Bite Size Comms
Bite Size Comms is a weekly podcast that will give you a perspective on an aspect of public relations and communications practice. Bite size as they are short opinion pieces on topical issues. The episodes are sometimes contentious, sometimes funny, and they all aim to provoke thought.
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Bite Size Comms
Think Feel Do
Think, Feel, Do is a well-known marketing model for designing advertising content. Is it relevant to Public Relations? Yes! We will look at what this model means and use examples of its application in PR campaigns.
Think, Feel, Do
Think, Feel, Do (TFD) is a well-known marketing model for designing advertising content. Is it relevant to Public Relations? Yes!
The TFD model helps us understand and influence three key stages of people’s psychology and behaviour.
🤔 Think: This focuses on what people believe or know about something, addressing their evaluation. It is a cognitive driver.
😘 Feel: This explores people's emotional connection with an organisation and what it does, aiming to create a strong relationship through storytelling and personalisation. An emotional driver.
😀 Do: This targets the desired action or behaviour the organisation wants people to take through persuasion and influence. A behavioural driver.
In PR, we might label the cognitive driver as ‘raising awareness’, a rational approach in which we provide facts, case studies, examples, and data. The emotional driver of good old ‘storytelling’ is about building a connection between what we communicate and the audience. The behavioural driver is ‘persuasion’, which is the focus of much of our content.
TFD, as a concept, aligns with psychological theories of motivation and decision-making. It is an interplay between thoughts (rational evaluation), feelings (emotional resonance), and actions (behavioural outcomes).
Some quick examples of TFD applied to PR campaigns.
To address strained services in the NHS:
🤔 Think: Encourage audiences to understand that healthcare services are under pressure.
😘 Feel: Foster feelings of support and positivity toward the NHS.
😀 Do: Motivate actions such as calling non-emergency 111 instead of visiting A&E at hospitals unnecessarily.
In a corporate thought leadership campaign:
🤔 Think: Position the company as an authority by sharing insightful research and data.
😘 Feel: Build trust and emotional resonance with the audience through storytelling.
😀 Do: Drive specific actions, such as downloading reports.
Within an internal communication change programme:
🤔 Think: Clarify the rationale behind the organisational change.
😘 Feel: Address emotional responses about the transition.
😀 Do: Encourage employees to adopt new behaviours.
And a recycling awareness campaign:
🤔 Think: educate the audience about how to recycle correctly and its environmental benefits.
😘 Feel: Evoke concern for environmental degradation and pride in contributing to sustainability.
😀 Do: Encourage actions like sorting waste correctly.
For history buffs, TFD doesn’t have a definitive creator. Instead, it evolved from the Awareness Interest Desire Action (AIDA) framework introduced by E. St. Elmo Lewis in the late 19th century and popularised by C. P. Russell in 1921 — some years ago!
Think, Feel, Do. Think about it!
[Image: TheMarketingHustle.com on Unsplash]
