• Creating vs. Igniting Movements

    Posted on September 28th, 2009 by and currently 9 commenting.

    It might be total semantics to a lot of folks. And maybe it just gets stuck up in my head because of the writer in me. But I have a really hard time saying that Brains on Fire “creates” movements. Because, really, can you create a movement? Or do you IGNITE them?

    Think about it. When you create, you make something from nothing. You “cause something to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.”

    But when you ignite, something already has to be there to catch fire. All the ingredients are there. Just waiting. When it comes to movements, the thing that we’re looking to ignite is passion. Feelings. Connections. It’s already there – sometimes it’s dormant in people, and sometimes it’s very active, but it already exists. It’s just up to us to find it, throw kindling on it and light the match. So we might create tools and opportunities, but create a movement? Nope.

    You can tell when someone tries to create a program. Because if they have to create it, most of the time we’ve found that those folks are creating something so people can come and talk about them. They’re throwing a party and expecting people to show up. And that’s a DOA effort. That’s not igniting the passion within. Because when you ignite someone’s passion, you quickly find that to fan those flames, you keep the conversation focused on them and their passion.

    So change your mindset. Don’t create. Ignite. And you’ll see the differences – not only the way you go through your process – but the results that it generates, like long-term sustainability. Which makes your marketing dollar go so much further these days.

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  • http://www.covetedlist.com Charlotte Kim

    Thank you for this post. This is is the exact issue we are grappling with a new company that is just about the launch. Igniting is arguably much harder than creating. Igniting requires a little risk taking (do you find that to be the case?)

  • http://jeffhora.wordpress.com/ Jeff Hora

    Great post. I have run out of fingers counting the times I’ve seen a product, service or program “created” to a common response – the “field of crickets” sound.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Charlotte – Thanks for the comment. And congrats on your new adventure. Igniting IS harder, but the benefits are so much better than creating. And all ventures take risk. I think if you really looked at, creating is riskier, because you’re doing it in a vacuum. Igniting happens with your employees and customers, therefore buy-in, engagement and ownership is built into the very DNA of what you’re doing. And that means that your success is your customers success and vise-versa.

    Jeff – Ah, the field of crickets. Never a pleasant sound!

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  • http://www.carolinamarketer.com Casey Bolt

    I’m a Marketing Intern and a senior at Clemson University. Last year, I took a course called Public Contest that was all about this topic. For the majority of the class, we talked about social movements and how they are “started” and what needs to happen to keep them going. It was a very interesting class because it did help me realize exactly what you are saying. People don’t just START a social movement. They have a feeling or belief and manage to ignite others into realizing their feelings on that same idea. We don’t create movements because whether we act on them or not, those feelings are inside of us. It’s how we act on those feelings that’s important.

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  • http://clinedsgn.com brent…

    clever distinction and great post – the right audience would save serious jack if they digest this fully –

    thx.