Redskins owner, Dan Snyder is probably the most hated man in Washington, DC these days. But Washington Post columnist Bob McCartney in his column yesterday pointed out that Dan has a charitable side.
It is a fact that many of his readers didn’t want to hear and many chastised the columnist for saying anything nice about Dan. But to me that really wasn’t the point. The column was really asking folks to look beyond the image and frame they have of Dan and see something else. There’s a saying that there are three sides to every story–yours, mine and the truth. Framing messages and getting people to understand an issue or a person beyond what they already have in their mind is perhaps the hardest communications challenge we face.
Seeing the grays just isn’t as fun or interesting as seeing in black and white. But understanding the nuances and complexities of people and issues is critically important. It can be done and it requires a few things.
1) A Clear Message – Not only saying what you stand for but also acting on it.
2) Consistency – what the political handlers call “message discipline.” Saying what you believe over and over again.
3) Persistence. You can’t change minds overnight. You have to keep at it sometimes years. Look at airbags. They were talked about for years until the public changed its frame of mind about cars and driving.
I’d be interested in hearing about campaigns or efforts that successfully reframed an issue or changed the way people viewed a person, company or organization.
