Recently, I was talking with a friend about how to help our preschoolers learn empathy. We swapped some tips that we’ve come across about helping them recognize emotions, understand other people's perspectives, and respond with kindness.

It struck me that most of us think of empathy as something we practice in one-to-one relationships. But at MORE, empathy also powers our work in social marketing, or behavior change marketing. It’s core to campaigns that resonate.  

Understand to Connect 

While the goal of the campaign is important, our team begins by focusing on the people we're trying to reach. Through research, we try to understand what matters to them, what's motivating them, what's standing in their way, and what support they need. Empathy means we listen first, actively set aside assumptions, and get genuinely curious about our audience's lived experience. 

Just as importantly, we tap into similar experiences to connect with our audiences. At MORE, we value the various hats we wear: parent, trans community member, writer, non-profit board member, loved one of a person in addiction recovery, and many more. If you were to join a MORE team meeting, it’s very likely you’d hear us swapping stories that deepen our shared understanding of the issues and audiences at the center of our work. 

Reflect & Respond 

Empathy shows up in our creative development: our campaign visuals and copy reflect an audience’s experiences by acknowledging barriers, elevating motivations and values, and meeting them where they are.  

We recently partnered with the Massachusetts SNAP-Ed program to encourage healthy eating among kids. Audience research confirmed that many parents weren't lacking motivation. Between the pressures of cost and time, providing healthy meals could feel like just one more thing they had to figure out on their own. We positioned SNAP-Ed as partner in their corner to get more healthy meals on table. Tapping into empathy helped us avoid another campaign telling parents that fruits and vegetables are important for kids.

Empathy also requires self-awareness. MORE brings not only our own self-awareness to the table, but we also help our clients build their own, identifying strengths and how they can effectively support the audience in behavior change.  

In our recent young adult vaping cessation campaign with the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, we spoke to the limitations of advertising itself. In our research, young people told us vaping was often connected to stress and anxiety. We reflected those experiences back to them and focused on connecting to the resources that support quitting.

Through our experience developing campaigns on substance use disorder, mental health, tobacco cession, healthy eating, youth homelessness, and other complex public health challenges, we’ve learned not only to tap into empathy but to prioritize it. People are more likely to engage when they feel seen and understood. That's the power of empathy. That’s what we do at MORE. 

Interested in seeing how empathy could power your next campaign? We’d love to partner with you.

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