#and therefore those industries exist to maintain that belief because that belief is what drives their purpose and their profits

[soracities]

Hi! So I tried not to say anything about some anti makeup posts I saw on your blog but I need to say this. I think you're very wise and I agree it's very important for us to love ourselves as we are. But some people like myself doesn't care about 'empowering' of makeup or whatever but we just have fun with it and we just love it. I say we because I know there is a lot of people like me. Yeah, we are feeding capitalism or whatever, but world is beautiful and it's also terrible so people trying make themselves feel good, have fun, ect. I see a lot of people who don't wear makeup and i'm happy for them! I didn't wear makeup until i turned 20 i think and felt good.

One thing I wanted to add is in response of post about feminine girls. I think everything needs balance and sometimes people tend to overreact in their opinion and divide everything in black and white. Personally I never cared how women around me looked and what they were wearing. But I would like to have same treatment, and not to feel silly for wearing pink or feminine clothes.

Sorry, I don't know English very well so maybe I can't translate my idea entirely. What I'm trying to say i think everyone should do what they like and leave each other in peace.

Sorry for this essay, just wanted to share my point of view.

Hi, anon! I'm sorry for the delay in getting to this, but I appreciate you writing this (and your English was fine, don't worry)

I think the main argument of those posts (and my own feelings about this) is not about makeup on its own, or even judgement about who does and doesn't choose to wear it--what they are criticizing is a particular part of the society we live in which puts a huge emphasis on women's beauty and appearance in order to fulfill an idea of what a woman "should" be, and the role that makeup plays in that as a result. Because whether we like it or not, whether we believe in them or not, whether we feel pressured by them or not, these expectations do exist. How we personally respond to them does not change that.

I personally don't have an issue with makeup or the concept of it (in almost every culture on earth, humans have been using makeup of some kind for literally thousands of years)--but what I do have a problem with is when we treat makeup, or other traditionally "feminine" forms of expression as neutral things when they are not. A comb or a hair tie is neutral--it's just a thing. Lipstick and eyeliner are also just things, but only when they exist by themselves--and in reality they don't exist by themselves: they exist in a world where we value women on their physical appearance before we value them for anything else--lipstick and eyeliner exist to emphasise parts of your appearance, to make you look a certain way--and in a society where we put so much importance on women looking a certain way, they aren't just ordinary things you toy around with for fun. You can have fun with them, but it doesn't change their role. They can't be treated as exceptions from the world they are used in.

I think sometimes people assume that being anti-makeup is the same as being anti-women-who-wear-makeup, which misses the point (and also suggests a very dangerous idea which I think, sometimes, is why people respond so angrily to these criticisms: because if we believe that being anti-makeup = being anti-women, then therefore makeup = womanhood, and this is simply not true). Whether you wear these things just for fun and to enjoy yourself isn't what is being talked about because these criticisms are not about you on a personal level: they are about looking at a society that is as image-obsessed as ours, and asking why makeup has the role that it has when 1) it is almost exclusively aimed at women--women who, as a group, have been historically marginalised, and whose value, historically, has almost always been measured in terms of their beauty before anything else and 2) the makeup that is emphasized, the trends and styles that come and go, are often not so much about self-expression (if they were, people would be freely wearing all sorts of wild colours and styles: when we talk about "makeup culture" it's not the same kind of makeup used in the goth, punk, or alt scenes for example where makeup plays a very different role) but almost always about achieving or aspiring towards a type of beauty that is valued or expected: to make you look younger, to make your eyes brighter or larger, to make your lips bigger or sexier, your cheekbones more prominent etc--again, on their own, these things may not be a big deal, but they exist in a world where having these looks means you are valued in a certain way as a woman. And when this exists in our kind of world, where the power dynamics we have automatically mean women's perceived power is through beauty, and where we insist so much on women being a particular kind of beautiful (and this starts in childhood) we have to ask and investigate WHY that is--why this type of beauty and not another? why (almost only) women? who benefits from this? who suffers as a result?

The argument of "not all women" wear makeup for empowerment misses the point of these criticism, because it is focusing on a person's individual choices in a way that suggests our choices can define the world we live in, and they can't. We are deeply social animals. Therefore, how we appear to each other and to ourselves is a socially influenced phenomenon. This applies for race, for sexuality, and for gender. How women are perceived at large, in different social structures, is a social phenomenon influenced by the societies we exist in and the values of those societies. These criticisms are about the society we make those choices in and how that can affect us. For you, makeup may be something fun and enjoyable and that's fine. I'm not saying that's untrue or that people don't feel this way or that you are wrong for feeling this way. It's also not saying that you are brain-washed or oppressing yourself for it. But it doesn't change the world we live in. Someone feeling perfectly happy to go out with makeup or without makeup, and feeling no pressure to do either, is great--but it doesn't mean there aren't a lot of women who do feel pressured into wearing it, and that pressure is a social one. It doesn't change the inequality that exists between how women's physical appearances are judged compared to men's. It doesn't change the fact that almost every childhood story most kids hear (that aren't about animals) have a "beautiful princess" (and very little else is said about her except that she is beautiful) and a "brave" knight/prince/king/whichever: the princess (or maiden or whatever young woman) is defined by how she looks; the male in the story by how he acts.

It also doesn't change the fact that so many young girls grow up hearing the women around them criticize various parts of their bodies and that they carry this into their lives. It doesn't change the fact that we expect (in Western countries at least) for women to have criticisms about their appearance and they are "stuck-up" or "full of themselves" if they don't. It doesn't change the fact that magazines photos, red carpet photos, films, tv shows etc., feature actresses who are beautiful in a way that is absolutely above and beyond exceptional (and who either have had work done cosmetically, or are wealthy enough to be able to afford to look the way they do through top-class makeup artists, personal trainers etc) but who we think are within the "normal" range of beauty because faces like theirs are all that we see--how many famous actors / entertainers can you name who look like they could be someone's random uncle, or "just some guy" (writing this, I can think of 5). Now how many actresses, equally famous, can you think of that are the same? Very, very, very few.

The point of those posts, and why I feel so strongly about this, is that we have a deeply skewed view of beauty when it comes to women, because, as a society, we place so much on how they look in such a way that it is not, and was never meant to be, achievable: therefore anything that contributes to how women look, that markets itself in the way that the makeup industry does in this day and age, needs to be questioned and looked at in relation to that. No one is saying don't wear eyeliner or blush--what they are trying to say is that we need to be aware of the kind of world eyeliner and blush exists in, what their particular functions as eyeliner and blush do in the world that they exist in, that we exist in, and how this does impact the view we have on makeup as a result. Your personal enjoyment may be true to you and others, but this doesn't change the role of female beauty in the world because, again, our personal choices don't define the world in this way. Often, it's the other way around. And we cannot deny this fact because, while it may not affect you negatively, it does affect others.

I absolutely agree with you because I don't care how other women around me choose to dress or express themselves, either--that's their freedom to wear what they want and enjoy themselves and I want them to have that freedom. But my view is not the world's view, and it's certainly not the view of a lot of other people, either. I don't care if another woman loves pink and wearing skirts and dresses--but, like makeup, pink, skirts, and dresses, are not neutral things either. They're tied to a particular image of 'femininity' which means they are tied to a particular way of "being a woman" in this world. I'm not saying, at all, that it's wrong to wear these things. But I'm saying we can't treat them as though these are choices as simple as choosing what kind of socks to wear, because they aren't. They are choices that have baggage. If a woman is seen as being silly, childish, or treated unequally because she enjoys cute tops and ribbons and sundresses, that's not because we are demonizing her choices, or because being anti-makeup is being anti-woman (again, it is absolutely not): it's because we as a society demonize women for any choice. That isn't because of anti-makeup stances--that's because of sexism.

You mentioned that you want to be treated the same as anyone else for wearing feminine clothes--but the fear that you wouldn't be isn't because of the discussions critiquing makeup and other traditionally "feminine" things--it's because we live in a society where women are constantly defined by how they appear on the outside, and no amount of our personal choices will make this untrue. Whether you are a girly-girl or a tomboy, you'll always be judged. And, in reality, when women follow certain beauty standards they do get treated better--but this doesn't mean much in a society where the standards are so high you can never reach them, and where the basic regard for women is so low to begin with (not to mention the hypocrisy that exists within those standards). This is what all those criticisms towards makeup and "empowerment" are about: it's about interrogating a society that is built on this kind of logic and asking why we should insist on leaving it as it is when it does so much damage. It's saying that that if we want everyone to truly feel free in how they choose to present themselves we have to go deeper than just defining freedom by these choices on their own, and look at the environment those choices are made in. And that involves some deeply uncomfortable but necessary conversations.

Also, and I think this important to remember, views on makeup and the social place of makeup will also depend on culture and where you are, and the beauty expectations you grew up with. And when it comes to the internet, and given American dominance online, a lot of these posts criticizing makeup and the way makeup is being used to sell an idea that wearing it is "empowering" to the woman (which is basically saying: you are MORE of a woman when you wear it; you are stronger and more powerful because, in our society, beauty is portrayed as a form of power: it tells you, you can battle the inequality women face by embracing the role beauty plays in our lives but it doesn't tell you this emphasis on beauty is part of that inequality), are based on the way makeup is portrayed in mostly English-speaking Western countries. My views are shaped by what I grew up seeing, and while a full face of makeup (concealer, primer, foundation, mascara, highlighter, contour, blush, brow tint, brow gel etc) may not be daily practice or even embraced in a place like France or maybe other places in mainland Europe (but that doesn't mean they don't have their own expectations of feminine beauty), they are daily practice in places like the US and Britain, and this is what most of those posts and criticisms are responding to.

We can argue as much as we want about makeup, but when you grow up in a society where women feel the need to put on makeup before going to the gym there is something seriously wrong. Embracing makeup and enjoying makeup is one thing, but it cannot be a neutral thing when so much of it is about looking like you're not wearing makeup at all, or when we assume a woman is better qualified for a job or more professional when she wears it. It cannot be a neutral thing when a singer like Alicia Keys goes makeup-free for a red carpet event and it causes a stir online because people think she looks sick (what she looks like is normal--I would argue above normal--but wearing makeup to cover up "flaws" is so normal now that we genuinely don't know what normal skin is supposed to look like because the beauty of these celebrities is part of their appeal: they are something to aspire to). It is absolutely very normal for me, where I am, to see young girls with fake lashes and filled in brows: it's not every girl I pass, but it is enough. I'm not saying they are miserable, or brain-washed, or should be judged. I can believe that for them it's something enjoyable--but how am I supposed to see something like that and not be aware of the kind of celebrities and makeup tutorials that are everywhere on TikTok and YouTube, and that they are seeing everyday? How am I not supposed to have doubts when people tell me "it's their choice!" when the choices being offered are so limited and focused on one thing?

I never wore makeup as a teenager and I still don't, but a lot of that is because I grew up surrounded by people who just didn't. Makeup was never portrayed as anything bad or forbidden (and I don't see it like that either)--it was just this thing that, for me growing up, was never made to be a necessity not even for special occasions. I saw airbrushed photos and magazines all around me, for sure, and I definitely felt the beauty pressure and the body pressure (for example, I definitely felt my confidence would be better if I wore concealer to deal with my uneven skintone, and I felt this for years). But I also know that, growing up, I saw both sides. No makeup was the default I saw at home, while makeup was the default I saw outside. And that does play a part, not just in the choices you make, but in the choices that you feel you are allowed to make. No makeup was an option for me because it was what I saw everyday, even with my own insecurities; but if you do not see that as an option around you (and I know for most girls my age, where I grew up, it probably wasn't) then how can we fully argue that the decision you make is a real choice?

If I wanted to wear a cute skirt outside, for example, and decided to shave my legs--that isn't a real choice. And it cannot ever be a real choice, no matter how much I say "this is for me" or "I prefer it like this" because going out in public with hairy legs and going out in public with shaved legs will cause two completely different reactions. How can I separate what I think is "my choice" from a choice I make because I want to avoid the negative looks and comments? And how can I argue that choosing to shave is a freely made choice when the alternative has such negativity? If you feel pressured into choosing one thing over another, that's not a choice. Does this make sense?

This is how I feel about makeup most of the time, and what I want more than anything else is for us to be able to have a conversation about why we make the choices we do beyond saying "it makes me feel good" and ending the conversation there. Again, I'm not saying people need to stop wearing makeup or stop finding enjoyment in wearing it, but I think we tend to get so focused on our own feelings about this and forget that there is a bigger picture and this picture is a deeply unequal one. That is what this conversation is about. I hope this explains some things, anon, and if I misinterpreted anything please feel free to message me again. x

[alarawriting]

Sleepless

I have strong opinions about Nancy Kress’ Beggars series. They are not positive opinions.

There was an experiment, to create children who would not need to sleep.

Some people think such an experiment would create supermen, geniuses who would, for some reason, be unaging. Logic says otherwise. Sleep performs a function.

If you were such a child who does not need to sleep, what would you be?

You do not sleep.

You do not dream, and lacking dreams, you lack superstition. You don’t believe things just because you’re told them or because there seems to be some correlation; you need cold hard evidence.

This does not make you a brilliant inventor or a hard-nosed business person. What it makes you is a victim of analysis paralysis. Without hard facts to back you up, you can’t guess what might be true.  When there’s a controversy and there’s evidence on both sides, you don’t know what to believe. You don’t accept things as true just because your parents say them, so you’re lucky to be alive after all the times you burned yourself on a hot stove or stuck a fork in an electric socket or jumped off a building because you wanted to confirm that what people had told you would happen actually would.

You’re good at debunking. You’re brilliant at finding bugs in code.  You can find the flaws in a scientific study, and your merciless lens turns on academic and corporate research alike. But you can’t make anything. You don’t believe in anything you can’t prove, so fiction falls flat for you – it’s unreal – and you’re not terribly empathic, because human emotions from other humans who aren’t you is a thing you can never empirically prove. You aren’t creative – you can’t come up with inventions, you can’t innovate a brilliant new coding algorithm or prove a mathematical theorem no one has ever done before. You’re just very, very good at finding the flaws in other people’s creative products.

The autistic community embraces you as one of their own, though technically you are not autistic; you are something else. Your parents, wealthy captains of industry, are disappointed; they expected you to use your extra time in a way they would appreciate. They didn’t expect someone rigid, unyielding, someone who would demand proof of everything and whose analyses could easily disprove all the lies they used to convince themselves they were good and deserving people. You end up becoming a socialist because all the evidence suggests that, of the many ways humans can organize the distribution of resources, it’s the one with the best track record of causing less misery than the alternatives. You mock people who confuse socialism and communism. You are not above trading on your parents’ names and money to have a public voice, and you’ve become famous for your ability to debunk bad science.

You will not revolutionize the world, but you have a third more time than other people and you were born with money (the experiment that created you was quite expensive). You contribute to the betterment of humanity, in your way.

After the first generation of your kind are created, there are no more; wealthy capitalist parents do not want socialist children who can only tear down flawed structures built by others and cannot build anything themselves.  Your own children, for those of you who have them, may or may not share your mutation.  Eventually your condition is classified as a disorder, after your parents’ wealth has mostly run out late into your lifetime and the world has forgotten they respected you once. Humanity goes back to ignoring you and listening to superstition and tribal beliefs… because the ability to derive a pattern from a very small amount of data is the root of both superstition and innovation, and innovation turns out to be too important to give up superstition.

You do not sleep. But sleep performs the important function of re-organizing the memories acquired during the day and correlating them with each other, prioritizing some and storing others away in cold storage or even deleting them. This function was too important to do without, so your brain was re-engineered to do it while you are awake.

This means you’re dreaming, in a way, all the time, while you’re wide awake. It makes you very creative, but very unfocused. Some of your cohort actively hallucinate, but you can all generally tell the difference between the dream-things you see or hear or feel and reality; it’s just that the dream-things are vivid enough to capture your attention, most of the time. It’s a good thing there are self-driving cars, because you probably are not safe to drive yourself.

