Comments on: Eyeballs vs. hearts-and-minds marketing

By: Peter Korchnak

Peter Korchnak — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:36:28 +0000

@Pamela: Anyone who knows me would never use the words touchy-feely to describe me, and I’m unlikely to promote doing business that way either. When I first met my American mother-in-law-to-be, I extended my arm for a handshake. She swatted my hand gently away and hugged me. I was terrified. So I certainly hear you on the challenges of cultural differences and crossover of ideas between realms.

There’s always a difference between what you say and what others will hear; I aim with my writing to make that difference as small as possible. I guess I should stop referring to 1980s Swedish pop band production (Roxette, “Listen to Your Heart”)…

By: Pamela Miles

Pamela Miles — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:10:16 +0000

Peter,

Your analogies are right on. Although the concepts are solid, some people might be put off my the term “heart and mind – listening to your heart” regarding business because they think it’s too touchy-feely – which is a shame. I experienced this with the promotional and marketing work I did for Jack Mitchell’s bestselling book HUG YOUR CUSTOMERS (www.hugyourcustomers.com), especially in Great Britain and where the publisher explained the readers may be best described as “hugging with your hands by your sides”!

Somehow if they can get beyond the words they will find a valuable concept to consider.

Looking forward to reading more of your blog, which by the way I came upon via 3BLmedia.com CSRfeedupdate!

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Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:57:40 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Justin Kownacki, Santi Chacon. Santi Chacon said: Eyeballs vs. hearts-and-minds marketing: When prompted to define sustainable marketing, I often use the contras.. http://bit.ly/4xkqTs [...]

By: Peter Korchnak

Peter Korchnak — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:49:57 +0000

@Andrea: I think your contrast between masculine and feminine business approaches works well without it having to be strictly about gender. But you’re right, people can be too sensitive about this kind of stuff. I look forward to reading your posts on the topic.

By: Andrea Learned

Andrea Learned — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:30:34 +0000

Peter – I love your analogies. I’ve been studying something similar, based on my gender expertise. What conventional/biz as usual has long been taking is a linear/eyeballs/left-brain (or typically more “masculine”) approach. What sustainability is, in its relationships and interconnections is much more like the hearts & mind.right-brain guided approach (typically considered more “feminine”). What I am working on now is how to make this point WITHOUT making it about gender (can’t get into telling corporations they need to be less masculine… sheesh!) – it’s a particular set of sensibilities that those who get/engage with sustainability tend to be better able to tap (see – Ray Anderson, for one), and that can likely be developed in a lot more people/business decision-makers. Business has long been tied to power/masculinity.. but now it needs to be tied to power/right-brain-guidedness. THANKS for writing this piece and starting the discussion.