Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
FUD campaigns are typical business tactics used to drive decision making. It isn't an altogether bad idea from a marketing standpoint - while a product can stand on its own merits anything legal that you can do to build a customer base is fair game.Enterprise businesses - especially Fortune 100 businesses are very susceptible to FUD strategies because they have a great and long standing history of bad experiences to draw from. Fear of lawsuits - even defensible ones, and even worse - fear of making a career ending decision for people who have spent a lifetime getting to the top of the food chain can be very strong driving factors in the decision making process.
Mass Market FUD
Mass market FUD isn't anything new either. You can see FUD campaigns throughout history - from the Red Scare to the idea that Betamax would destroy the entertainment industry.What bothers me about Mass Market FUD is that it has been adopted so widely in recent years - very much so in the technology sector and in U.S. politics. What is most disconcerting is that average people are very susceptible to these things and can live lifetimes without actually performing a logical analysis of that which defines their core beliefs.
Fear Based Politics
What worries me most about fear based politics is that frenzied citizens not only make bad decisions, but they end up making a lengthy series of bad decisions. Take the current Presidential Administration as an example.We've gone to war not once, but twice based on an unrealistic fear of people literally on the other side of the world. I'm not going to go the easy route and blame Bush for the war and say that going to war was a terrible decision. The truth is that the entire country wanted to do it and it was the only decision to make.
The problem lies in the fact that as a nation we ended up going down the wrong path. With scandals coming up left and right - the people knee jerked again and pushed a party shift in congress that all but guaranteed disarray until the next Presidential election.
Further - there is no doubt in my mind that the next President will be a Democrat. Not because a Democrat represents what is best for our nation, but as retribution. Looking at the pool of Democrats it very much looks like Hillary Clinton will be the next President. She has great marketing and everyone wants to go back to the DotCom boom days again. Sounds great, but there is nothing to indicate that she will drive economic growth. In fact, her primary message seems to be socialized medicine - which is unrealistic and if implemented would destroy one of the strongest areas of innovation our nation has. Not to mention the vast economic toll that would take place as a result.
FUD politics has gotten to the point where good decision making is the territory of fringe candidates and voters are little more than mythical lemmings looking for new cliffs.
The cycle isn't going to end anytime soon. While the cold war ended more than 20 years ago with the fall of the U.S.S.R. - if you have a conversation with anybody over the age of 40 about communism you will plainly hear the backdrop of Wilson and Palmer's campaign from the early 1900's.
Technology FUD
Politics is one thing. This nation has stood above all others through much more difficult times than we currently live in. FUD in the information technology industry has proven to be an all to effective and all too frequently used marketing technique that has pushed a few companies to greatness while stifling enormous amounts of progress.It has never been easy for 2 guys in a garage to put together a revolutionary business. The technology revolution that America has undergone truly changed that - and that time is now gone. It's no longer about building a revolutionary product. Now it's all about the strength of the non-product related business plan - have you filed patents, can you defend patents, can you sustain energy through the inevitable counter-marketing campaigns from inferior products with stronger financial backing?
The guys in white fedoras are guilty too. Since when does the best road map for propagating innovation involve demonization of the most successful innovators?
Stop, Look, and Listen
Fear is a great tool. Abuse of fear based marketing can lead you down a terrible road - and it can leave your market position plainly vulnerable. It's just one of many tools in the toolbox and it should be used sparingly. The more sparingly it is used, the greater its effect on the overall decision making process of your target market.Too few people actually perform logical analysis in their decision making process. If you analyze what is in front of you at the very least you end up being aware that you are making a decision based on FUD. If you get that uncertain feeling - look to alternate information resources for more information.
Be intelligent in your decision making and be intelligent in your marketing. Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
Discuss FUD has Taken Over
