As a marketing and branding professional in the fleet industry for many years, I’ve had the opportunity to explain how to build a downstream marketing strategy that wins the support of drivers and field fleet administrators. Fleet managers know that these are potential “advocates” whose behavior can help or hinder achievement of operational goals.
The most-often asked follow-up question I get is “HOW does one effectively communicate with drivers who have much more on their minds than adhering to fleet policy as they go about their business day.” Once again, I like to apply marketing-based solutions to the problem of “cutting through the clutter.”
Here are my 10 tips for delivering a message and making it stick:
Tip #1: Exploit emotions.
Advertisers do it all the time: people share similar emotional needs: to feel attractive, to feel fit and healthy, to be liked, to feel secure, to save embarrassment, to avoid feeling guilty. Facts certainly matter in advertising, but they matter because they can generate and reinforce emotion.
In the case of drivers, you might be selling the need to change dangerous behaviors—for example, when you want people to buckle their seat belts, pay attention while driving, or not drive impaired—some emotional buttons become more prominent than others. In these cases, the needs to feel healthy and safe, and to avoid guilt or embarrassment, to demonstrate loyalty to an employer…these are obvious emotional targets.
READ MORE