New Zealand: Racism Needs Your Help to Survive

New Zealand, a peaceful country in the South Pacific with relatively high ethnic diversity, is facing a growing number of complaints concerning racial discrimination according to the country’s human rights commission.  To curb this trend, they’ve launched a clever campaign to reframe the debate within the country.

The tone of a conversation is set very early on, which means asking the right questions at the beginning is crucial to convincing your audience.  At DeltaMV, we like to call these ‘influential questions’ because of their power to set the frame of reference.

The anti-racism campaign in New Zealand aims to shift the frame of reference. Rather than taking the traditional approach of denouncing the evils of racism, the campaign is tackling the issue head on.  The campaign doesn’t tell us how to stop racism; it shows us how to help it grow.  Instead of criticizing behaviours that we may all have been guilty of at some point, this video reframes the issue by making us reconsider our role in the growth of racism.

In other words, it doesn’t just use facts.  It forces us to challenge our own beliefs and perspectives by reframing the conversation.

In marketing, it’s clear that facts don’t always change customers’ opinions.  Often, there are very few differences between brands.  So what is different?  It’s the story, the reference point, and the perception of value around a product or brand.  How can you reshape the conversation around your product to appeal to customers in terms of lifetime or tangible value?