A Marketing Lesson From Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela understood something about delivering a message with impact. Indeed he was a master of rhetoric himself.

Here is what he said:

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

Some sources claim Nelson Mandela did not speak those exact words in the above quote. It is a misquote. Below are his exact words:

“Because when you speak a language, English, well many people understand you, including Afrikaners, but when you speak Afrikaans, you know you go straight to their hearts.”

Mandela was talking about Afrikaans, the language of the oppressor, and this quote was likely said in the context of learning the language of the prison guards. The meaning here was clearly in the context of a strong power differential between the speakers.?

In fact, in 1978, Mandela wrote from prison that South Africans should learn Afrikaans as part of the fight against Apartheid. He wrote:

“Precisely because Afrikaans is the language of the oppressor we should encourage our people to learn it, its literature and history and to watch new trends among Afrikaner writers. To know the strength and weakness of your opponent is one of the elementary rules in a fight.”

The right word sells

From freedom fighters to salespeople, the right word gets things done. Nations get liberated and deals are closed. But only if you speak to people in their language.

By their language, I don’t mean you go to Sukuma people and speak Kisukuma. You can speak Kisukuma to Sukuma people and still, the message fails to touch them.

Imagine you are a business and you say this:

"We offer a wide range of services" followed by a list of services.

“Our mission, vision, core values”

People understand what you're saying; you have all these services and some big missions but you are not getting them yet. You are not convincing, you are simply providing business information; what you do, where you are, etc.??

In this post, I shared an example of a business that got the right word. And in this post, and this one, and this,? I share examples of businesses whose messages suck.

Half of the battle is packaging and delivering the message

What I often see from clients is an inability to remove themselves from the passions of their creation and see it through the lens of a stranger.?

That’s why social media feeds are littered with repulsive promotional content. That’s why the senior executives in Tanzania, for example, can't seem to post anything that is not about themselves.

The truth is nobody cares about you, whether you’re a business or a person. You don’t care about me, that’s a fact I operate under.??

As you see in the above screenshot, I am telling my team that people respond when you address what is bothering them. Address that and you attract them. You can then creatively say how you can help them.

If you want to put yourself out there, half of your battle is message packaging and delivery.

Honestly, I don’t know if this message will go to your head or your heart. I will try again next Saturday.