You are not a hard-nosed business person. Some of your cohort do come up with brilliant ideas for business, and because you have rich parents, they are able to get those businesses started… but all of you are too unfocused, too distractible, too deep within your own creative minds to be good at following the bottom line. Most of the businesses either fail or get sold to other companies run by people who can actually do business, but don’t have great ideas. Most of you go into art of some kind. Writing, visual arts, comic books, music… a few do movie or film, but none of you are at your best in collaboration.

The ADHD community embraces you as one of their own, though technically you do not have ADHD; no human could maintain a tight focus when ghostly images and snippets of dream are constantly playing in their minds. Because your family is wealthy, you get a personal assistant who helps you with the paperwork parts of your artistic career, and you get a publicist when you’re still very young, and the fact that you don’t sleep means you make the news just by existing. So your artistic career is successful, and your work is well-known, but artists don’t generally get rich; you live off your parents’ money until you get sick of their snide condescension because the ability they paid millions of dollars to infuse you with has a downside that means you will never be what they wanted you to be. Then you downsize your life expectations by a lot and live modestly off your successful art career. It helps that you can be very prolific, because a third of your life has been given back to you for conscious activity.

Some of the children of your cohort inherit the ability. Some don’t. Parents tend to fawn on the grandchildren who are pure human, Sleepers rather then Sleepless, because they’re the ones who could possibly inherit business empires. That’s fine. You try your best to raise your children not to compete with one another on the basis of whether or not they sleep, but kids will be kids and not all of the siblings get along.

After the first generation of your kind are created, few others are made; most wealthy parents want a child who can be good in business rather than a child who can be a brilliant artist, but there are those who like the feather-in-cap of famous, respected children who will be known for their creativity, so a small trickle of kids like you are born every ten years or so. When it happens it generally makes the news. You reach out to those kids when they turn thirteen to offer them your knowledge and life experience. When you encounter parents who have tried to cut their children off from your community out of religious belief or misguided belief in their own ability to mold and shape children, you bring child abuse charges against them. You’re not good with the paperwork but you are good with influencing public opinion, and most of you still have assistants or interns who can handle the paper part.

You don’t regret what your parents gave you, even if they do. It’s a good life.

You do not sleep. Where other people have a third of their life where the energy hog that is consciousness is shut down, and therefore the body has more free energy to carry out tasks like growth and immune response, you don’t have that. Your consciousness is always on, always consuming 80% of the free energy your body has.

You’re thin. You can eat anything you want, but it burns off of you because your body needs so much energy. You are often tired. You can’t sleep to replenish your energy; you can rest, unmoving, but consciousness is still on even if you’re meditating or vegging out in front of the TV. When you get sick, you stay sick for a long time. You get sick a lot. It’s not enough to consider a chronic illness, but it drains you. It makes it hard for you to hold down jobs, because you don’t sleep but if you feel too miserable to go to work it’s just the same as if you slept through your alarm and never went in.

You have more time than chronically ill people; there are advantages to having 8 extra hours in a day. Most of you live off your parents’ money and do things like volunteering and activism when the work that needs doing are things like stuffing envelopes or reaching out to people on the phone, or you became independent contractors so you could make your own hours.

You take your vitamins, you eat healthy, you exercise when you have the strength for it. Maybe it helps a little bit; you can’t really tell, but it makes you feel like you’re doing something to improve your life.

Your parents sue the people who created you, because seriously, wasn’t “people who live an extra third of their day need more energy to survive” predictable? They lose, because they signed a lot of waivers. You didn’t sign any waivers, so some of you try suing, and win.

No more are created after your original cohort, largely due to the lawsuits; no one’s willing to make more of you. It’s just as well. You make the best of your life, but to be honest, you long to be able to sleep – to engage in a kind of rest where you aren’t bored, and your mind invents interesting stories to show you, and when you get up you actually feel rested and energetic? (People who sleep tell you that that second part doesn’t happen. You retort that that’s because they don’t sleep enough, and if you had the ability to sleep, you wouldn’t waste it by staying up late and waking up early!) You wish for that with all your heart, but you can’t have it, and you know it.

By the time you’re in your forties, the activism of you and your cohort has gotten your condition declared a disability, and many of you have been campaigning for disability rights for years, since you recognize the similarities with your situation when people suffer fatigue disorders or other vague and amorphous conditions that make them tired all the time. So when some of your children are born as Sleepless, you’ve changed the world to make it easier for them to maximize their own capabilities, and they get a little more done than you were able to do. And really, isn’t that what we all want for our children?

You do not sleep, and it’s perfect. You were re-engineered for a faster metabolism so that you can supply enough energy to your body and brain for the extra hours of consciousness. Your brain was re-engineered so that you don’t need to go offline and have fifteen minutes of dreaming every hour and a half for eight hours; you just need to enter an optional, meditation-like rest state for one or two hours every five days or so to get the same results. You are every bit as creative and every bit as capable of focus and have every bit as much energy as the average Sleeper, but you have eight more hours a day to do it in (except for every five days, when you only get six or seven more hours. Still a huge advantage.)

Your parents are wealthy – no one who didn’t have millions of dollars to spend on a designer child was able to make their child a Sleepless – so there are no barriers to your success. You get your education completed early because you had extra time; you developed friendships with children older than you, because those were the ones who were awake later in the evening; you learned how to make use of solitude, and all but the most introverted of you can spend most of the daylight hours interacting with people and still get a lot done at night. Whether you choose to be a scientist, an inventor, an artist, or an entrepreneur, you do well. Your parents’ wealth and your fame for being born as an exotic designer child amplifies your ability to do whatever you want.

With so much success and so much extra time and so much experience socializing, most of you find relationships and have kids before you’re 30. Some of your kids have the trait, some don’t. You try, as best as you can, not to favor the Sleepless children over the Sleepers, but it’s hard not to be frustrated at the lack of productivity your Sleeper children have.

It’s when your cohort is in its 30’s and 40’s that you learn what you really bequeathed your Sleepless children, and what your parents bequeathed to you.

A faster metabolism burns out a body faster. In your 30’s you look 30 but the aches and pains and development of chronic illnesses like diabetes are accelerating faster than they do for Sleepers of equal socioeconomic status. In your 40’s the decline accelerates; you look 50 at 45, 60 at 50, 70 at 55.

Members of your cohort start dying of old age in your 50’s. You realize you aren’t going to make it to 65, and that your Sleepless children, already in their 30’s, have much less time than you or they or anyone thought they did. In the end, you didn’t get more time than anyone else; you just got to take it all at once instead of spreading it out over time.

Many of your parents are still alive, the excellent health care that the wealthy can afford keeping them going at 80-something. You’re rapidly catching up with them, and the best medical care in the world can’t stop it. Some of you rant at your parents, or sue the company that made you, but you don’t. How could anyone have known? It didn’t happen to animals in testing, but rat lives are so short to begin with, perhaps it disappeared into data noise. You know your parents only wanted the best for you, just like you only wanted the best for your children. You reconcile with your Sleeper children, who are a trifle embittered at what they see as the favoritism you showed their Sleepless siblings, because you’re dying and they still love you even if you weren’t the best parent you could have been. Your parents apologize to you, and you forgive them. Your Sleepless children visit you constantly, knowing that you are their future, that what’s happening to you is what lies ahead for them.

You’re 62 when you die, after many surgical interventions and a decade of the best prescription drugs money could buy. The creation of more like you is made illegal a year later, but not before every parent rich enough to do it has had a Sleepless child for the past six decades.

While so many of the wealthy are dealing with the impact of Sleepless shortened lifespans and how very many of the wealthy are affected by it, society finally passes laws that redistribute income in a way where very likely, no one in the future will be able to afford a designer child for several million dollars anyway, even if it hadn’t been made illegal. Out of so many personal tragedies, the standard of living rises and the general health and happiness of the population improves. If you were still alive, you might have considered that a positive legacy.

[dreamcubeproductionsmelbourne]

Why Visual Storytelling is Your Way To Success

Visual storytelling is an essential part of any business wanting to reinforce its brand. But when some businesses are asked to tell their story, they have nothing to fall back on. Instead, they point the potential customer to a list of their products or services.

However, consumers want some degree of emotional connection with a brand before they decide to purchase – irrespective of how valuable the product may or may not be.

Starting with why the product or business exists then gives clues as to how the product may be sold.

Articulating the why can be difficult, but visual storytelling is a good place to start. Here are five reasons a story should be told visually.

1. Boosts Brand Awareness

If done correctly, telling the story of a brand or business is something that only needs to be done once. However, this does not mean that the story should be confined to the business’s about page.

Instead, it is a good idea to use visual storytelling to distribute the story across all social channels, related industry sites, and the wider internet. Businesses can use images, videos or data infographics depending on the industry and how they want to position themselves in that industry. At the very least, a visual story needs a hook to get readers interested and ultimately, talking about the brand.

2. Makes A Business Memorable

Once a customer is interested, it is important to maintain that interest. Visual storytelling should ideally lead a potential client through a piece of content (the story), building trust as they develop a rapport with the brand message.

Consumers tend to remember visual content over written content – but only if the story is told well. With that said, do not forget to define your target audience beforehand. This ensures your message speaks to the right people and doesn’t become very much unmemorable.

3. Creates An Emotional Connection

Humans are emotional creatures at heart. Humans also tell stories to strengthen families, cultures, and beliefs. Why is this? Because people connect with the emotions in storytelling. Therefore, a business must focus on building a relatable emotional connection with prospects to potentially turn them into customers.

Visual storytelling should touch on the emotions of utilising a particular product or service – at least at first. The benefits and features of the product or service can always be mentioned at a later point once the customer has made that emotional connection.

4. Influences Buying Decisions

Research by The Nielsen Company suggests that up to 90% of buying decisions are made subconsciously. In other words, buying decisions are mostly attributable to the emotions that consumers attach to buying products or services. Logic and rationality often disappear entirely!

But how can businesses drive purchase decisions in visual storytelling? There are a few ways.

The use of certain colours influence consumer mood and feelings and increases brand recognition. Price is another emotional driver of purchasing, but may be less important in brand storytelling initially. Messaging is also crucial. Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan says nothing about the quality of their products or indeed what they actually offer. However, it is a short and powerful message that builds confidence and enthusiasm around their brand.

5. Creates Engagement That Is Authentic

Every business wants to create authentic engagement with their brand, but not all know how to create it.

Authenticity in visual storytelling means striking a balance between providing value and selling. Social media is a great place to start, because 75% of consumers rely on authentic word-of-mouth advertising to make a buying decision. Of course, people will only start talking if your message is authentic, not overly promotional, and speaks directly to your target audience.

One fast-track method that brands can use is to partner with a social media influencer, since they have already established trust and credibility with their audience. Because of this, sales offers are seen as recommendations, akin to advice from an old friend and not from a faceless organisation.

Conclusion

Visual storytelling is a powerful marketing method that every business should incorporate to build brand awareness and make emotional connections with potential clients.

If done correctly, visual storytelling identifies the emotions a particular brand elicits and then uses those emotions to drive buying decisions. It also drives authenticity through word of mouth marketing, which is a valuable asset to the long term viability of any business.

Are you ready to start your VISUAL STORYTELLING journey?

Check out how we can help your Visual Storytelling process!

[captiousbitch-blog]

Social democracy as a viable alternative to neoliberalism

Neoliberal capitalism is so widely practiced - the ideology favoured by Australia, the United Kingdom and the US – and thus so ingrained into the Western media we are exposed to that it may be hard to imagine a viable alternative, despite the plethora of evidence that neoliberalism itself is unsustainable. The economic policies on which the structure is built are effective only in theory, and the consequences of this system seep into the social, environmental and political spheres – whether they are publicly attributed to the ideology or not. The consequences of these by-products are too severe to consider the structure capable of prosperity whilst also maintaining a thriving citizenry. Social democracy stands as a feasible alternative, not because of its independent competence, but because of the relative cataclysm of neoliberalism.

Neoliberals identify an array of eco-political policies that theoretically ensure the maintenance of a stable and prosperous economy. The approach theorises that markets function most effectively when coordination of the market is left solely to the price system – a means of organizing economic activity wherein consumers and producers (including owners of productive resources) are led in their economic decisions by the activity of those preceding and succeeding them in the supply chain. On paper, the price system ensures the most effective transmission of information through and across markets and guarantees the most effective use of resources, as financial incentives are provided for individuals to economise on production and consumption. The system underpins the neoliberal belief that the market is organically self-regulating, and thus is hindered in its efficiency by any attempt at regulation on the behalf of the state, as this interference would distort the information transmitted by the price system. (Friedman, 2003). As a result, neoliberals strive for the absence of state interference and the de-regulation of markets and trade, and will argue that any failure of the neoliberal market to behave as designed is due to some degree of governmental intervention. Similarly, proponents of this ideology advocate for the privatization of industries, acknowledging that a competitive industry wherein all corporations endeavour to maximise profit will ultimately benefit consumers. The necessity for corporations to compete against rivals in an industry should enhance both the quality of the output produced and the range of options from which a consumer can choose. Arguably the most publicised characteristic of a neoliberal structure is the calling for corporate tax cuts for the sake of the ‘trickledown effect’. This concept assumes that corporate funds saved from tax cuts will be used for the sole purpose of investment and business expansion, and further supposes that business expansion will result in the acquisition of more employees, allowing the citizenry to be active consumers and therefore driving economic growth (Saad-Filho, 2005). The assumptions on which these policies rely may well be true in theory, but theory fails to account for human nature. With no obligation for players to pursue anything but profit, actions made in self-interest have consistently accentuated the inviability of these neoliberal theories.

Greed, arguably the very characteristic that drives neoliberal capitalism, is also what renders it ultimately inviable – especially with no regulations in place to control that greed. An illustration of the destructiveness of greed, enabled by financial deregulation, is present in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. American banks lobbied for deregulation of the financial sector in the 1980’s, echoing the neoliberal mantra that deregulation would allow them to compete with global financial firms. With little in place to regulate the actions of the American banks, they invested in high-risk derivatives in the name of self-interest - in this case, in the pursuit of increased shareholder values and an increase of their own profits. As interest rates rose, borrowers on interest-only loans could neither pay off the loan or sell the asset for which the loan was provided (San, M.S, 2009). Progressively, these loans began to default, and many dominant financial institutions found themselves on the brink of bankruptcy. Leading Wall Street firm Lehmann Brothers officially declaring that state in September 2008 with ‘the highest value bankruptcy in US history’ (Marketwatch, 2008). According to countless seasoned economists, the result was a crash that saw a total loss of $19.2 trillion USD in household wealth and a total of 8.8 million jobs lost in the US alone (US Department of the Treasury, 2012)- highlighting the inviability of financial deregulation encouraged by the neoliberal ideology.  Just as greed undermines the assumed success of financial deregulation, so does it sabotage the proposed prosperity resulting from the ‘trickledown effect’. The US Institute for Policy Studies analysed the records of 92 local corporations in the wake of tax cuts between 2008 and 2016. They observed a median job growth of negative 1 percent between the 92 firms, with 48 firms eliminating a total of 483,000 jobs in this period. Simultaneously, average CEO pay within the firms rose 18%(US Institute for Policy Studies, 2017) - a blatant contradiction of the expectations underpinning this theory. In the same way, the corporate benefits of privatisation do not always ‘trickle down’ to consumers. In monopoly and oligopoly industries, players have few rivals and therefore less incentive to compete for the consumer. Hence, they are not as vulnerable to failure if they minimize expenditure or charge more for their outputs at the expense of the consumer in the pursuit of profit. In March, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recommended regulation of Australia’s four major airports, all of which were privatised at the turn of the century. This came after the ACCC found consumers of all services offered by the airports paid $1.6 billion in excess due to the privatisations, according to ACCC Chairman Rod Sims (Kelly, 2017). These findings exemplify that greed trumps the assumptions underpinning the ‘trickle down’ effect, with regard to deregulation, corporate tax cuts and privatisation, further diminishing the feasibility of neoliberal theories.

