The Creativity Suite. Episode 152: Unalienizing
Interview with Ashley Moran, Marketing and Category Director at Pilgrim’s Food Masters in Ireland.
Have you ever faced resistance when introducing a new idea or innovation? Often, this pushback occurs because the novelty is perceived as alien. This is where the concept of ‘unalienizing’ comes in.
The fact is that people trying to introduce new ideas, new innovations or new technology are often met with resistance because the novelty is seen as alien by other people.
By that follows that to get people to accept your ideas you need to unalienize it to them.
The art of unalienizing can be defined as:
“The art of unalienizing involves making something less alien or foreign by fostering familiarity, relatability, and inclusion. It’s about transforming estrangement into a sense of belonging and connection.”
I learned about the skill of unalienizing during a conversation with Ashley Moran, Marketing and Category Director at Pilgrim’s Food Masters in Ireland. Pilgrim’s Food Masters is the UK’s largest producer of delicious meats, chilled & frozen ready meals for every major UK & Ireland supermarket.
Ashley was part of the team that took meat free sausages to the market. She explained to me how the idea of launching a meat free sausage was alien to most people within Pilgrim’s Food Masters before the launch was done. Most people looked meat to be at the center of what Pilgrim’s Food Masters did. Ashley herself was, in the beginning, reluctant to see how successful a sausage with no meat could become.
But then she described the way she unalienized the idea of a plant based sausage to herself. First she went to trade-fairs to try out what was on the market, then she visited their test kitchen where their own products were being developed, and then she attended customer taste test events where she could study the reaction of potential customers.
She told me: “In the beginning I said to myself. ‘I just can’t see this (plant based sausages) taking off.’ but the more I studied it, the more I researched it, and – crucially – the more I tasted it (!) I slowly warmed to the idea.”
Ashley specifically remembers the day she was won over. She had just tried a plant-based sausage where she really could not tell if it had meat or not. Suddenly the idea of Pilgrim’s Food Masters selling sausages with no meat was not alien to her anymore.
She calls this moment “The Moment of Proof”. The Moment of Proof is the other side of the coin of “The moment of truth.” The Moment of Truth is from the perspective of the person trying to get his idea accepted (In this case the person SERVING the meat-free sausage.) The Moment of Proof is from the perspective of the person there to be convinced (In this case Ashley being convinced that the meat-free sausage will work.)
The Moment of Proof is the moment when you feel that you have received enough proof/evidence/affirmation about something new that is presented to you that you are willing to buy into it.
I asked Ashley for three steps that one can take to become better at unalienizing someone. She summed it up as follows:
1) Seeing is believing.
Get people to experience
Ashley: “Having us develop our first own meat-free sausage was so important for us to warm to the idea.”
2) Reassurance is reassuring
To get people open to new ideas they need to feel that things are going in the right direction, so search for situations where that positive momentum can be experienced.
Ashley: “The lovely moment when you see the consumer liking (the meat-free sausage) gave us the confidence to move forward.”
3) Engage to get engagement
Create momentum by engaging the different stakeholders to be involved in making the idea happen.
Ashley: “Engaging the business to get ready was crucial. That included getting our trade partners onboard to put the products on the shelf. We all got onboard.”
Finally Ashley stresses the need for a safe environment when trying to unalienize someone to a new idea. Ashley: “You need to be in a safe space that takes you in a good head space when trying to warm to a new idea.”
Hearing Ashley talk about the concept of unalienation I get a picture of the movie E.T. in my head. Just like Elliott in the movie E.T., who went from fear to friendship with the alien, unalienizing involves a gradual process of acceptance and understanding.
Assignment:
Now, think about something you currently find alien. How can you apply the steps of unalienizing to become more comfortable and accepting of it?
25
Mar