Post-Truth Selling

The year-end charting fixation sees logovores the world over rush to crown their word of the year. Brexit via Collins is already in. Now Oxford try and snare the Left’s approval with post-truth;

“relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”

Well, I believe this adjective is way less the lexical label for 2016 (it didn’t even make the Collins list) than last year’s perfect ‘tears of joy’ emoji. If only hygge sounded different than a sighing wretch. But let’s deal with Sales implication here nonetheless.

First off, there is a dark side to this construct.

Namely that extremes of the political spectrum are said to conflate populism with fibbing by the comfortable mainstream. Hence post-truth politics being thought (currently most vocally by the losers of recent elections) to be the reason why their views did not prevail. (Despite both sides merrily engaging in the self-same tactics.)

One aspect gaining traction right now – especially because the new Google ceo seems to think they must act on it – is “fake news”. Bounders pumping myriad deliberately made-up stories into the newsfeeds of apparently easily manipulated voters.

As if satire is not already too often misunderstood. And the meme factory that is 4chan doesn’t influence at all.

Link this with the trend towards screenscrolling stopping at (outrageous) headlines (“Pope endorses Trump” being a favourite) and forwarded regardless to those only inside your ‘echo chamber’, so merely reaffirming your entrenched views, then smoke can duly rise.

I sense the important selling point is its slant ‘in which objective facts are less influential than appeals to emotion’.

The wordworms note “the new implication that truth itself has become irrelevant”.

The point is, that in solution selling this is certainly on the money.

You can have all the compelling data, irrefutable numbers and “true facts” you like, but the decision to buy remains 100% emotional.

Too many a bid focuses obsessively and solely on “objective facts”. When it is “appeals to emotion” that seal the deal.

So it seems like elements of post-truth selling have always been with us.

Particularly felt by any of us ever frustrated that opponents undermine, belittle or alter our facts ‘n figures. Let alone promote theirs that appear to have zero grounding in reality.

For facts add feelings.

Without bringing falsehoods into play, how are you ’emotioning’ to succeed? So ensuring your bid is properly “post-problem” in the eyes of your potential buyers.