The economic theories of neoliberalism may be impracticable, but the ideology’s impact on the people and the environment is what ultimately makes neoliberalism incapable of perpetuity. Proponents of the ideology believe all inputs - whether they be land, labour or capital resources - exist solely to support a stable economy. The system encourages players to pursue profit, and the practice of sustainable and ethical operations comes at the expense of the corporation’s wealth. Consequently, these entities tend to instead engage in activities that maximise profit at the expense of the people and climate (Chomsky, 1999). It is acknowledged in public discourse that the processes of production should be more environmentally friendly, but supply is controlled by demand, so it is necessary that consumers exercise their democratic rights and regulate these processes to promote sustainability. The crux of this matter is that citizens are decreasingly able to exercise these rights, ironically due to neoliberalism itself, as explored in the following paragraph. The same stands for the protection of people – workers’ rights are diminished in the name of profit and humans are increasingly seen as commodities existing to sustain the economy. Neoliberal policies were implemented in Spain in the early 1970’s, including tax cuts and weakened worker protections, with hope that the ‘trickledown effect’ would aid the country’s rates of unemployment. The policies failed in this endeavour, and ‘ultimately reduced the share of wages in the gross national product, worsened working conditions, and saw a considerable increase in unprotected employment’ (Albarracìn, 2000, p.2). Market deregulation also means corporations have access to cheap external labour in developing countries, frequently influencing those governments to decrease the rights of their workers either through conspicuous lobbying or the inconspicuous threat of accessing labour elsewhere and therefore removing the economic benefits of their presence in those states (Oatley, 2012). According to economist Dr Richard Wolff, the widening income inequalities mean citizens are increasingly unable to consume the outputs offered by corporations, lessening their profits and countering the very incentives that drive neoliberalism (Martin, 2016). Because of these factors, neoliberalism is unsustainable not only for the environment and masses, but for the corporations themselves.

The ramifications of a neoliberal economic system are not constrained to the pillar of economics – the democratic system is also being challenged as a by-product of this ideology.  The unprecedented economic success granted to elites and corporations through the practices of neoliberal capitalism has allowed them to undermine the governments capacity to respond to citizens’ concerns in a number of ways. Corporations in competition for consumers and shareholders invest in a range of tactics, from lobbying to political bribes, seeking laws and policies that offer them a competitive advantage over their rivals both locally and globally - resulting in a race for political influence that drowns out the concerns of average citizens (Reich, 2009). States, too, have experienced increased wealth from neoliberal capitalism, through the proliferation of transnational corporations and provision of foreign direct investment as a result of deregulation (Oatley, 2012). Because of this, economic success may be prioritised by the state before the protection of citizens and the environment. This was demonstrated in India, 2003, when ‘community members entered the office of the Regional Pollution Control Board in Varansi, and to protest their inaction (regarding Coca Cola’s dumping of toxic waste in water supplies) dumped sacks of sludge from the plant on the table of the regional officer’ (Wass, 2011, p.123). The corporation is one of India’s biggest external investors, which seemingly eclipses their contributions to water shortages, water and soil pollution, and distribution of toxic waste. Democracy is designed to allow citizens to address issues of concern, including widening inequalities of income and wealth, environmental hazards and heightened job insecurity; all aforementioned by-products commonly associated with neoliberal capitalism. The ideology is designed solely to increase profits, with no obligation for actors to exercise a social conscience, and democracy exists to control and regulate such processes with decisions regarding corporate limitations and resource and profit allocations. As neoliberal capitalism continues to dilute democratic processes, the economic powers that be are increasingly becoming the authors of the rules by which we live; rules which will - like the economic policies of neoliberalism- benefit only those already on top.

Considering the inviability of neoliberal capitalism, the question of where a viable alternative to this economic model can be found now stands, and the answer lies in social democracy. This approach proposes high levels of state regulation, supervision and ownership in all industries and markets, and advocates for high levels of participatory democracy, where power begins at the bottom and is delegated upward. The effectiveness of participatory democracy relies on freedom of information and the transparency of corporations and institutions – not an impossible task given the corporations that corrupt this under neoliberalism do not hold the same power in a socially democratic system, as social welfare is prioritized over the growth of the economy (Hicks, 1999). While the economic policies of social democracy admittedly do not stimulate economic growth as neoliberalism does, they certainly protect against the instability and inequity of a neoliberal framework. A regulated financial sector decreases risk and therefore increases citizens’ trust of the banks, compelling them to engage with - and further stimulate - that industry (OECD, 2016). The nationalization of industries abolishes the promise of profit as an incentive to cut corners or exploit labour, and while efficiency may be hindered with the lack of competition, industries will be more reactive to consumer demands - the focus of the organisation shifts from enhancing profit to enhancing the quality of the outputs, as governments are answerable to the disapproval of citizens through the democratic process. The expansion of businesses may be somewhat inhibited due to high taxes, but these funds are used for the provision of social welfare to all, guaranteeing the eventual benefits that the ‘trickledown effect’ falsely assumes (Morel, 2012). In nationalized oligopolies unnecessary duplication is eradicated, as well as generating much lower rates of resource consumption because of the lessened economic incentive to reduce the lifespan of outputs (Hanke, 1987). As aforementioned, the process of participative democracy is purer given the decreased influence of corporations, and citizens can demand regulations to address the threats facing them using democratic planning - compared to the inevitable ecological degeneration exacerbated by environmental deregulation of neoliberal capitalism.

Neoliberal capitalism has too destructive an impact on our political, social and environmental domains to continue perpetually, despite its relative economic successes. Neoliberals see humans as resources to create a stable economy, and financial prosperity as paramount. Conversely, social democracy views a stable economy as a resource to create satisfied humans, and believes financial prosperity matters only if its translated into holistic happiness and security. Ultimately, the consequences of neoliberal capitalism may eventually render society incapable of engaging with - and thus sustaining - any economy.

 Albarracìn, J. (2000) Neoliberal Employment Policies: The Case of Spain. International Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 30, No. 2, Unemployment in Spain: Theories and Evidence (Summer, 2000), pp. 56-81 p 1

Chomsky, N., & Haupt, M. (2006). Profit over people. Munich: Piper.

Friedman, Milton and Friedman, Rose (2003), ‘The Power of the Market’, in Frank Stilwell and George Argyrous (eds), Economics as a Social Science: Readings in Political Economy, 2nd edition, Sydney: Pluto Press Australia, 126-131.

 Hanke, S. H. (1987). Privatization versus nationalization. Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 36(3), 1-3.

Hicks, A. (1999) Social Democracy &Welfare Capitalism: a century of income security politics. New York: Cornell University Press, 1999.

Institute for Policy Studies, (2017) Report: Corporate Tax Cuts Boots CEO Pay, Not Jobs. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, viewed 19/7/17, found http://www.ips-dc.org/report-corporate-tax-cuts-boost-ceo-pay-not-jobs/

Kelly, F. (2017) Airports textbook example of privatisation gone wrong: Sims. Aired March 6 2017 8.34 am on Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, accessed 19/9/17, found http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/airports-textbook-example-of-privatisation-gone-wrong:-sims/8327328

Martin, Abby (2016), ‘Marxism 101: How capitalism is killing itself with Dr. Richard D Wolff’, The Empire Files, teleSUR, last accessed 30 June 2017 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P97r9Ci5Kg (running time: 35:46).

 Marketwatch, (2008) Lehman folds with record $613 billion debt. Viewed 19/9/17, found http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lehman-folds-with-record-613-billion-debt?siteid=rss.

Morel, N. (2012). Towards a social investment welfare state?: ideas, policies and challenges. Bristol: Policy Press.

 Oatley, Thomas (2012), ‘The politics of multinational corporations’, in International Political Economy, 5th edition, Boston: Pearson Longman, 180-201

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (2016). Restoring Trust in Financial Markets. Found on OECD website under ‘Finance’ and ‘Financial Markets. Accessed 20/9/17, found http://www.oecd.org/finance/financial-markets/18961363.pdf

 Saad-Filho, A (2005). Neoliberalism: A critical reader. University of Chicago Press.

San, M. S. (2009). Global financial crisis. Plastic Rainbow Book Publication.

 Reich, Robert B. (2009), ‘How capitalism is killing democracy’, Foreign Policy, 12 October, accessed 20/9/17 from: http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/12/how-capitalism-is-killing-democracy/ 

US Goverment, (April 2012) The Financial Crisis in Charts. US Department of the Treasury. Viewed 19/9/17,  found https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/Documents/20120413_FinancialCrisisResponse.pdf

Wass, G. (2011) Corporate Activity and Human Rights in India. Human Rights Law Network. New Delhi: Socio Legal Information Cent

[mitjones004-blog]

Nationalistic Compatibility

         The connections between people on both a national and global scale are greatly studied between philosophers, psychologists, politicians, as well as many other groups. These connections are more widely recognized as nationalism and globalism.  These two completely different scales are defined very independently of one another, yet still have many similarities. Nationalism is often noted as a patriotic movement which supports the idea of a specific nation moving forward separate from any other. Where globalism is defined as determining the interconnections people and nations have on a world-wide scale. I will be analyzing these similarities and differences between both a nationalistic and globalist ideology.

    What is a nation? What is its purpose? A nation is what occupies sovereignty over a specific territory. A territory is essential to differentiate the ingroup from the outgroup in order to obscure the historical contingency of the nation. Leaving or entering into a nation is a typical feature that defines individual rights a nation has. The only legitimacy a nation owns is based off of sovereignty recognized by the United Nations (UN). Generally representing an ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity for a population which some of its members deem to constitute an actual or potential nation.

 In a recent journal article by Olivia Miller on “The Effects of Nationalism On Humanity.” She begins by stating the difference between patriotism and nationalism. Miller settles the differences between them by describing them as ideological brothers rather than “distant cousins.” She says, “Nationalism is not an irrational sentiment that can be banished from contemporary politics through enlightening education; it is one of the modern world's foundational principles and is more widely accepted than its critics acknowledge.” This shows that nationalism isn’t considered an adopted form of government or even an idea implemented within a nation. But that it comes naturally acquainted with the nation and its people, as a form of patriotism, which in Millers case, can be taken to the extreme. Defining nationalism as a feeling people have of being proud of their country, often accompanied by the belief that it is better off, and far more important than other countries can potentially lead to a dangerous road. An example given of this was the underlying cause of World War I. She states, “Prior to the beginning of World War I, Europeans had a lot of pride in their nation, and honestly believed they were the best. This thought process also lead to the belief that other nations were threatened by them, and were plotting their demise.” This war is a prime example of nationalistic nations.

 Viewing nationalism from different perspectives allows individuals to see each one has a commonality. That is the fear of losing a nation's individual sovereignty. Having a place to call home is an important element in nationalism that fuels itself. 

Populism is a contributing factor to what nationalism is. This is defined as the pure people and the corrupt elites. And depending on whether you are on the left wing party or right wing party who the pure people are, and who the elites are tends to differ.

 In defending nationalism, Amartya describes globalism as westernization. What she seeks to imply is by implementing a form of globalism, or in other words, one world wide government, you are essentially expanding the western world. Since it is the western side of the world that is more technologically and industrially advanced, they would be forced to sustain and thrive the rest of the eastern side. This would prove to be most difficult. With her words she explains, “Western dominance--sometimes seen as a continuation of Western imperialism--is the devil of the piece. In this view, contemporary capitalism, driven and led by greedy and grabby Western countries in Europe and North America, has established rules of trade and business relations that do not serve the interests of the poorer people in the world.” Globalism, if implemented, would eradicate the drive for nationalism by eliminating borders between nations and thus intertwining the people of the world. However, this is just one effect to the cause of globalization. 

 Another influence on globalism would be a constitutional view of populism. Populism is a way for minorities to have a say in what is going on within a particular sovereignty. It means that the majority vote doesn't necessarily win. In this case, Tea Partiers intend to “be vigilant to insure that elites with what the movement calls their "one-world government" ideas and bureaucratic agendas of class privilege do not dominate foreign policy debates.” (Mead) The implication of this quote suggests that in a world wide government maintaining a populist ideology would prove to be more difficult. This is because of the form of government (some form of oligarchy)  that would take place on the front lines for the world.      

 Since social media has enabled both nation-wide and world-wide information to be wildly exploited it has allowed globalization to be pursued even more. However the current effects social media has on a nation are bigger than the effects there are on the world.

Addressing populism on a national level may be different depending on where you stand on a political scale. Whether that being left wing or right wing. Some on the right wing (more conservative) would view populism in a nation as “us (the nation) having access to the collective goods of the state, and the elites are those corrupt outsiders and their collaborators, who seek to undermine “our” sovereignty.”(Collins) While those on the left wing would say, “focuses on economic exploitation and inequality – the people are “us”, the exploited and economically deprived, while the elites are those associated with free trade, globalisation and Western imperialism.” (Collins) They therefore suggest that left wing and right wing are just as it is implied, complete opposites. To elaborate more, the left will view the elites as those attempting to expand the western world, also known as the western nations. 

 In the light of comparing globalism and nationalism side by side, some have different opinions of globalism vs. nationalism. One is in an article titled, “What do we need more of-- Nationalism or Globalism?” (Frank). Nationalism has two effects:  “It increases wealth and makes it more unequal. Nationalism looks better to a lot of people because it doesn’t cause the problems of income inequality that globalism does, but globalism with appropriate policies to deal with its tendency to exacerbate inequality would be better overall.”(Frank) This states that globalism is better on nations as a whole, and where this may be true in arguing income equality, it is not in obtaining wealth. Nationalism is the more pursued ideology in obtaining wealth, globalism actually accomplishes more in having income equality by diversifying the rich from the poor. This is because of the form of government that is created in a global government. It’s a form of socialism where money is divided less based on labor as in a market economy, and more through a form of taxation. The rich are taxed far more than the poor in order to divide wealth. 

Frank continues to argue that capitalism (as seen in our nation) has an inability to satisfy the needs of the entire population and has become a threat to democracy. This is clearly not true due to a booming economy. There is no factual evidence that capitalism is failing to aid the nation economically.

Maintaining government on a national scale would have some of these same benefits as well as consequences, however, on a different scale. Allowing an easier route to be taken. One of the most defining differences between nationalism and globalism is this scale at which both exist. Clearly one is larger than the other, creating a gap of size and population. This can be a positive or a negative factor depending on the resources provided. Little resources provided to a larger population will make the population suffer. On the opposite end if there are more resources than there are people within the population they will flourish. These resources are on a different level of attainability depending on where you live, which is why each nation or sovereignty would be affected differently under the same government. Now, deciding whether this is more beneficial in a global form of government over a national one would be deciding the fate, or flourishment of each group of people. Who would benefit more in globalism, whether it would be the rich, or the poor, for example. In analyzing this concept, we consider how globalism functions. All of the wealth and industries are distributed to help the world’s population expand economically. This is done to accomplish its overall purpose of the expansion of the Western nations as a whole, in order to help eastern societies progress and sustain themselves. Now, when we speak of dividing the wealth and industries, most of this must be taken from the rich, because the poor don’t have the substantial amount to divide among others. Therefore, the poor benefit more in the cause of globalism creating more of a socialistic form of government.  

Both globalism, and nationalism may also be taken too far. Globalism may be unfair to a lot of hard-working people who don’t have the skills, education, or simply the luck to be in the sectors that benefit from globalization. This would most likely be considered the western world. “The danger of nationalism taken too far is first of all the mistreatment of many in the society. Nationalism always poses a terrible danger to anyone who is not part of the ethnic majority. Or in other words, the elites. Nationalism is also bad for the economy because openness helps efficiency, and immigration helps the workforce.”(Frank) As with the article, I do agree that openness helps the economy due to trade. However, immigration does not help the workforce. These immigrates statistically speaking are not providing support in any way. They would only use government funding to build up not the nation, but themselves through government programs.

