The Power of Positive Language: Creating Inspiring Messaging

People are attracted to the positive. 

Whether it's unconvinced voters, potential customers, or possible allies in a social justice movement, people gravitate towards inspiring messaging, ideas, and feelings. 

It's pretty simple when you think about it. We all want to live good lives. We want things to get better. And we want to believe that they will. 

We want to take part in something significant. We want to engage in positive action. 

Perhaps most importantly, we want to feel good. 

A successful social justice campaign, social media advertisement, or political slogan should put forth a positive and active vision. It should give people something to look forward to. 

Even the most rational among us still often make decisions based on vague emotions and feelings. 

Messaging should be designed with this in mind. It should instill a positive feeling. It should make life feel meaningful and enjoyable. 

I have been observing political, social, and advertising messaging for years, and a clear pattern has emerged: campaigns that focus on something positive are the most effective. And uninspiring or negative messaging consistently gets poor results. 

As an example, this past month in the Anchorage mayoral race, I watched as yet another promising and qualified Democratic political candidate lost to a conservative opponent with little experience and many problematic views. 

And yet again, I couldn't help thinking that the messaging had a lot to do with it. 

One candidate campaigned on "fact-based leadership." 

The other candidate promised to take Anchorage in "A new direction."

Can you guess which slogan the winning candidate used? 

Spoiler: "A new direction" easily beat "fact-based leadership."

Let's momentarily set aside the fact that "A new direction" in this case likely means a move toward an extremely conservative agenda that will try to erode the civil and human rights of marginalized peoples. 

Instead, let's focus on the language itself. "A new direction" is a positive and active vision for the future. It is something people can participate in, believe in, and imagine. 

In contrast, "fact-based leadership" offers little to no inspiration. It conjures images of elite policy-makers shuffling papers around. 

Of course, this is just one example. Is this really a pattern? 

Let's consider some past presidential campaigns.  

In 2008, President Barack Obama used the slogans "Hope," "Yes We Can," and "Change We Can Believe In." That messaging proved wildly successful. Especially in contrast to his opponent John McCain's lackluster slogan "Country First." 

In 2016, Hilary Clinton chose the slogan "I'm With Her." That messaging proved disastrous. "I'm With Her" is passive and relatively disempowering. It focuses on the candidate, rather than empowering the voter/consumer. Moreover, Clinton's campaign focused on a message of "Not Trump." That's a negative, fear-based message that doesn't inspire. 

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, clearly communicated a positive and inclusive vision. Sanders frequently talked about how "we are creating a movement." One of his slogans was "A Future to Believe In." He created an inspiring campaign that made people feel significant. 

Even though Sanders didn't win, his success was remarkable considering how progressive his platform was and how he didn't rely on "big money" to support his campaign. And it shows how positive, active, inclusive messaging succeeds. Indeed, many of the positive changes and visions he sought are now being advanced through policy and legislation. 

There are countless other political examples. And, finally, it appears that establishment Democrats are realizing that their messaging needs work. 

But the bottom line is this: in general, positive, empowering, and active messaging wins out over negative, passive, or neutral messaging. 

What about positive messaging in advertising? 

I'll just give three quick examples: 

McDonald's is famous for "I'm Lovin' It." 

Nike's well-known slogan is "Just Do It." 

And Taco Bell used "Think Outside the Bun" for many years. 

All three of these are positive and active messages. Each one arguably leaves the consumer with a good feeling.

With McDonald's, it is the warm comfort and joy of the word "loving." With Nike, "do it" is empowering and provides a specific call to action. And with Taco Bell, "Think Outside the Bun" is a fun and creative message that gets people excited for innovative items like the Crunchwrap Supreme. 

And in stark contrast to corporations co-opting human feelings and needs to make a profit, there is Black Lives Matter. This racial justice movement is an incredible example of the power of positive messaging. The creators chose to center and emphasize the value of Black lives. This creates an empowering feeling and inspires action. 

In conclusion, creating inspiring messaging means using active and empowering language that is focused on the positive feeling behind the message. 

This is true in activism, political campaigns, advertising, social media marketing, and daily life. 

Positive messaging is powerful. And positive messaging is all about creating and sharing a positive vision or feeling that people can identify with and believe in.