Author: admin

There’s a psychological technique called gaslighting which is incredibly potent especially in persuasive situations.

A few nights ago I was watching TV, just flipping around aimlessly, and came upon an old episode of M*A*S*H. In this episode, BJ is bored and to entertain himself he cooks up a plan for amusement at Winchester’s expense.

BJ, the prankster, while Winchester is out, takes a pair of his pants and replaces them with a pair several sizes too large. When Winchester changes into them, BJ is there and casually makes a comment that he’s looking sick and that maybe he’s got a virus or worse.

After a while, BJ changes out Winchester’s pants again, this time for a much smaller pair, and when Winchester puts on this pair, BJ is quick to comment on how much weight Winchester has gained which sends the vain Winchester into a frenzy, prompting him to go on a strict diet.

Having observed this all, Hawkeye asks BJ, “What’s next?”

To which BJ responds, “Tomorrow he gets taller.”

BJ’s prank is a perfect illustration of gaslighting. He, of course, was engaged in a harmless prank. Yet gaslighting has a very nefarious potential. And the main reason I’m writing about it is so that if you find yourself at the receiving end of this technique, you’ll know how to protect yourself.

As with all the techniques I teach, I want to emphasize that these strategies are incredibly powerful and are developed to help with persuasion and should be used ethically with your prospects.

The term gaslighting came from the 1944 film of the same name and came to be defined as the ruthless manipulation of a person into believing something that isn’t true.

The plot of ‘Gaslighting’ involves a husband who wants his wife out of the way. He goes about this by trying to make her seem insane, which in those days resulted in an extended stay in a mental institution. He manipulated her into doubting her sense of reality.

Understanding and influencing how your affluent prospect interprets their reality is an integral part of persuasion.

The technique of gaslighting has five main strategies.

The first way to employ this strategy is through the use of repetitive questioning. When you do this, you plant seeds of doubt in the mind of the person you’re trying to influence.

You can see this tactic used on game shows, where the host will ask the contestant, “Are you sure? How sure are you? Is this your final answer?” This supposedly (though I can’t see it) raises the level of anticipation and sometimes causes the contestant to doubt themselves.

This can be accomplished without even speaking. Picture someone cocking their head, raising their eyebrow. This can install in the receiver that doubt putting them off guard.

It works all the better if you come off as having their best interest in mind.

The second step in this strategy is to point out things that aren’t there.

By using this strategy, you’re undermining a sense of reality. Conversely it can be used to point out qualities and assets in a person who has no idea that these qualities exist within them (especially if they don’t exist within them).

Appealing to someone’s sense of ego and vanity is one way to use this. Think of former bosses or clients or prospects or authority figures, whose egos needed massaging. This is a form of gaslighting.

If the ego massage is completely without merit and the compliments are baseless, then you’ll most likely be discovered. Use subtlety with tiny portions of reality.

Strategy number three is primarily for the use of experts–someone who has specialized knowledge or divine access to information which you haven’t the ‘connections’ to learn. . .i.e. think therapist, minister, psychics. They have very esoteric, mysterious or specialized knowledge that will give you the answer you seek. Rather, the answer that they wish for you to believe you seek.

This phenomenon causes the client to lower defenses and be more trusting and dependent. This may be part of the reason patients sometimes develop crushes on their therapists.

Strategy number four is to reveal the secret thoughts of others.

Another term for this: gossip. But it’s a specialized gossip, maneuvering the person in an attempt to give them ‘insight’ or a heads up about what others are saying and thereby establishing you as the one who cares enough to know the truth in driving a wedge between them and the others you name.

It helps to install positive behavior. Encouragement and praise are more powerful than derision and destruction.

The final strategy employed in gaslighting is to use the mighty power of the many against the fragile power of the one.

This is used by kids in the schoolyard, politicians, religious leaders, in the media, military and educational system. It’s basically an adult version ‘ganging up’.

It’s a group think straight out of 1984.

Being ganged up on is not fun. If you stand alone, it’s difficult to maintain your position.

As you can see, gaslighting isn’t necessarily a nice practice. It is designed into trick someone into doubting themselves and their own sanity. But there are ways that gaslighting can be used for a positive outcome. You have to decide whether it’s the right thing to use this technique and when it’s the right time not to use it.

Brand is nothing but thoughts and association in the mind of the customers. A brand belongs with the customers and not in the board room so it is more important to understand who our customers are and what they want from the brand. Customer choice has the power which has made brands like football and Amitabh Bachchan.

Therefore if you think about a successful brand, few other related things will also come to mind along with the brand name like, associated colour, person, quality etc. All the successful brands display few common characteristics which have made them so big.

Standing brands are true to the core, knowing who they are and displaying their real characteristics. They are distinctive and brilliant in they own field and stand out of the crowd. Such brands are evocative thereby generate emotions and feelings among the customers. These companies retain authenticity and creativity, and keep surprising their customers. Not only this, they are champions in their industry, become leaders and not followers and create opinions. They know how to engage their staff and customers.

But such an achievement is not an overnight task. You have to be ready with a complete brand strategy to make your business a true brand. Brand strategy is a continuous effort to build a brands perceived value. To build a strategy which will take your brand to a desired value will need a lot of research and planning.

Research has to be external as well internal. You need to look within before you look outside your company. Talk to your staff and stakeholders to understand what they perceive from your brand and how they think it can be improved. Study of customer trends, profiles and behaviour is also important to understand the changes and foresee the upcoming trends.

Once you do the internal review look around and talk to your customers. Try to take customer feedback to learn what you lack and what does your customer actually want. Understanding brand awareness, your customer perception, buying reasons and purchase behaviour are necessary too. This will give idea of where you are and how do you need to strategies.

Competitor analysis and research is another essential element that cannot be neglected. You should be aware of your competitors and their capabilities. Know your competitors; learn about their concepts, their touch points and their unique selling proposition. This analysis will give you a head start since you will be aware of the areas where you have to emphasise more and have idea of creating a distinctive image in the market which has multiple players.

Once all necessary research work is done you are ready to step into the next level; that is to strategies a plan that will take the brand to desired position. The crucial thing at this stage is to ensure that you engage your team at all levels to highlight your unique personality and determine your position. This will highlight your company values, beliefs and characteristics. Determining position in the market is important as you will define your target group and segment. Before you enter a market you should know your audience, then only you can focus on what they want and not what you want to sell.

Once you determine your position and personality it is easy to communicate to your audience with the right message. You can also use your experience and customer feedback to create an emotional appeal.

The next step is to put the plan into action and work towards nurturing your brand. Improve brand experience by developing good culture using creativity and initiating activities which are brand focused and integrated with the brand.

Other elements which move around your brand like brand management and control system should not be neglected as these are those factors which work towards the maintenance of the brand and are not noticed if they are performed well. But once these elements are neglected, brand health will start deteriorating.

Therefore brand strategy is a long and continuous process which involves important decision making in order to take the brand from perceived level to desired level. A lot can be learned from stable brands since they have struggled hard to create an image and sustained against all the competitors in the market.