In the world there exist different types of globalism, whether it be globally shared social media, global trade, and several other examples. They then detail how they will use these already globalized subjects to determine more or less through analytical data how a global government would stand up next to a nationalistic government. Authors typically emphasize the economic relationships, while others point out the cultural ones. According to typical dictionary definitions an economic status would increase trade around the world, especially by large companies producing and trading goods in many different countries. As to a cultural  situation in which available goods and services or social and cultural influences gradually become similar in all parts of the world. Many people over time have slowly become more and more afraid of globalization according to the article. They become more afraid of the consequences it produces.

Arguing that any, and all contact with the world needs to be cut off is not beneficiary in any way to a nation, unless the ability to mass produce at an inexpensive opportunity cost were possible. They present more of an individualistic perspective in determining nationalism vs. globalism. Ron Paul explains his argument by saying, “We don’t need to be the world’s policeman.” In a sense, he is saying one country would essentially rule the world, governing, and dictating everything. 

In determining effects of nationalism vs. globalism there are many different factors which all add up in leading us to our own personal preference. Overall, maintaining political standpoints on a national level in order to keep a more individualistic, close-nit form of government will lead us to a more successful future as a human race. But if a globalized government will help in industrializing the world, helping to create more economic and political power, thrive the nations then that is what must be strived for. These forms of government exist independently of one another and have a similar base idea of how to help the world and or nation prove to be more successful. But the way they approach it, as well as the magnitude at which they exist is what determines their success. Similarly, both nationalism and globalism are each born of the same economic, social, and cultural factors that help shape the overall drive of the particular region.

[pinchetel]

Burning Times: Evil, Witch-Hunts and Social Control.

Introduction:

 This paper will look at the ways in which ‘evil’ has been used as a means of social control. The term evil is used here in the way it is understood by the Western Christian tradition, other cultures and faith systems have different understandings of the concept or may not include it in their mythology. In this paper a range of theories are used to outline how evil has been understood and applied to social control, including those of Durkheim, Nietzsche and Jung. The paper uses the ‘witch craze’ of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries as a case study to examine how the association between evil and witchcraft was used to control groups within individual communities and in wider Early Modern European society who were perceived to pose a threat to the established order. This is followed by a brief concluding section suggesting an alternative approach to evil in a more secular and diverse society.

 From pleasing God to pleasing ourselves:

 The concept of evil is a constant in some form across all human cultures, one that Emil Durkheim saw as being used to explain all the miseries humans face in their daily lives (Durkheim, 1968:281). Religious faith, he argued, is the source of life and anything that acts to disrupt it is therefore evil. This causes all faith traditions to create a differentiation between what he termed the ‘sacred’, those things society develops collectively and the ‘profane’, the concerns of the individual focussed mainly on the body (Durkheim, 1968; Pickering, 1984:119). Although both categories are distinct and have no common features they function as two poles in a binary system (Durkheim, 1968:38-39; Pickering, 1984:117).

 Post-Aristotelian philosophy portrays evil as the ‘privation of all form and order in the world’, identifying it as the absence of good (Hamlyn, 1990:89). This position would be adapted by Christian thinkers including Thomas Aquinas to identify evil with the failure by individuals to seek happiness through their relationship with God, the source of all good (Hamlyn, 1990:95;108). Later thinkers including Leibniz argued that evil exists because God willed it into existence to grant humans true free will, to be expressed through triumphing over sin and temptation. (O’Hara, 2010:50).

 The implication in terms of social control is clear, if individuals wished to avoid encountering evil and its consequences then they were required to follow unquestioningly the teachings of the church. In an age when church and state power had a symbiotic relationship this meant also conforming to the rules and expectations imposed by secular authority.

 Although characterised by an optimistic view of human nature thinkers of the Enlightenment expressed some ambiguity about human nature. The darkest manifestation of this seen in the view expressed by Joseph de Meistrie that all idealism regarding human nature and our propensity for evil is mistaken, order, so far as it exists in the world is maintained solely by the threat of violent retribution (O’Hara, 2010:183).

This fits with the view expressed by orthodox Christian teaching that humans can only be kept from sin and evil by the fear of damnation, Hume saw this as driving them to a ‘true sense of religion’ through ‘superstition’ (Garrett, 2015:295). The existence of evil, Hume suggested, was a challenge to the omnipotence of God since it represented a clear limitation to his powers. Instead, he suggested, the power causing order in the universe, if one can be said to exist, is at best indifferent to human ideas of good and evil and the consequences of its actions (Garrett, 2015:297).

 If the power of the creator had limitations; then so surely did that of the state, this led prominent Enlightenment thinkers including William Godwin to see evil as resulting from ‘ignorance’ caused by ‘faulty education, perpetrated by tyranny and greed’ (O’Hara, 2010:112). These things could be shown to result from the decisions and actions of human beings in positions of power, not those of a remote deity and so were open to be questioned and even overturned.

 Emmanuel Kant would further distance evil from the actions of God, locating it in the choices made by human beings. Religion, he argued, can provide a guide to living a moral life, but the choice to do good or evil rests entirely with human beings (Guyer, 2006:226). The resulting choices, Kant suggested, were shaped by human priorities, the competing demands of self-interest and the needs of the wider community, with the adverse consequences of any such decision resembling the moral evil identified by Hume (Garrett, 2015:296) in arising from individual actions. Kant, like the church, may have seem humans as having been evil in the past; he however suggested that redemption, or at least not doing evil in the future, was dependent on our capacity for making choices (Guyer, 2006:228).

 Friedrich Nietzsche, a staunch opponent of Christianity, which he described as imposing a ‘malicious slavery’ on human beings (Welshaw, 2004:15), would take the role of human choices in morality a radical step further. He argued that the debate around the existence of evil had been ‘debased’ by the ‘slave morality’ of the weakest groups within society, who had accepted the version of morality handed down to them by the powerful that presented evil and suffering as things to be endured to earn the rewards of faith (Welshaw, 2004:16-22).

 Nietzsche argued that in order to be truly moral human beings had to accept autonomy over and responsibility for their actions. In the process rejecting the false comforts offered by the ‘slave morality’ offered by the church and embracing instead their instinct for freedom and desire for power. The suffering they encounter in this process and might previously have described as evil becomes instead a spur to strive onwards that gives appoint and purpose to their lives (Welshaw, 2004:25-33).

 Although the way humans have understood evil can be shown to have changed over history, moving away from the absence of a relationship with God to a consequence of human choices and actions, its presence remains a constant. This demonstrates its necessity as a way in which belief systems represent all of existence, including those parts deemed repulsive (Durkheim, 1968:420-421). As such it has been a powerful tool for exercising social control.

 ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live:[1]

 The use of evil and the power it exerts over the human imagination can be seen in operation in the witch-hunts that occurred in Europe and the then American colonies from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. There is a strong link between the events of this period and the anxieties of government and communities about the religious and economic changes that characterised the Early Modern period (Levack, 1995:125). Many of those who accused neighbours and family members of involvement with witchcraft were responding, not always consciously, to the upheavals caused by the beginnings of a capitalist economy, population growth and urbanization (Levack, 1995:127). These to some extent mirror the stresses Durkheim (1964) would identify in operation during a later period of rapid industrialization and social change.

 ‘Witches’ could be seen as rebels against the conventions around issues like gender and class contemporary to their time and had links with ‘radical’ ideas that were potentially a threat to the authority of the church and state. This led them to be implicated in a possible conspiracy against the state that though it has Satan at its head was driven by decidedly temporal motives. (Levack, 1995:165; Maxwell-Stuart, 2004:109-110). An example of this can be seen in the Salem ‘witch-craze’ where Samuel Parris, one of three ministers serving the town, used suspicion of witchcraft to increase demand for his services and to resolve an ongoing dispute with his congregation (Weisman, 1984; Boyer & Nissenbaum, 1974; Mixon, 200, in King & Mixon, 2010).

 The Salem witch trial arose at a time of heightened tensions between settlers and the colonial authorities. These would later sow the seeds for the American War of Independence and a growing challenge to the church represented by ‘unauthorized’ ministers such as Anne Hutchinson, who used her sermons to preach on equality and women’s rights (Breen & Foster, 1973; Faber, 1970, in King & Mixon, 2010). Through their role in identifying and prosecuting potential witches local ministers were able to maintain social control by curtailing anti-social behaviour and projecting the insecurities of a (male) establishment onto women who had no political power or access to the law (Demos, 1970, in King & Mixon, 2010). In doing so they were following an established practice within Christianity of blaming sin, particularly where it relates to sexuality, on women and using the need to counter the resulting evil to justify repression (Fontana, 2003:173)

 This link between evil and gender may have been one of the factors resulting in most accusations being made against females during the period under discussion. Although some men were accused of practicing witchcraft this was usually linked to another form of heresy (Levack, 1995:133-135). There is a definite current of misogyny in accusations against women where the evidence cited related to their being ‘unnatural’ in their sexual behaviour, this relates to fears harboured by the authorities that recent outbreaks of plague had created a ‘surplus’ of women who were not under the authority of either a husband or their family. Popular tracts of the time such as the Mallus Malificarum gave these fears a spurious academic and legal authority (Levack, 1995:147; Maxwell-Stuart, 2004:79).

 Female witches were also open to accusations that related to the roles they occupied in the community, in many cases as cooks, midwives or ‘healers’ with skills in folk medicine that made them both valued and held in suspicion by their neighbours. As a result, although not uniformly from the lowest economic groups many of these women lived on the margins of society (Levack, 1995:136:149). They were also characterised by exhibiting behaviour the contemporary attitudes saw as ‘unwomanly’ this could include being ‘sharp tongued’ and independent in their lifestyle, making them easy targets since they had little recourse to law to solve the disputes that inevitably arose with their neighbours (Levack, 1995:148-149)

 An example of this can be seen in the case of the Pendle Witches (1612), which began with a dispute between the matriarchs of the Southern and Whittle families[2], both of whom had a reputation for being involved with witchcraft that had resulted in their marginalization (Winsham, 2018:51-64).

 The panic around witchcraft during the Early Modern period represents an attempt by small communities to preserve their mechanical solidarity in the face of rapid change (Durkheim, 1964, in Lemert, 2010:74). Concerns around the inappropriate behaviour of women accused point to the need in such communities to have fixed gender roles and a moral code backed by strong sanctions for transgressors (Durkheim, 1964, in Lemert, 2010:74-75). The ‘gossip’ on which many such accusations were based could, therefore, be seen as being symptomatic of a threatened community seeking to ‘identify’ a convenient enemy who could them be defeated in the name of preserving solidarity (Briggs, 1998:392-393).

 The ‘witch-craze’ may have burnt out in the eighteenth century as the advance of capitalism saw an organic solidarity based on the division of labour  and the power of the market replace earlier means of social control (Durkheim, 1964, in Lemert, 2010). This provided the holders of authority with new means to control individuals, however evil, with its ability to speak to primal human fears continues to exert a pull, even following the decline of religious faith[3]. The hunt for ‘witches’ goes on even if the name has fallen out of our vocabulary, as evidenced by the highly punitive attitudes towards gun crime in the US expressed by people who saw media reports attributing their actions to ‘evil (Vesturia et al, 2018)[4].

 Fear No Evil:

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Beyond Good and Evil that all morality is ‘a piece of tyranny against nature and reason’ (Nietzsche, 2003:110). His position may have been an extreme one, but it is arguable that the way evil has been understood and used by Western Christianity is outmoded. As Durkheim predicted the decline of religious faith has led to a degree of moral poverty (Pickering, 1984:451), old forms of restraint no longer work, opening the way for a rethinking of our moral system and relationship with evil.

 Perhaps even for the creation, as Durkheim envisaged, of an alternative, secular, morality which retains elements of Christian ethics, but without the associated dogma, ritual or church hierarchy (Pickering, 1984:499). A project that continues the ongoing human search for meaning (Fontana, 2003:170), but embraces an autonomy dogmatic religion was reluctant to grant to individuals.

 Humans have a need to locate causality for the misfortunes they face with a higher power, one that brings such evils into the world for the purpose of promoting their spiritual growth (Fontana, 2003:170). A more philosophically mature approach may be to adopt a more existentialist view, drawing inspiration from thinkers like Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger and attempting to see the world as it is, not as being shaped by the twin poles of good and evil (Hamlyn, 1990:323).

 This would allow individuals to take a materialist view of evil as existing in the world as the result of human value judgements, a position not dissimilar to that expressed by Kant. Morality in such a system would be understood as a construct assembled to protect property and to facilitate social living (Fontana, 2003:170)

 The value judgements used to create such a morality would be demonstrably the product of human thought and action unmediated by a higher power. This, as Nietzsche argued, would require acceptance of autonomy over and responsibility for their actions by individuals (Welshaw, 2004), along with the rejection of the false comforts offered by organised religion and later the state in return for unquestioning compliance.

 Individuals, as Sartre argued, would have the ability to make themselves ‘free’ through accepting their capacity to make choices, and to see any attempt to transfer the consequences of their actions to some outside ‘evil’ as an act of bad faith (Hamlyn, 1990:326).In order to do so individuals would be required to accept their own capacity for doing and being evil. Recognising this as what Karl Jung termed ‘the shadow’ within our human nature, failure to do so can lead to it being ‘projected’ onto marginalized groups (Fontana, 2003:173), a process which, as this paper has suggested, was at work during the ‘witch-craze’. In more recent times it has been a driving force of moral panics that have targeted groups on the margins of society, identifying them as enemies to be eradicated as a means of protecting the social order (Becker, 1975; Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009; Cohen, 2002, in Hardie-Bick, 2012).

 Recognizing and naming the potential to be evil that resides within all human beings may be a spur to greater understanding and tolerance of difference. As Durkheim argued the goals of society are different from those of individuals, if one of those goals is the creation of a workable system of morals; then we must all be actors in its creation.

This paper has set out to examine the role of evil as a means of social control. In doing so it has traced how the concept has been understood from the simple absence of good, through the Western Christian view that evil was the product of a faulty relationship with God, to a more modern location of evil as a possible outcome of human value judgements. The ‘witch-craze’ of the Early Modern period has been used as a case study to show how evil, represented by the practice of witchcraft, was used to justify actions that sought to address political and economic tensions at both a state and community level. In the final section the suggestion is made that adopting an existentialist understanding of our capacity to be and do evil may be the basis for a more modern and secular form of morality.

 Bibliography

1.    British Social Attitudes: Record number of Brits with no religion, 04 September 2017, http://natcen.ac.uk/news-media/press-releases/2017/september/british-social-attitudes-record-number-of-brits-with-no-religion/, accessed 4/12/2019

2.    Briggs R, (1998), Witches and Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft, London, Penguin

3.    Durkheim E, (1964), Mechanical and Organic Solidarity, in Lemert C, (2010), Social Theory: The Classic and Multi-Cultural Readings Fourth Edition, Westview

4.    Durkheim E, (1968), The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London, Allen & Unwin

5.    Exodus, Chapter 22, Verse 18, King James Bible

6.    Fontana D, (2003), Psychology, Religion and Spirituality, Oxford, Blackwell

7.    Garrett D, (2015), Hume, London, Routledge

8.    Guyer P, (2006), Kant, London, Routledge

9.    Hamlyn DW, (1990), The Penguin History of Western Philosophy, London, Penguin

10. Hardie-Bick, J. 2012, "Transcendence, Symbolic Immortality and Evil", Human Studies, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 415-428.

11. King, E.W. & Mixon, F.G. 2010, "Religiosity and the political economy of the Salem Witch Trials", The Social Science Journal, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 678-688.

