Ben Goldacre's recent post on empathy's failures talks about how people feel more connected with individuals and small groups than they do with larger groups. No great surprise there you might think, but the implications are important - juries are more likely to severely punish someone who has inflicted harm on an individual than more someone who has inflicted harm on larger groups of people. The determining factor here seems to be engagement or empathy for those individuals who are affected - people connect with other people. So does that mean that every PR campaign should be focused on stories about individuals? My view is that the personalised human angle is an essential component of any PR campaign, though you can deliver that component in multiple ways. So, whether you're promoting holidays in the Sun or electronic gadgets - personalising the engagement with your target audience is the way to go. Check out Ben's full post Empathy's failures it's a great, and touching read.
