Fighting Violence with Sympathy

Senior partner at McCue & Partners Jason McCue draws an amazing comparison between terrorism and branding in his powerful delivery of his anti-terrorism keynote.

Traditional perspectives of anti-terrorism often consist of retaliation with similar violent methods, but McCue suggests societies and governments to take a more modernist approach by utilizing one of the most powerful non-combative weapons: drawing sympathy from victims. The issue, he points out, is that society often sympathizes deeply but ignores quickly.

As a brand, terrorism suffers from a major Achilles' heel, which is requiring consumers to buy into and support them. The only way to reduce their market is to attack that brand, not as a similar brand of violence and retaliation but one that emphasizes compassion in human beings. Similar to Pepsi's attacks on Coca-Cola, McCue explains, it's difficult for consumers to believe the former since they are both competing brands. Only when the government rebrands itself as an entirely different product, shattering the illusion of heroism in violent acts, can they successfully obtain more followers on their end.