12. Levack, BP, (1995), The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, London, Longman

13. Maxwell-Stuart PG, (2004), Witchcraft A History, Stroud, Tempus

14. Nietzsche F, (2003), Beyond Good and Evil, London, Penguin Classics

15. O’Hara K, (2010), The Enlightenment: A Beginner’s Guide, Oxford, Oneworld

16. Pickering WSF, (1984), Durkheim’s Sociology of Religion, London, Routledge

17. Vasturia, D., Webster, R.J. & Saucier, D.A. 2018, "Demons with firepower: How belief in pure evil relates to perceptions and punishments of gun violence perpetrators", Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 122, pp. 13-18.*

18. Welshaw R, (2004), The Philosophy of Nietzsche, Chesham, Acumen

19. Winsham W, (2018), England’s Witchcraft Trials, Barnsley, Pen & Sword

 [1] Exodus, 22:18, King James Bible

[2] Willow Winsham gives a full account of the trial in Chapter 3 of England’s Witchcraft Trials, Pen and Sword (2018)

[3] The number of Britons claiming to be religious fell from 48.6% to 43% according to the 2017 British Social Attitudes Survey.

[4] The researchers presented participants with copies of USA Today giving details of an invented shooting incident, where the crime was described as ‘evil’ they showed a preference for harsher punishments, even where the perpetrator was reported a suffering from a brain injury impairing his ability to be responsible for his actions.

[suzannemcappsca]

How Can We Sell The Mediation Product If We Haven’t Worked Out What It Is

Greg Rooney

I wish to add to Michael Leathes’ recent post on his suggestion that more field-based research be done into the mediation product and Rick Weiler’s follow-up.

There are really two distinct questions here. One relates to whether, with enough real-world research, we can put mediation in a nice box with a ribbon around it and show it to everyone as a discrete valuable product. The second question is why people and organisations do not embrace mediation.

If we don’t get the first question right, then we can’t have a hope of dealing with the second question.

The first question

My problem with the first question is that it is based on very 19th-century Newtonian concepts that are linear, predictable and deterministic.

Newton’s belief was that the world is ordered and that if enough research is done and a full understanding of a situation is achieved then the future can then be predicted.

He was influenced by his religious beliefs that God must have a universal plan and the reason we haven’t found it is that we haven’t looked hard enough. Einstein was also caught by this mental construct in his search for the universal equation.

Einstein and much of 19th-century Newtonian physicists were blindsided by the rise of quantum physics in the early 20th century which has led to the digital age we now live in. Newton was fine for the Industrial Revolution but we could not have got to where we are now in the 21st-century with Newtonian physics and thinking.

Newtonian physics has been superseded by modern physics; particularly, the laws of thermodynamics and the emerging awareness of quantum physics. These offer far better explanations of what is happening in our world and more importantly why it has changed so much.

The laws of thermodynamics hold the best scientific explanation of the disruptive world we live in. Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that is the study of systems. The first law of thermodynamics is that nothing is created or destroyed; it simply changes form. The second law of thermodynamics asserts that this change is always in the direction of decay and that all natural processes lead to an overall increase in disorder. It is why human beings, and nature in general, cannot reverse the ageing process.

As this change occurs nothing is lost or destroyed. It is simply reconstituted in another form which then becomes the new paradigm, before it too starts to decay. Disruption is therefore a normal part of reality rather than the ordered Newtonian view of the world.

The emerging understanding of quantum physics also impacts on our understanding of the complex world we now inhabit. It is a branch of physics which is highly uncertain and interconnected and where change occurs depending on the position of the observer. It breaks down the Newtonian link between cause and effect.

The latest challenge to this Newtonian view of the world can be seen in the replication movement in which many of the significant social science experiments of the past are being repeated with vastly different results from the original conclusions. This is because nothing is repeatable in a complex environment. It has thrown into doubt the validity of much of the so-called evidence-based research and observational case studies carried out in the social science field. This has become a significant problem for academia.

Anything that involves human beings or markets is inherently complex. In a complex environment outcomes cannot be predicted. This is because each aspect of a complex environment is interconnected and so all parts constantly co-constrain each other. They co-evolve by constantly modifying behaviours in random, never in the same way twice. This constant change means it is impossible to forecast or predict what will happen.

As a result our understanding of why things happen the way they did can only be done in retrospect. Because no two contexts are the same in a complex environment the concept of joining the dots in advance is an illusion. Best practice is, by definition, past practice and hindsight does not lead to foresight after a shift in context.

In my view our search for answers must start with modern science particularly some of the natural sciences, anthropology and the work coming out of the IT industry particularly complexity theory in how to deal with situations that are not repeatable. It requires a totally different form of thinking which I believe practising mediators acquire particularly those who are comfortable working in the moment to moment dynamics of the joint session.

The second question

Why is there a resistance to mediation within the commercial world. There is an old saying that generals generally fight the last war. In my view much of commerce and many in the legal profession that support it are still stuck in the competitive adversarial 20th century world.

The modern collaborative interconnected economy has challenged the identity and, in some cases, the very existence of the established organisations and professions.

The biggest upheaval has been the rise in the commercial value of trust over that of competitive and adversarial behaviours. The sharing economy relies on the willingness of users to be trustworthy and to trust each other. The platforms themselves also must be trustworthy. The sharing economy is built on the human element which is inherently complex. It is therefore essential that any conflict be dealt with in a way that preserves those trusting relationships while allowing new learnings which are an essential springboard for innovation and evolutionary breakthroughs.

This interconnected economy is built on the creative tension between risk-taking and innovation. Balancing this tension and establishing a culture of trust is essential for maintaining the increasingly short time at the top in the 21st century economy.

Some of the work coming out of complexity theory is founded on a practice-based management system that seeks to modulate this complexity rather than trying to constrain it. It is an insightful way of thinking that has direct application to conflict resolution and mediation.

It is an experiential mode of management which requires leaders to step back and allow patterns to emerge. It is through this emergence that opportunities arise for innovation and creativity. It is a process that opens the door for luck and serendipity. The focus is on managing the present and seeking out its evolutionary potential.

It requires leaders to have a deeper understanding of the broader context in which they operate and the ability to not shy away from complexity and paradox. Because it is an evolutionary process it gives managers the time and space to assimilate complex concepts. The approach is to probe first then sense and respond. It is managing for emergence rather than outcome. Embracing risk and possible failure is an essential element of experiential understanding. It challenges groupthink by encouraging minority views, mavericks and dissent. In other words diversity.

It is the opposite approach to the command and control model which seeks fail safe predictable outcomes. This is based on the cult of the alpha leader and is often driven by the desire to make the complex simple and ordered. This tends to focus on facts rather than allowing patterns to emerge. This leads to a structured rules approach which constrains the freedom of movement and diversity within organisations. It leads to organisational groupthink.

The over emphasis on efficiency and outcomes drives out variation. This is because diversity includes things that are not currently efficient. Allowing a place for mistakes, inefficiency, conflict and disruption to occur allows new learning which can be the springboard for innovation. They create a tension in the system which allows for evolutionary breakthroughs. If managers do not allow this type of internal disruption to occur then their competitors will disrupt externally.

This new world order accurately describes the lot of the practising mediator. Mediators around the world will go off to work tomorrow morning and engage with parties at a very human level in much the same way as they have been doing since the late 1980s. They will work with the uncertainties of the conflict they are mediating and hopefully come up with ‘good enough’ resolutions. They will continue to deal with complexity and ambiguity daily and use their soft skills to massage impasses and blockages. These ‘soft’ skills are now highly valued in this complex commercial world.

So maybe the problem is not mediation and mediators but the commercial world struggling to fit in.

Well done Michael for starting this conversation.

More from our authors:

EU Mediation Law Handbook: Regulatory Robustness Ratings for Mediation Regimes by Nadja Alexander, Sabine Walsh, Martin Svatos (eds.) € 195 Essays on Mediation: Dealing with Disputes in the 21st Century by Ian Macduff (ed.) € 160.00

from Updates By Suzanne http://mediationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2019/02/19/how-can-we-sell-the-mediation-product-if-we-havent-worked-out-what-it-is/

[webdesign6325-blog]

Web Design Frederick MD: 54°05′N 2°80′W Some ideas, Supplements And Techniques For Web Design

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[advancingretail]

The Need to Act on Customer Intelligence

Special Guest Blog by Jim Dippold and Jean-Marc Sallenave, Customer Management Partners

Back in the day, shopkeepers interacted with customers day in and day out, creating personal connections that allowed them to better meet their needs, and kept them coming back. They may not have used these words, but retailers were very good at “building loyalty” and “maximizing share of wallet”! As stores grew in size and corporate chains took over, the personal customer connection was lost. Big brand advertising took over. From that point on, retailers were essentially set up to drive brand sales, and more recently, category sales. In so doing, they stopped being very good at building loyalty and driving share of wallet from their customers. Today, this is a problem.

Since the turn of the century, new technology has been putting more and more decision-making power in the hands of customers. Weekly circulars used to be the only major source of competitive pricing information. This is changing quickly. We have seen an explosion of online and mobile tools to make shopping more convenient, unlock savings or simply to make more informed decisions before and during shopping trips. And digital-enabled shopping still has a lot of room left to grow.

At the same time, the role of brands is changing. Brand loyalty may not be dead, but the big brands certainly enjoy less of a “free ride” than they used to. Millenial and younger shoppers are just one discount, one review or one “Like” away from defecting to a competitor. They’re looking for different brands with different attributes than the older generations. They browse and shop all the time, on every possible device, but tend to buy only what is necessary, at a discount if possible.

In grocery, these trends are fundamentally changing how business needs to be run. There is an increasing need for retailers to gather and act on customer intelligence, just as customers themselves have increasing access to retailer intelligence, competitive offerings and prices. No longer can we make generalizations about the “average customer” because quite simply, the “average customer” doesn’t exist! Flooding the airwaves with mass marketing, or the marketplace with “something for everyone”, is no longer the key to success.

In short, the era of category management is ceding to the era of customer management.

What is Customer Management?

We define customer management as “the choice to organize, lead and manage the business from a foundation of customers”. Customer management doesn’t begin with technology. It begins, first, with the strategic choice to organize, lead and manage the business from a foundation of customers as business assets.

A key assumption of customer management is that the retailer’s long-term performance is ultimately driven by customer sales, not product sales. While category management primarily seeks to sell individual categories to as many customers as possible, customer management seeks instead to sell as many categories (and services) as possible to selected customers over time. The difference isn’t just academic, it impacts every facet of how the business makes decisions and organizes itself.

Customer management is a holistic business approach that seeks to create value for customers that translates into value for the retailer. A key feature of the process is that it is reciprocal. To quote Hallberg: “If there's no benefit to the customer, there can be no benefit to the company.” It is an approach that looks at customers as two sides of a coin: the customer’s value to the retailer, and the retailer’s ability to profitably deliver value to the customer.

All B2C businesses, including retailers, claim to be “customer-centric” and care about their customers. This is not the same as practicing customer management as an organizing principle for the business. Customer management is more than a belief about putting customers first, rather it is a tangible set of business practices aimed at identifying, attracting and keeping profitable customers. These practices operationalize the translation of customer insights into marketing, merchandising, supply and service actions that are tailored to different customers and customer groups.

Customer management challenges basic notions that retailers have lived by for decades. For instance, it requires the retailer to own and proactively manage the customer relationship. This is different from the traditional manufacturer-led model in which the manufacturer owned the customer funds and therefore determined their best use. Today, retailers can no longer afford to be a playground for manufacturers.

Retailers: Move Quickly or be Left Behind

There is plenty of evidence suggesting that traditional supermarkets are having trouble adapting. Only 47% of shoppers claimed a supermarket as their “primary store” in 2017, as compared to 67% in 2005. Over the same period, the average number of weekly shopping trips to the grocery store declined from 2.2 to 1.5 (source: FMI). In a world where customers have more choices, loyalty is never acquired; it has to be earned and reinforced continuously.

Today, retailers have the ability – with the right analytics, technology and business practices - to recreate something akin to the personalized experience of visiting the local market 100 years ago. And yet, they maintain the product and brand-focused management systems of old. To compete and grow over the long term, the customer, and not the product, should be at the core of everything the retailer does – including basic decisions like what items to carry, how to price them and how to promote them.

The 2018 Customer-Centric Retail Study

CART, Customer Management Partners and Winsight Grocery Business are conducting a study aimed at understanding what retailers are doing (and not doing) to become more customer centric, and assisting individuals and organizations improve their customer-centric retailing efforts. If you are part of a retail organization, you are eligible to take our survey. Upon completion, you’ll have the opportunity to request a personalized report benchmarking your organization’s customer-centric business practices to those of your industry peers. SURVEY

About the Company: The Customer Management Partners team is composed of highly seasoned professionals with 20+ years of experience in grocery retail, data, analytics, applications, business processes and strategy consulting. We are passionate about what we do and the senior partners are actively involved in working by your side.

Jim Dippold - dippold@cm-partners.org

Jean-Marc Sallenave - sallenave@cm-partners.org

[britishdeepstate]

The Club of Rome

The Club of Rome

By the 1940s, Elizabeth, Queen of England, was ruling over 31 countries. She owned one sixth of all the lands in the world, which had a total value of 28 trillion US dollars. With the shifting balances in the post-WWII world, the British deep state was forced to turn to various other organizations. The Club of Rome was one of them.

Many people surmise that the Club of Rome is an autonomous organization because it is based in Rome and is affiliated with the Catholic Church. The truth is, The Club of Rome is an important part of the Committee of 300 and a branch of the British deep state, only it operates under a different name.

The Club of Rome and Bilderberg Group are the most important foreign policy institutions of the Committee of 300. ‘A single world state’ that was briefly mentioned while examining the goals of The Committee of 300 was intended to be put into practice by the Club of Rome. The single world state refers to a world order led solely by the British deep state where all the resources will be at their disposal. According to this plan, there would be a ‘single religion’ completely different than Abrahamic religions that would gather people around a fake faith. They planned this pseudo religion because they knew it was impossible to make people lose their faith in a sweeping manner. They hoped that this approach would gradually make people stray away from Divine religions and come to a point where they would readily obey the British deep state.

The plan for this single world order became more clearly shaped especially after the 1990s, but its roots go back centuries. From the foundation of the United States of America to its civil war, all details were carefully planned to ensure the existence of the said structure. Dr. John Coleman writes that Americans are the one people that have been fooled the most by the British deep state throughout world history. He maintains that the current moral degeneration in American society is a direct outcome of this influence and says that for the first time in their history Americans feel the decline vividly. To Coleman, all this is the direct result of the activities of the Committee of 300 and its affiliation with the Club of Rome, both of whom report to the British deep state. This is a very accurate conclusion. (Dr. John Coleman, The Story of the Committee of 300 )

The duty of the Club of Rome is developing and spreading anti-industrialization ideas, especially in the United States. Making societies poor, driving people away from their religious beliefs, leading people and especially young people to depression in a bid to create easily impressionable, weak, feeble generations and aimless masses have been amongst the goals of this group. Spreading drug use, making homosexuality an acceptable act and spreading it, spreading satan-worship, witchcraft and other similar perverted faiths, and building non-religious sects have been their other goals.

In the book entitled Time, Perspective and Morale published by the Committee of 300, the author Bernard Levin talks about the following goals of the Club of Rome:

One of the main techniques for breaking morale, through a strategy of terror, consists in exactly this tactic: keep the person hazy as to where he stands and just what he may expect. In addition, if frequent vacillations between severe disciplinary-measures and promise of good-treatment, together with the spreading of contradictory news, make the structure of the situation unclear, then the individual may cease to know whether a particular plan would lead toward or away from his goal. Under these conditions, even those individuals who have definite goals and are ready to take risks are paralyzed by the severe inner-conflict in regard to what to do.(Kurt Levin, Time Perspective and Morale, 1941; cited by Daniel Estulin, Tavistock Institute: Social Engineering the Masses, 2015, p. 10)

Today, many people are suffering because of this insidious plan. Struggling with massive confusion, these people have now lost their moral values, goals, and joy of life. Therefore, their societies in time turn into masses via inculcations, almost controlled by the British deep state. Looking at the current situation, this plan seems to be working in many parts of the world, including the US.

