MLK, Jr. and the Marketing of a Dream

Huh! The marketing of a dream? How do you market a dream? Why? What is this all about? Allow me to explain. Here's the bizbuzzz.

What is a dream?

It is a vision--an ideal place or situation that we strive to reach. So, the vision of a man who hoped that one day people of all races and colours would unite as brothers and sisters, that vision is the same ideal that a business or a corporation would create. Am I right?

Yes, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream is the one critical thing that we remember him for; it is the one key thing that he shared with others in all of his activites, his meetings, speeches, casual conversations and heartfelt communications. In everything that he did, the Rev. King found a way to share his dream--his vision. A business must do this also:

• share your vision in all transactions
• share your vision in all situations
• be true to your vision and make adjustments to live and work in congruence with that vision
• use your vision as a beacon to guide you in all work-related decisions
• explain your vision
• share your vision with consistency (say the same thing repeatedly)
• enlist others to share your vision with their friends or markets

When one person brings together many in the belief and sharing of a vision or a dream, we have a movement. In the business world, think of popular clothing retailers who recruited teenagers and young adults to share in their vision of what is fashionable, of what looks good, of what is a bargain-priced fashionable look and you will come up with names of businesses that use their marketing skills to build movements or fashion trends. Think Target, think GAP, think Old Navy, think Abercrombie & Fitch.

Think of Nike and the simple dream of "just do it".

Think of an entire movement, born out of a need for freedom of Speech in Iran.

Social Media and the "I have a dream" vision. Can it be that Dr. King was a social media wizard? Why yes, mostly. He used the social media available to him at the time (church sermons, community meetings, social gatherings, official speeches) to promote or share his dream--his vision--and gave people the opportunity to buy in to that vision and to share it with others. That is exactly why the social media of today works so well. LinkedIn, facebook, twitter--all of these and many others--give a business or an organization the opportunity to share their vision with followers or markets (that they build) and allows those followers to buy in and to share the vision with their followers or markets. Just as it did in Dr. King's day, this method of marketing takes time, but it is a proven method that any business can use, and it doesn't require a huge budget or smoke and mirrors. All you need is time...and a dream.

Think about it. Let me know of other such marketing successes.

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To watch Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his dream, go to this link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

To see how our current president shared his dream of change, try this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5vxOkyLig