, focus groups and consumer diaries to demonstrate that perfectionism, which in the talk she defines as the desire to earn approval by an outward portrayal of perfection, has led to the most “in-debt, obese, addicted and medicated adult cohort in American history.”
Her most telling and perhaps ironic conclusion is that, despite our personal striving for perfection in ourselves, humans have a deep, instinctive mistrust of perfection in others. The central thesis of her TED Talk is that humans connect most deeply with those who display weakness, or vulnerability, as she labels it.
Vulnerability is emotionally powerful because by showing weakness to others, we are signalling that we are authentic, courageous and truthful. As a result, people are more likely to trust us.
It’s true that trust can be earned in other ways too, for example by honouring your word, by following through on your commitments and by consistently being mindful of the law of reciprocity. But these actions only get you so far. According to Brown, to build a level of trust that is unshakable and deep, we have to show vulnerability.
This science is seemingly well established in human behaviour, but can the same principles be applied to corporations and brands?
In 1949, the advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) had the unenviable task of introducing a small, German-manufactured car to post-Second World War America, where previously only large, locally manufactured cars had thrived.
To make the task even more difficult, the car, which would become known as the Beetle, or Bug for short, was not only small, but considered to be laugh-out-loud ugly too.
The strengths of the Beetle lay in its relatively low cost, fuel efficiency and durability, and it would have made rational sense to tout these features. Instead, DDB chose to draw attention to its glaring weaknesses—its size and looks, or rather, lack thereof.
The headline and body copy continually reinforced this seemingly fatal flaw:
“It may not be much to look at,” “beneath that humble exterior,” “those plain, unglamorous wheels,” and “when you buy a VW, the ugliness doesn’t add a thing to the cost of the car,” but the results were phenomenal.
The Beetle went from a laughing-stock to an extremely popular brand in America, and the campaign is considered to be among the greatest advertising ever created, even featuring in the hit HBO show Mad Men.
Much like vulnerability signalling to others that we are authentic, courageous and truthful, by showing weakness VW was signalling to its buyers that it was an honest, trustworthy and different kind of a car.
There are many more examples of this strategy leading to incredible and profitable outcomes.
‘Avis is only No.2 in rent a cars’ and L’Oréal’s ‘We’re more expensive but you’re worth it’ come to mind.
The strategy of displaying vulnerability to build trust and connection also works during a crisis.
In February 2007, Jet Blue Airways, the New York-based low-cost airline, frustrated thousands of passengers because of its lack of preparation and poor decision-making in the face of severe winter weather in the Northeastern United States. Almost without exception, all other airlines in that region had cancelled massive numbers of flights in anticipation of the storm.
They then returned to normal service within a couple of days. In contrast, JetBlue gave hope to many of its passengers that their planes would fly, yet they remained out of service for many days. After stranding thousands of passengers in airports and on runways in this operational nightmare, JetBlue had a difficult public relations decision to make. Who or what to blame? Should they focus the blame on external factors like the extreme weather, or should they focus the blame on internal factors relevant to the company’s operations? They chose the latter, acknowledging that JetBlue’s failures during the meltdown were caused by internal rather than external problems.
It takes bravery and a sense of humility to admit one’s mistakes, which is perhaps why it is so rare to see organisations and the people within them take the blame for a misstep or misjudgement.
Research by Social Scientist Fiona Lee and her colleagues suggests that JetBlue made the right decision in attributing failure to internal rather than external factors. In their research, they collected these sorts of statements from the annual reports of 14 companies over 21 years. They discovered that when these organisations explained failure in their annual reports, those that pointed to internal and controllable factors had higher stock prices one year later than those that apportioned blame to external and uncontrollable factors. They were ahead, not only in public perception, but also in terms of the profit line.
As ever, when we admit vulnerability or weakness, there are subtle nuances that apply to both human-to-human and corporate-to-human behaviour.
In her TED Talk, Dr Brown suggests the strategy of displaying vulnerability works best when the other person is open to our vulnerability, understands its power and is prepared to let down their guard too.
For brands and corporations, vulnerability works best if the weaknesses are relatively minor and have the ability to be turned into a strength.
For Avis, being number two meant they had to try harder, and this simple resolution was the critical component that made their perceived weakness so emotionally powerful.
Arguing against yourself puts you in a position to be more persuasive when promoting your company’s genuine strengths, and by proactively confessing our little faults, we might also be subtly convincing people that we have no big ones.
Choosing which company faults to confess is also important.
For the best and most persuasive outcomes, there must be a clear connection between the negative and positive attributes conveyed, for example, “our restaurant is very small but it has a cosy atmosphere” might be an effective strategy for growth.
For brands and businesses, showing vulnerability can be very profitable, but for profits to be realised, every dark cloud must have a silver lining.