But one thing should be remembered: God will always negate evil plans:

Do you not see what your Lord did with the companions of the Elephant? Did He not bring all their schemes to nothing? (Qur’an, 105:1-2)

The Club of Rome BritishDeepState.net

[go-sassystudentcoffee-blog]

5 Tips For Keeping PositivePick The Mind.

Possessing inner calmness while driving an automobile safeguards you off surge responses, conserve your emotional, mental as well as physical electricities, as well as conserves you from stress and anxiety, anxiousness as well as anger. I also really failed to assume I was a beauty package kinda gal but I need to accept I have actually been actually changed due to the rewards Birchbox send each month. The moment you have actually passed on responsibilities and made a timetable, after that you may coordinate exactly what you need to perform when you can do that. Staying organized is certainly not all a wind. I assume many of us will certainly concede that amount of money is actually necessary to endure in this particular contemporary world. It can be incredibly complicated to stay artistic whilst you have so much work to perform, as imagination isn't something that just flows promptly. In our option from a task or profession, our team could be inspired by one person who has actually succeeded because industry from all the odds, and also whose situation just before they was successful mirrors our existing scenario. What to perform concerning http://gesundekuche-blog.info/one-two-slim-testberichte-preis/ : Whenever you wish to know anything this might be actually a good tip to neglect as high as possible from just what you assume you recognize. Or even that you are fair at writing and geographics however have some remodelings to create when this concerns math. I know that when I am sleepy or famished at that point my mind occasionally tend to be actually at risk to certainly not assuming precisely as well as to negativity. When that is opportunity for enjoyment you do not really need to think anything. I additionally discover it beneficial to enjoy my mp3-player, however as discussed in # 2 simply to relax as well as kicked back tunes, ideally without lyrics in all. When I know that my mind will definitely operate considerably far better, I will definitely think this scenario or problem with at a time. The homeless man really did not definitely receive that therefore he didn't actually request the $100. Due to the fact that Admin allotment every solitary factor along with his community as he can, today my opinions concern ShoutmeLoud is Fantastic. At first I was upset & was dropped for first couple of weeks, as I could not head out from my space. When I think of the pretentious individuals I have actually met that seems to be generally men that present this quality. Attempt and transform your reasoning style and also come at this from another angle if something is actually not functioning out. Assume and also Develop Rich focuses on perspective, the best necessary factor when it involves prospering and prospering with all facets of life. I have actually regularly stated there is simply so much our experts could discover by reading through a textbook, but the capability to be innovative and onward presuming is a skillset that will certainly place you ahead. Telegram customers can join our Telegram ShoutMeLoud network to remain receive alerted with most up-to-date occurring in SEO, Blogging, WordPress & Affiliate business. Pursuing a jog or a stroll is actually a fantastic technique to remain in song along with nature and maintaining your body fit, obtaining your physical and mental wellness on course. If you take place to travel to the Matterhorn, that will be actually a smart idea to stay for time at each station heading, to let the body receive used to the sky. Cal-me-cupcake performed some which are actually comparable, yet I believe yours might succeed for that scrumptious almond mix.! For example, if you strongly believe that you excel along with youngsters, you are going to believe and also feel that you are actually, you are going to then be actually extra pleasant around children and also act better with all of them, you are going to then get better outcomes (grinning, chuckling, squeezes, performance) which in-turn enhances your belief that you're good along with children.

Scorching Jobs. Sherry has more than 5 years of experience in the field of resume writing and job interview consulting. She is a pro resume writer and approved job job interview professional. Stay away from weak key phrases including I think that ...", I think that ..." as they reveal hesitation in your opinions. I do not presume therefore. Have some moments and also review his blogging experience Enlighten your own self along with persistence and start working doggedly to make your desires become a reality. I believed that I would probably get $THOUSAND+ every month and so, permit me certainly not kill the cash cow. Your condition sounds to me like you had a pliable and also properly worked out muscle (your human brain) that for one reason or another was certainly not used as intensively as you used to, which caused its own degeneration. The very first step to attaining a further degree of presuming hinge on doing away with distractions. That is actually quick and easy to fall under the catch of thinking: properly, when I observe some verification this being true then I could create an improvement in how I presume". As an innovator the method you assume to your work finds out how those around you assume to their jobs. Let emotional states have a backseat- The biggest complication throughout tough times is actually that our experts often believe inning accordance with what our company 'experience', as well as this increases the emotion of stress and also panic additionally. Consider exactly what you desire, generate a picture of this in your mind, as well as create that incredibly clear and precise. You must redefine your interpretation of effectiveness, to more life-worthy and measurable points such as possessing a profession you enjoy and love, being able to border your own self through family, living readily and wherever you desire to. This appears to me that you are at the second somehow obstructing these vibrations once you attempt to determine exactly what is actually going on. Thus only try to permit that to happen as well as to remain in a levelheaded rested condition. I think various other platforms like iwriters, inkedhubwriters, scripted, textbrokers etc

[caustic-pixie]

On Radicalization

I was talking with a friend about the tricky social splinter of finding out that acquaintances are one step away from enemies by way of how they handle their discomfort brought on by critique and confrontation.

There are many kinds of “work” we face in life. What I am focusing on here is a certain kind. I'll say Work, with a Capital W. Work, defined here as “reaching the threshold of uncomfortable, unknown-result, unmovable set of concepts and tasks that are not only expected of us, but have reached a culminating point of no-turning-back being -required- for us to change in a way that better integrates us into an immediate group – and that increases the health and decreases the toxicity of that group”.

The “group” is subjective, but intentionally close by. Maybe it's a job, a blood family, a chosen family, a music scene, friends, religion, whatever – maybe it has national/global levels – but the Work is tied directly in to immediate degrees of connection with others that are involved in one's daily/weekly life and activities.

- - -

Big chunks of the USA have a problem with a kind of toxic masculinity that has been progressing since after World War II, when families were forming and propagating in an age of ever-expanding technology and opportunity. Houses had been popping up in towns, and those houses and towns were ready-made for the auto industry – homes were in suburbs away from work, which was away from the stores, which was away from nature, which was away from schools. The idea of community became location-role specific, the nuclear family became an echo chamber of “Mine deserve the best – better than the rest”. Slowly, over decades and generations and cohorts, we put on blinders so we could better focus on looking forward – and the only time we looked in to other lanes was to check and make sure we had a far enough head-start. Buy more, better, bigger, faster – for you and your family – so you can -be- more, so you can -be- better, so you can -be- bigger, so you can -be- faster. Work long enough to take the money you've earned to leverage it with a bank to purchase things to give you and your kids the best shot at winning the chance to work long enough to take the money -

When we hear jeers about “every kid getting a medal for everything”, we see the true success of the above. Adults of all ages complain about a system that was set up not only by their own parents, but by their grandparents, and is now insidiously motivating in what they do themselves: Grown men and women want enough medals taken away so -their- kid's medal is special again, so -they- are special – again.

Again.

Again. As if there was a “before”. As if there was a first time, that they were special. Why can't they remember when they were special? What... was that thing, that used to feel so good? Do you remember?

Schools and sports slowly rolled over the country in to being the only refuge for kids, and soon there would be no refuge for older kids, for adults. Gender-restrictive, but still deep and supportive, relationships fell to the wayside for whole swaths of men. Women had their friendships demonized and devalued until or unless they could be commodified in some darkly competitive way.

What is that special feeling that one wants to reclaim again? Community. Belonging. Validation. Efficacy. Meaning.

Humans are social. We can't help it. If you, reader, has gone “Tch.” in your head – has gone “I'M antisocial. People are awful. I want to be away in the woods with my pets/art/music” - this post is not for you. Go read the first two related links on the top and come back here later. Seriously, I don't want you on this post, it's a waste of your time and mine. Go, go.

Humans are social. We can't help it. Biologically, it's what we do, it's in our coding, we -need- each other, each of us. It takes a lot of work and Work alike to make sure we all get those needs met. Loneliness is not only deadly, but it's almost viral – it weakens the mind's immunity to other mental illnesses: Isolation, paranoia, self-neglect, depression, anger, delusions. Too much time alone, and the brain will begin to construct its -own- world to compensate for the needs left unfulfilled – like a body living off its own fat reserves until it starts reaching the muscles and it needs to eat those too. We need to see that our existence positively effects the existences of those around us, we need to see that we are seen, we need to see that others see us seeing them. We need our actions to bee like they -matter-.

When we're punished for wanting to look to our sides because it might mean we're willing to fall behind to match pace with others in our cohort, when we're given so many medals and rewards that we can no longer trust the praise of others as a way to mark our progress or acknowledge our Work, when we're encouraged to only team up with others to accomplish one goal and then disperse -

when do we get to find a sustainable sense of meaning? Where do we get taught to do the Work to make it happen?

We're not encouraged to perform emotional labor – some humans (especially men, especially people in different power brackets) are discouraged from even learning how. We don't possess a language to think about building, let alone -maintaining-, long-term connections to those closest to us (mentally or physically).

Once you've hit a certain age, then, fully indoctrinated to the above: your only choice is forward-motion towards power. Power will mean you're far enough ahead that you are safe. Power will mean reaching the goal. Top score. Good grades. Medals. House. Car. Food. The best, fastest, most. It always has before.

Anyone who tries to connect with you must therefore be trying to take your power away. There's no motivation toward a group project here. The Work is obviously not real, because you never had to do any of it before, right? Your friends, family, coworkers will all inevitably betray you because -you would absolutely betray them-, and this knowledge churns around an ever deepening fear of self that becomes projected out into a fear of others so that neither fear is distinguishable from the other and they both harden in to something that feels like a Fact of Life.

That Fact of Life means that any deviation from running ahead must mean that someone is trying to run you off your road. Work is frivolous, menat for someone else to do, because you're already working -so- hard-. Critique is a confrontation. Emotional vulnerability is a manipulative trap. Invitation to engage is a demand on your time to waste it away from this important thing you're trying to do. Any questioning of behavior is an obvious attempt to -hurt you-.

Now imagine if you looked ahead and saw a group of people who Get It. Who live this Fact of Life so perfectly that they're reaching all the goals. They're powerful. They're not alone. They have attention, love, success; and it’s not even slowing them down or making them look weak. They figured it out. They lash out at the problem and people listen. They're winners.

Wouldn't you want it? Why wouldn't you want it? It's perfect. Everything you were brought up to believe was real, all along. You can be special again.

One's friend group from school, sports, childhood has been receding. The ones still present have begun to say that one has changed. One gets defensive – what's changed, what are these guys even talking about? One has always been this way. It's THEM that have changed. They can't see the obvious truth that their power is getting leeched away from them, and by association they're making everyone else give up that power too. Everyone's rushing to become weak and slow. Everyone's denying their destiny to go pursue the goal-grade-score-star. Why are they rejecting this? Why can't they see the truth?

Those other folks who have found their own groups that match up with their own lanes, those folks are spouting crazy talk. It's -One- who has always stayed the same... and that's actually true, from all angles. Those other folks are just finally having to acknowledge the behaviors and beliefs they could formally take for granted as being inherent/good or that they could at least sweep under the rug as just common/inevitable. None of them have ever learned the emotional skills to not only spot the red flags early enough to matter, and none of them have ever learned how to want to -act upon- those red flags even if they could see them in time. Loneliness has seeded and sprouted and seeps. So those blinders keep the eyes on the prize and these people who seem to be already achieving it. So this One person submits.

So they are special. Again. Community. Belonging. Validation. Efficacy. Meaning.

Again and again and again, the cure to loneliness is viral in its own right – this desperate, unnamed need to connect without any language or skills to do so; this self/other fear and goal-power-chasing that lays the bedrock for every other belief. The drive to be in anything but Last Place means joining any other group of people that will help you keep -any other group- in last so you never have to be. If the group gets too big to gather new members, it'll just splinter into smaller subgroups for the same goal.

The good feelings that should come with being special are impossible to feel, because that would create vulnerability. This specialness is only safe if it sneaks in like a feeling of -survival-. You are special because of your fear, because of your anger, because of how many enemies there are in front of you to unite those to the sides of you. There will always need to be an enemy to rail again, for there to be a special way to feel.

Who is good, and who is bad? One, or the other folks? Do you know which side of the fence this One fell over to? Surprise, it could be any, all, and either. It could start on one and end on the other. Are you listening? It's all a long-term lack of skills.

It's irrelevant from which ideology we spring from, but only in a detached sense, which is from wence I am writing this today. All of this results in violence, and all of that results in all of us being slowed down even further. People are dying for dreams that were not designed to remember them.

The answer to all things is rehabilitation and reintegration, witnessing, watchfulness, work, Work. One by one, one by the many, the many by one. The village raising the child, the Scotsman taking ownership of culture's complex and sometimes unflattering results. The healthy display of anger and hurt and sorrow, the strength and patience and self-preparation of holding space when we just don't want to.

No excusing, and, consistent acknowledgment of what-is. Context can coexist beside confrontation. Tolerance and acceptance do not negate boundaries and expectations, instead they work together to build towards progress.

[illuminatinwo]

The Illuminati NWO...is our main problem - Committee of 300 / Bilderberger

           The Illuminati NWO… is our main problem

                              Committee of 300 / Bilderberger

As the Bilderberg group has gotten a lot of attention in past years and their meetings have been in the spotlight of many so called “Conspiracy Theories” [ who in most cases should better be called “Conspiracy Realists” or “Conspiracy Disclosers” or to remain in the language of the conspirators “Conspiracy Illuminists” (in this case it would not be sarcasm though)], the Committee of 300 has almost been overlooked in comparison.  

As important as Bilderberg is and has been and some people who attended grew into substantial power afterwards (Bill Clinton became president shortly after attending etc.) and as prophetic as the matters discussed at Bilderberg were for the shaping of the future of world affairs, it might still be somewhat overrated when it is compared to the Committee of 300. Bilderberg could be seen as the more operational management arm of the Illuminati NWO… conspiracy with a short-term focus and a much more exchangeable membership crowd. The real power, the much more senior members, the owner class or the old, deeply rooted, initiator / aristocracy / billionaire class of the conspiracy seems to be at home at the Committee of 300 meetings.

Bilderberg gets the brunt of the protest and almost takes the focus completely away from the Committee of 300, where the kingpins of the Illuminati NWO… conspiracy are truly rooted, it seems. The so-called Illuminati bloodlines are there, possibly the bosses, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, the Warburgs…, the Black Nobility is there in numbers, especially the British nobility, but also the Dutch and the German and worldwide nobility, high degree masons and secret society grandmasters, the billionaire class / oligarchs, also the money wizards, the maintainers of the world monetary monopoly, especially central bankers, IMF, World Bankers and economists, as well as currently important people out of politics, UN, military, technology etc. (probably similar to Bilderberg much more interchangeable, single event or short term guests, not long term members) and mainstream-media in form of publishers / media moguls like Berlusconi, Murdoch etc., “spiritual” leaders like the Pope and last, but not least, the Illuminati strategists like Rockefeller, Kissinger, Bergsten, Brzezinski etc.

It’s certainly again, like always, strictly hierarchically structured, with real insight about the true happenings and future scenarios possibly again in few hands. It encompasses key figures / key positions within certain important countries, but also stretches out worldwide and has key members from all over the world.

It’s even much more difficult to obtain any information about it than it is with the Bilderberg meetings who were forced to reveal some information by an ever more intensely shining public spotlight and interest. Of course they don’t reveal anything really, but at least some of the participants who’s names had been leaked before anyway and are impossible to keep secret in todays’ world, it seems.

The following information is out of the book “Conspirators’ Hierarchy: The Story of the Committee of 300” by Dr. John Coleman. It contains some of the goals, again very sinister as one might imagine and a list of participants of a 2010 meeting I believe. In this way it’s not up-to-date, rather somewhat outdated, but still good enough to get a fairly accurate picture of the structure and goals. The list is merely in alphabetical order and does not reveal any hierarchy, functions, purpose of attendance or date of membership status etc. :

Editor’s Note:  I welcome reader’s comments on individual members, the composition of this group, and the role this committee plays.

by John Coleman The Committee of 300 is a product of the British East India Company’s Council of 300. The East India Company was chartered by the British royal family in 1600. It made vast fortunes in the opium drug trade with China and became the largest company on earth in its time. Today, through many powerful alliances, the Committee of 300 rules the world and is the driving force behind the criminal agenda to create a “New World Order”, under a “Totalitarian Global Government”. There is no need to use “they” or “the enemy” except as shorthand. We know who “they”, the enemy, is. The Committee of 300 with its “aristocracy”, its ownership of the U.S. Federal Reserve banking system, insurance companies, giant corporations, foundations, communications networks, presided over by a hierarchy of conspirators-this is the enemy. Secret societies exist by deception. Each is a hierarchy with an inner circle at the top, who deceives those below with lies, such as claiming a noble agenda; thus, duping them into following a web of compartmentalized complicity. The inner circle of the Committee of 300 is the Order of the Garter, headed by Queen Elizabeth Windsor II. It is interesting to note that the Windsor’s changed their name from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha during WWI, because of anti-German sentiment. The enemy is clearly identifiable as the Committee of 300 and its front organizations, such as the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), the Club of Rome, NATO, U.N., the Black Nobility, the Tavistock Institute, CFR and all its affiliated organizations, the think tanks and research institutions controlled by Stanford and the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and last, but certainly not least, the military establishment. The Committee of 300 is the ultimate secret society made up of an untouchable ruling class, which includes the Queen of the United Kingdom (Elizabeth II), the Queen of the Netherlands, the Queen of Denmark and the royal families of Europe. These aristocrats decided at the death of Queen Victoria, the matriarch of the Venetian Black Guelphs that, in order to gain world-wide control, it would be necessary for its aristocratic members to “go into business” with the non-aristocratic but extremely powerful leaders of corporate business on a global scale, and so the doors to ultimate power were opened to what the Queen of England likes to refer to as “the commoners”. Through their illicit banking cartel, they own the stock of the Federal Reserve, which is a private for profit corporation that violates U.S. Constitution and is a root of the problem. The decadent American families of the unholy partnership, thoroughly corrupted and wallowing in tainted opium money, went on to become what we know today as the Eastern Liberal Establishment. Its members, under the careful guidance and direction of the British Crown, and subsequently, its foreign policy executive arm, the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA), now known as Chatham House, located in England (across St. James’s Square from the Astors), ran the United States from top to bottom through their secret upper-level, parallel government, which is tightly meshed with the Committee of 300, the ultimate secret society. That secret, all-powerful government is now more in control of the United States than ever before.  Continued.. I assume this account is taken from John Coleman’s book “Conspirator’s Hierarchy- The Committee of 300.” Below, he is wrong about the date of the mass culling.   Ten Top Aims: 1. A One World Government-New World Order with a unified church and monetary system under their direction. Not many people are aware that the One World Government began setting up its “church” in the 1920’s/ 1930’s, for they realized the need for a religious belief inherent in mankind to have an outlet and, therefore, set up a “church” body to channel that belief in the direction they desired. 2. The utter destruction of all national identity and national pride. 3. The destruction of religion and more especially the Christian religion, with the one exception, their own creation mentioned above. 4. Control of each and every person through means of mind control and what Brzezinski call “technotronics” which would create human-like robots and a system of terror beside which Felix Dzerzinski’s Red Terror will look like children at play. 5. An end to all industrialization and the production of nuclear generated electric power in what they call “the post-industrial zero-growth society.” Exempted are the computer and service industries. United States industries that remain will be exported to countries such as Mexico where abundant slave labour is available. Unemployables in the wake of industrial destruction will either become opium-heroin and or cocaine addicts, or become statistics in the elimination process we know today as Global 2000. 6. Legalization of drugs and pornography. 7. Depopulation of large cities according to the trial run carried out by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. It is interesting to note that Pol Pot’s genocidal plans were drawn up here in the United States by one of the Club of Rome’s research foundations. It is also interesting that the Committee is presently seeking to reinstate the Pol Pot butchers in Cambodia. 8. Suppression of all scientific development except for those deemed beneficial by the Committee. Especially targeted is nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Particularly hated are the fusion experiments presently being scorned and ridiculed by the Committee and its jackals of the press. Development of the fusion torch would blow the Committee’s conception of “limited natural resources” right out of the window. A fusion torch properly used could create unlimited untapped natural resources from the most ordinary substances. Fusion torch uses are legion and would benefit mankind in a manner which is as yet not even remotely comprehended by the public. 9. Cause by means of limited wars in the advanced countries, and by means of starvation and diseases in Third World countries, the death of 3 billion people by the year 2000, people they call “useless eaters.” The Committee of 300 commissioned Cyrus Vance to write a paper on this subject of how best to bring about such genocide. The paper was produced under the title the “Global 2000 Report” and was accepted and approved for action by President Carter, for and on behalf of the U.S. Government, and accepted by Edwin Muskie, then Secretary of State. Under the terms of the Global 2000 Report, the population of the United States is to be reduced by 100 million by the year 2050. 10. To weaken the moral fibre of the nation and to demoralize workers in the labour class by creating mass unemployment. As jobs dwindle due to the post industrial zero growth policies introduced by the Club of Rome, demoralized and discouraged workers will resort to alcohol and drugs. The youth of the land will be encouraged by means of rock music and drugs to rebel against the status quo, thus undermining and eventually destroying the family unit. In this regard The Committee of 300 commissioned Tavistock Institute to prepare a blueprint as to how this could be achieved. Tavistock directed Stanford Research to undertake the work under the direction of Professor Willis Harmon. This work later became known as “The Aquarian Conspiracy.” The Membership List (Type in Name at Wikipedia) Abdullah II King of Jordan

Roman Abramovich

Josef Ackermann

Edward Adeane

Marcus Agius

Martti Ahtisaari

Daniel Akerson

Albert II King of Belgium

Alexander Crown Prince of Yugoslavia

Giuliano Amato

Carl A. Anderson

Giulio Andreotti

Andrew Duke of York

Anne Princess Royal

Nick Anstee

Timothy Garton Ash

William Waldorf Astor

Pyotr Aven

Jan Peter Balkenende

Steve Ballmer

Ed Balls

Jose Manuel Barroso

Beatrix Queen of the Netherlands

Marek Belka

C. Fred Bergsten

Silvio Berlusconi

Ben Bernanke

Nils Bernstein

Donald Berwick

Carl Bildt

Sir Winfried Bischoff

Tony Blair

Lloyd Blankfein

Leonard Blavatnik

Michael Bloomberg

Frits Bolkestein

Hassanal Bolkiah

Michael C Bonello

Emma Bonino

David L. Boren

Borwin Duke of Mecklenburg

Charles Bronfman

Edgar Bronfman Jr.

John Bruton

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Robin Budenberg

Warren Buffett

George HW Bush

David Cameron

Camilla Duchess of Cornwall

Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Peter Carington

Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden

Carlos Duke of Parma

Mark Carney

Cynthia Carroll

Jaime Caruana

Sir William Castell

Anson Chan

Margaret Chan

Norman Chan

Charles Prince of Wales

Richard Chartres

Stefano Delle Chiaie

Dr John Chipman

Patokh Chodiev

Christoph Prince of Schleswig-Holstein

Fabrizio Cicchitto

Wesley Clark

Kenneth Clarke

Nick Clegg

Bill Clinton

Abby Joseph Cohen

Ronald Cohen

Gary Cohn

Marcantonio Colonna di Paliano Duke of Paliano

Constantijn Prince of the Netherlands

Constantine II King of Greece

David Cooksey

Brian Cowen

Sir John Craven

Andrew Crockett

Uri Dadush

Tony D'Aloisio

Alistair Darling

Sir Howard Davies

Etienne Davignon

David Davis

Benjamin de Rothschild

David Rene de Rothschild

Evelyn de Rothschild

Leopold de Rothschild

Joseph Deiss

Oleg Deripaska

Michael Dobson

Mario Draghi

Jan Du Plessis

William C. Dudley

Wim Duisenberg

Edward Duke of Kent

Edward Earl of Wessex

Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom

John Elkann

Vittorio Emanuele Prince of Naples

Ernst August Prince of Hanover

Martin Feldstein

Matthew Festing

François Fillon

Heinz Fischer

Joschka Fischer

Stanley Fischer

Niall FitzGerald

Franz Duke of Bavaria

Mikhail Fridman

Friso Prince of Orange-Nassau

Bill Gates

Christopher Geidt

Timothy Geithner

Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia

Dr Chris Gibson-Smith

Mikhail Gorbachev

Al Gore

Allan Gotlieb

Stephen Green

Alan Greenspan

Gerald Grosvenor 6th Duke of Westminster

Jose Angel Gurria

William Hague

Sir Philip Hampton

Hans-Adam II Prince of Liechtenstein

Harald V King of Norway

Stephen Harper

François Heisbourg

Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Philipp Hildebrand

Carla Anderson Hills

Richard Holbrooke

Patrick Honohan

Alan Howard

Alijan Ibragimov

Stefan Ingves

Walter Isaacson

Juan Carlos King of Spain

Kenneth M. Jacobs

DeAnne Julius

Jean-Claude Juncker

Peter Kenen

John Kerry

Mervyn King

Glenys Kinnock

Henry Kissinger

Malcolm Knight

William H. Koon II

Paul Krugman

John Kufuor

Giovanni Lajolo

Anthony Lake

Richard Lambert

Pascal Lamy

Jean-Pierre Landau

Timothy Laurence

James Leigh-Pemberton

Leka Crown Prince of Albania

Mark Leonard

Peter Levene

Lev Leviev

Arthur Levitt

Michael Levy

Joe Lieberman

Ian Livingston

Lee Hsien Loong

Lorenz of Belgium Archduke of Austria-Este

Louis Alphonse Duke of Anjou

Gerard Louis-Dreyfus

Mabel Princess of Orange-Nassau

Peter Mandelson

Sir David Manning

Margherita Archduchess of Austria-Este

Margrethe II Queen of Denmark

Guillermo Ortiz Martinez

Alexander Mashkevitch

Stefano Massimo Prince of Roccasecca dei Volsci

Fabrizio Massimo-Brancaccio Prince of Arsoli and Triggiano - William Joseph McDonough

Mack McLarty

Yves Mersch

Michael Prince of Kent

Michael King of Romania

David Miliband

Ed Miliband

Lakshmi Mittal

Glen Moreno

Moritz Prince and Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Rupert Murdoch

Charles Napoleon

Jacques Nasser

Robin Niblett

Vincent Nichols

Adolfo Nicolas

Christian Noyer

Sammy Ofer

Alexandra Ogilvy Lady Ogilvy

David Ogilvy 13th Earl of Airlie

Jorma Ollila

Nicky Oppenheimer

George Osborne

Frederic Oudea

Sir John Parker

Chris Patten

Michel Pebereau

Gareth Penny

Shimon Peres

Philip Duke of Edinburgh

Dom Duarte Pio Duke of Braganza

Karl Otto Pohl

Colin Powell

Mikhail Prokhorov

Guy Quaden

Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Joseph Alois Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

David Reuben

Simon Reuben

William R. Rhodes

Susan Rice

Richard Duke of Gloucester

Sir Malcolm Rifkind

Sir John Ritblat

Stephen S. Roach

Mary Robinson

David Rockefeller Jr.

David Rockefeller Sr.

Nicholas Rockefeller

Javier Echevarria Rodriguez

Kenneth Rogoff

Jean-Pierre Roth

Jacob Rothschild

David Rubenstein

Robert Rubin

Francesco Ruspoli 10th Prince of Cerveteri

Joseph Safra

Moises Safra

Peter Sands

Nicolas Sarkozy

Isaac Sassoon

James Sassoon

Sir Robert John Sawers

Marjorie Scardino

Klaus Schwab

Karel Schwarzenberg

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Sidney Shapiro

Nigel Sheinwald

Sigismund Grand Duke of Tuscany Archduke of Austria

Simeon of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Olympia Snowe

Sofia Queen of Spain

George Soros

Arlen Specter

Ernest Stern

Dennis Stevenson

Tom Steyer

Joseph Stiglitz

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Jack Straw

Peter Sutherland

Mary Tanner

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi

Mark Thompson

Dr. James Thomson

Hans Tietmeyer

Jean-Claude Trichet

Paul Tucker

Herman Van Rompuy

Alvaro Uribe Velez

Alfons Verplaetse

Kaspar Villiger

Maria Vladimirovna Grand Duchess of Russia

Paul Volcker

Otto von Habsburg

Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah Sultan of Brunei

Sir David Walker

Jacob Wallenberg

John Walsh

Max Warburg

Axel Alfred Weber

Michael David Weill

Nout Wellink

Marina von Neumann Whitman

Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange

William Prince of Wales

Dr Rowan Williams

Shirley Williams

David Wilson

James Wolfensohn

Neal S. Wolin

Harry Woolf

R. James Jr. Woolsey

Sir Robert Worcester

Sarah Wu

Robert Zoellick

Know your enemy – Committee of 300 Membership List

The Rothschilds and their Go’fers

Here is the “Committee of 300” membership list  for 2010

https://www.henrymakow.com/committee_of_300.html

#Illuminati NWO NewWorldOrder CommitteeOf300 Bilderberg Bilderberger MembershipList Structure Strategies Goals History Functions

[samiam03x]

Simple Customer Retention Tactics to Improve Your Sales Funnel

Maintaining a customer base isn’t easy.

With a slew of industry competitors, consumers can quickly buy products from other brands. It’s vital that your team continue to add value and offer quality service to your customers.

“Customer retention is a byproduct of customer service and experience. Create a good experience, that’s consistent and predictable, and you have a shot at customer retention,” states Shep Hyken, New York Times bestselling author and customer service expert.

Strive to engage with your target audience through personalization. And drive home the importance of loyalty to keep people’s attention.

Your sales funnel isn’t complete without customer retention strategies. Let’s explore your options.

Create an Addictive Brand

A report revealed that “64% of consumers that said they had a strong relationship with a brand cited shared values as the primary reason.” Customers desire an authentic connection with their favorite brands.

Brand addiction begins with consumer listening. Dive deep into behavioral data to discover the interests, attitudes, and opinions of your buyers.

Obtaining this information may include interviewing existing customers or investigating your website analytics. You’re looking for patterns that uncover your buyers’ true purchasing intentions.

Use the common motivation amongst your buyers as a rallying cry to represent your brand’s mission and values. It should be a compelling ideal or a fascinating principle.

Then, develop a marketing strategy that encompasses that ideal. Create content that reinforces the beliefs, and seek to give consumers the opportunity to participate everyday.

As your team slowly builds a movement of followers, cement the brand’s actions as a standard to live by. Lifestyle brands keep loyal customers wanting not only their products, but also the access to stay involved with the company.

Beardbrand is effectively implementing this strategy. The men’s grooming company developed the term “urban beardsman” to unite people who didn’t feel like they fit the traditional beardsman label. On top of that, the brand built a premium customer experience with quality products, no hassle customer service, and no sales pressure.

For retention to stick, give consumers a reason to stay. Brand addiction is a starting point.

Communicate With Customers

Communication is necessary to retain the attention of your customers. Analyze how your brand’s voice, tone, and style affects the buyer.

Customer churn isn’t always contributed to lack of product fit. Sometimes, consumers just can’t make a connection with your brand.

That disconnect may involve inconsistencies in your brand message or the nonexistence of a unique selling point. So, buyers feel lost and can’t relate to your brand.

Humanizing your business is one way to break the mold. Even though people aim for perfection, we can’t identify with it. But what we can understand is the struggle to attain goals. And that’s what Inc. contributor Alex Honeysett recommends:

“Brands tend to keep their creepy bits hidden because it can feel like those weaknesses will make them seem less legit, but sharing the hard times and how you overcame them is actually what will help your clients get to know you, connect with you, and ultimately, cheer you on.”

Research shows that “60% of customers change their contact channel depending on where they are and what they’re doing.” Are you using the customer’s preferred method of communication?

Loyal customers are busy individuals juggling life’s demands. Ask them what’s the best way for your team to send messages. From email to SMS to Twitter, give your buyers several options to learn about your products and promotions.

Identify with the customer on a personal level, and determine if you’re using the right mode of communication.

Personalize When Possible

Personalization is a cornerstone of marketing initiatives. Without it, your business falls victim to treating every customer the same.

Studies confirm that “74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized.” Consumers consider their experiences to be different from their peers. Therefore, it’s key to combine data and technology to offer customized content.

Hubspot offers the capability to personalize the website experience for customers. After a first-time visitor completes a form, her next visit to the site generates a personalized message. In the example below, Jane is now a customer in the company’s system.

Image Source

Segmentation is a tool to personalize interactions with your customers. Grouping your target audience based on purchasing history, location, and site activity is beneficial to satisfying consumer’s needs.

For instance, if you knew Bob always buys your product around mid-month, your team is equipped to send him a reminder email. It takes no extra effort on your part, but it offers a convenience to the buyer and closes another sale.

The best personalization strategy involves consistency. Every communication should reflect your company’s eagerness to know your customers. So, find ways to infuse customization in your emails, live chat sessions, and video tutorials.

Make consumers feel at home when they shop with you. Study their behaviors to spot customization opportunities.

Educate About Product Value

Value is a very subjective concept. What’s valuable to one person may be useless to someone else.

Loyalty is built by educating customers about the value of your products. They must recognize what makes your brand special and why buying your products makes them special.

Create webinars, ebooks, or even social media campaigns to inform your target audience. Give them reasons why sticking with your brand is the best choice for them.

“A customer might be hesitant to initially have you provide additional education, but this is key to establishing value. The cost of the educational session to you is minimal…the value the customer receives can be huge,” says Mark Hunter, a sales expert and author.

Social proof can help your team showcase your product’s value. Highlight how your services are solving problems and producing results for consumers.

Go beyond the traditional testimonials. Try producing a video series with real customers talking about their experiences.

Education is powerful for persuading consumers. Earn people’s trust by simply sharing your stories.

Gamify to Drive Loyalty

Quality gamification centers around improving engagement. It acts a bridge to facilitate better brand interactions with customers.

Before designing any game-like platform, gather intel about customer motivations. What encourages them to take action? Are they influenced by internal or external forces?

Learn what keeps consumers interested and how they react to different incentivized situations. This knowledge will help your team build rewards that matter to the buyer.

But don’t dwell too much on the details. At the end of the day, gamification is meant to be a fun experience for your loyal fans.

“The gamification of usually mundane processes can make a customer’s interaction with your offerings more enjoyable. GrubHub, HSN and Coca-Cola have all offered games as an incentive to interact with their company or to make a previous process more exciting,” writes Brian Honigman, CEO of Honigman Media.

Victoria’s Secret Dream Holiday Rewards program invited a select group of customers to collect hearts for making purchases and engaging with the brand. The tiered structure persuaded participants to continue the behavior. The campaign ended with customers earning eReward cards and the brand increasing sales.

Spice up retention programs with gamification. Every customer deserves some excitement.

Improve Your Sales Funnel

Shift your business focus to retaining more customers. By understanding their needs, you’ll gain more sales.

Develop a lifestyle brand that educates and entertains your audience. Personalize the shopping experience to build authentic relationships. And experiment with gamification to enhance loyalty programs.

Employ a few of these customer retention tactics to boost your revenue.

Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more.

About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.

http://ift.tt/2iNfUPG from MarketingRSS http://ift.tt/2hVKrGL via Youtube

[marie85marketing]

Simple Customer Retention Tactics to Improve Your Sales Funnel

Maintaining a customer base isn’t easy.

With a slew of industry competitors, consumers can quickly buy products from other brands. It’s vital that your team continue to add value and offer quality service to your customers.

“Customer retention is a byproduct of customer service and experience. Create a good experience, that’s consistent and predictable, and you have a shot at customer retention,” states Shep Hyken, New York Times bestselling author and customer service expert.

Strive to engage with your target audience through personalization. And drive home the importance of loyalty to keep people’s attention.

Your sales funnel isn’t complete without customer retention strategies. Let’s explore your options.

Create an Addictive Brand

A report revealed that “64% of consumers that said they had a strong relationship with a brand cited shared values as the primary reason.” Customers desire an authentic connection with their favorite brands.

Brand addiction begins with consumer listening. Dive deep into behavioral data to discover the interests, attitudes, and opinions of your buyers.

Obtaining this information may include interviewing existing customers or investigating your website analytics. You’re looking for patterns that uncover your buyers’ true purchasing intentions.

Use the common motivation amongst your buyers as a rallying cry to represent your brand’s mission and values. It should be a compelling ideal or a fascinating principle.

Then, develop a marketing strategy that encompasses that ideal. Create content that reinforces the beliefs, and seek to give consumers the opportunity to participate everyday.

As your team slowly builds a movement of followers, cement the brand’s actions as a standard to live by. Lifestyle brands keep loyal customers wanting not only their products, but also the access to stay involved with the company.

Beardbrand is effectively implementing this strategy. The men’s grooming company developed the term “urban beardsman” to unite people who didn’t feel like they fit the traditional beardsman label. On top of that, the brand built a premium customer experience with quality products, no hassle customer service, and no sales pressure.

For retention to stick, give consumers a reason to stay. Brand addiction is a starting point.

Communicate With Customers

Communication is necessary to retain the attention of your customers. Analyze how your brand’s voice, tone, and style affects the buyer.

Customer churn isn’t always contributed to lack of product fit. Sometimes, consumers just can’t make a connection with your brand.

That disconnect may involve inconsistencies in your brand message or the nonexistence of a unique selling point. So, buyers feel lost and can’t relate to your brand.

Humanizing your business is one way to break the mold. Even though people aim for perfection, we can’t identify with it. But what we can understand is the struggle to attain goals. And that’s what Inc. contributor Alex Honeysett recommends:

“Brands tend to keep their creepy bits hidden because it can feel like those weaknesses will make them seem less legit, but sharing the hard times and how you overcame them is actually what will help your clients get to know you, connect with you, and ultimately, cheer you on.”

Research shows that “60% of customers change their contact channel depending on where they are and what they’re doing.” Are you using the customer’s preferred method of communication?

Loyal customers are busy individuals juggling life’s demands. Ask them what’s the best way for your team to send messages. From email to SMS to Twitter, give your buyers several options to learn about your products and promotions.

Identify with the customer on a personal level, and determine if you’re using the right mode of communication.

Personalize When Possible

Personalization is a cornerstone of marketing initiatives. Without it, your business falls victim to treating every customer the same.

Studies confirm that “74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized.” Consumers consider their experiences to be different from their peers. Therefore, it’s key to combine data and technology to offer customized content.

Hubspot offers the capability to personalize the website experience for customers. After a first-time visitor completes a form, her next visit to the site generates a personalized message. In the example below, Jane is now a customer in the company’s system.

Image Source

Segmentation is a tool to personalize interactions with your customers. Grouping your target audience based on purchasing history, location, and site activity is beneficial to satisfying consumer’s needs.

For instance, if you knew Bob always buys your product around mid-month, your team is equipped to send him a reminder email. It takes no extra effort on your part, but it offers a convenience to the buyer and closes another sale.

The best personalization strategy involves consistency. Every communication should reflect your company’s eagerness to know your customers. So, find ways to infuse customization in your emails, live chat sessions, and video tutorials.

Make consumers feel at home when they shop with you. Study their behaviors to spot customization opportunities.

Educate About Product Value

Value is a very subjective concept. What’s valuable to one person may be useless to someone else.

Loyalty is built by educating customers about the value of your products. They must recognize what makes your brand special and why buying your products makes them special.

Create webinars, ebooks, or even social media campaigns to inform your target audience. Give them reasons why sticking with your brand is the best choice for them.

“A customer might be hesitant to initially have you provide additional education, but this is key to establishing value. The cost of the educational session to you is minimal…the value the customer receives can be huge,” says Mark Hunter, a sales expert and author.

Social proof can help your team showcase your product’s value. Highlight how your services are solving problems and producing results for consumers.

Go beyond the traditional testimonials. Try producing a video series with real customers talking about their experiences.

Education is powerful for persuading consumers. Earn people’s trust by simply sharing your stories.

Gamify to Drive Loyalty

Quality gamification centers around improving engagement. It acts a bridge to facilitate better brand interactions with customers.

Before designing any game-like platform, gather intel about customer motivations. What encourages them to take action? Are they influenced by internal or external forces?

Learn what keeps consumers interested and how they react to different incentivized situations. This knowledge will help your team build rewards that matter to the buyer.

But don’t dwell too much on the details. At the end of the day, gamification is meant to be a fun experience for your loyal fans.

“The gamification of usually mundane processes can make a customer’s interaction with your offerings more enjoyable. GrubHub, HSN and Coca-Cola have all offered games as an incentive to interact with their company or to make a previous process more exciting,” writes Brian Honigman, CEO of Honigman Media.

Victoria’s Secret Dream Holiday Rewards program invited a select group of customers to collect hearts for making purchases and engaging with the brand. The tiered structure persuaded participants to continue the behavior. The campaign ended with customers earning eReward cards and the brand increasing sales.

Spice up retention programs with gamification. Every customer deserves some excitement.

Improve Your Sales Funnel

Shift your business focus to retaining more customers. By understanding their needs, you’ll gain more sales.

Develop a lifestyle brand that educates and entertains your audience. Personalize the shopping experience to build authentic relationships. And experiment with gamification to enhance loyalty programs.

Employ a few of these customer retention tactics to boost your revenue.

Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more.

About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.

[dianesaddler]

Simple Customer Retention Tactics to Improve Your Sales Funnel

Maintaining a customer base isn’t easy.

With a slew of industry competitors, consumers can quickly buy products from other brands. It’s vital that your team continue to add value and offer quality service to your customers.

“Customer retention is a byproduct of customer service and experience. Create a good experience, that’s consistent and predictable, and you have a shot at customer retention,” states Shep Hyken, New York Times bestselling author and customer service expert.

Strive to engage with your target audience through personalization. And drive home the importance of loyalty to keep people’s attention.

Your sales funnel isn’t complete without customer retention strategies. Let’s explore your options.

Create an Addictive Brand

A report revealed that “64% of consumers that said they had a strong relationship with a brand cited shared values as the primary reason.” Customers desire an authentic connection with their favorite brands.

Brand addiction begins with consumer listening. Dive deep into behavioral data to discover the interests, attitudes, and opinions of your buyers.

Obtaining this information may include interviewing existing customers or investigating your website analytics. You’re looking for patterns that uncover your buyers’ true purchasing intentions.

Use the common motivation amongst your buyers as a rallying cry to represent your brand’s mission and values. It should be a compelling ideal or a fascinating principle.

Then, develop a marketing strategy that encompasses that ideal. Create content that reinforces the beliefs, and seek to give consumers the opportunity to participate everyday.

As your team slowly builds a movement of followers, cement the brand’s actions as a standard to live by. Lifestyle brands keep loyal customers wanting not only their products, but also the access to stay involved with the company.

Beardbrand is effectively implementing this strategy. The men’s grooming company developed the term “urban beardsman” to unite people who didn’t feel like they fit the traditional beardsman label. On top of that, the brand built a premium customer experience with quality products, no hassle customer service, and no sales pressure.

For retention to stick, give consumers a reason to stay. Brand addiction is a starting point.

Communicate With Customers

Communication is necessary to retain the attention of your customers. Analyze how your brand’s voice, tone, and style affects the buyer.

Customer churn isn’t always contributed to lack of product fit. Sometimes, consumers just can’t make a connection with your brand.

That disconnect may involve inconsistencies in your brand message or the nonexistence of a unique selling point. So, buyers feel lost and can’t relate to your brand.

Humanizing your business is one way to break the mold. Even though people aim for perfection, we can’t identify with it. But what we can understand is the struggle to attain goals. And that’s what Inc. contributor Alex Honeysett recommends:

“Brands tend to keep their creepy bits hidden because it can feel like those weaknesses will make them seem less legit, but sharing the hard times and how you overcame them is actually what will help your clients get to know you, connect with you, and ultimately, cheer you on.”

Research shows that “60% of customers change their contact channel depending on where they are and what they’re doing.” Are you using the customer’s preferred method of communication?

Loyal customers are busy individuals juggling life’s demands. Ask them what’s the best way for your team to send messages. From email to SMS to Twitter, give your buyers several options to learn about your products and promotions.

Identify with the customer on a personal level, and determine if you’re using the right mode of communication.

Personalize When Possible

Personalization is a cornerstone of marketing initiatives. Without it, your business falls victim to treating every customer the same.

Studies confirm that “74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized.” Consumers consider their experiences to be different from their peers. Therefore, it’s key to combine data and technology to offer customized content.

Hubspot offers the capability to personalize the website experience for customers. After a first-time visitor completes a form, her next visit to the site generates a personalized message. In the example below, Jane is now a customer in the company’s system.

Image Source

Segmentation is a tool to personalize interactions with your customers. Grouping your target audience based on purchasing history, location, and site activity is beneficial to satisfying consumer’s needs.

For instance, if you knew Bob always buys your product around mid-month, your team is equipped to send him a reminder email. It takes no extra effort on your part, but it offers a convenience to the buyer and closes another sale.

The best personalization strategy involves consistency. Every communication should reflect your company’s eagerness to know your customers. So, find ways to infuse customization in your emails, live chat sessions, and video tutorials.

Make consumers feel at home when they shop with you. Study their behaviors to spot customization opportunities.

Educate About Product Value

Value is a very subjective concept. What’s valuable to one person may be useless to someone else.

Loyalty is built by educating customers about the value of your products. They must recognize what makes your brand special and why buying your products makes them special.

Create webinars, ebooks, or even social media campaigns to inform your target audience. Give them reasons why sticking with your brand is the best choice for them.

“A customer might be hesitant to initially have you provide additional education, but this is key to establishing value. The cost of the educational session to you is minimal…the value the customer receives can be huge,” says Mark Hunter, a sales expert and author.

Social proof can help your team showcase your product’s value. Highlight how your services are solving problems and producing results for consumers.

Go beyond the traditional testimonials. Try producing a video series with real customers talking about their experiences.

Education is powerful for persuading consumers. Earn people’s trust by simply sharing your stories.

Gamify to Drive Loyalty

Quality gamification centers around improving engagement. It acts a bridge to facilitate better brand interactions with customers.

Before designing any game-like platform, gather intel about customer motivations. What encourages them to take action? Are they influenced by internal or external forces?

Learn what keeps consumers interested and how they react to different incentivized situations. This knowledge will help your team build rewards that matter to the buyer.

But don’t dwell too much on the details. At the end of the day, gamification is meant to be a fun experience for your loyal fans.

“The gamification of usually mundane processes can make a customer’s interaction with your offerings more enjoyable. GrubHub, HSN and Coca-Cola have all offered games as an incentive to interact with their company or to make a previous process more exciting,” writes Brian Honigman, CEO of Honigman Media.

Victoria’s Secret Dream Holiday Rewards program invited a select group of customers to collect hearts for making purchases and engaging with the brand. The tiered structure persuaded participants to continue the behavior. The campaign ended with customers earning eReward cards and the brand increasing sales.

Spice up retention programs with gamification. Every customer deserves some excitement.

Improve Your Sales Funnel

Shift your business focus to retaining more customers. By understanding their needs, you’ll gain more sales.

Develop a lifestyle brand that educates and entertains your audience. Personalize the shopping experience to build authentic relationships. And experiment with gamification to enhance loyalty programs.

Employ a few of these customer retention tactics to boost your revenue.

Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more.

About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.

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