The Stupid Majority PR Strategy

Have you iden­ti­fied your stu­pid major­ity yet?

The story of the pre­vail­ing under­dog seems to be as old as human­ity itself. The under­dog strategy is also impact­ful in pub­lic rela­tions (PR).

As a PR advisor since 2005, I’ve helped many brands side with a Smart Minority in the fight against a Stupid Majority — often with spec­tac­u­lar results.

This blog art­icle will out­line how this under­dog PR strategy works.

Here we go:

The Stupid Majority PR Strategy

From what the con­ver­sion the­ory teaches us, minor­it­ies tend to hold their opin­ions more firmly. This is reas­on­able since going against the major­ity comes at a high­er social cost. ¹Silfwer, J. (2017, June 13). Conversion Theory — Disproportionate Minority Influence. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​c​o​n​v​e​r​s​i​o​n​-​t​h​e​o​ry/

But some minor­it­ies have an addi­tion­al advantage:

Smart minor­ity = a minor­ity of today that will grow into a new major­ity of tomorrow.

In con­trast, some major­it­ies have an addi­tion­al disadvantage:

Stupid major­ity = a major­ity of today that will stead­ily decline into a minor­ity of tomorrow.

Identifying a stu­pid major­ity (and sid­ing with a smart minor­ity) will cla­ri­fy your core mes­sage and attract highly engaged minor­ity supporters.

Examples of Stupid Majorities

Stupid major­it­ies are to be found everywhere:

Now, here’s the 1,000,000 EUR question:

What’s a stu­pid major­ity in your industry?

Challenging a Stupid Majority

Stupid major­it­ies exist in your industry, too. 

And now that you know what to look for, you’ll soon start find­ing them everywhere.

The stu­pid major­ity PR strategy could res­ult in the most pro­found res­ults of your pub­lic rela­tions career:

Read also: The Stupid Majority PR Strategy

The Conversion Theory

The social psy­cho­lo­gist Serge Moscovici found that we become more engaged if we belong to a mis­rep­res­en­ted minor­ity.

The dis­pro­por­tion­al power of minor­it­ies is known as the con­ver­sion the­ory. ²Conversion the­ory of minor­ity influ­ence. (2021, February 12). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​C​o​n​v​e​r​s​i​o​n​_​t​h​e​o​r​y​_​o​f​_​m​i​n​o​r​i​t​y​_​i​n​f​l​u​e​nce

“In groups, the minor­ity can have a dis­pro­por­tion­ate effect, con­vert­ing many ‘major­ity’ mem­bers to their own cause. This is because many major­ity group mem­bers are not strong believ­ers in its cause. They may be simply going along because it seems easi­er or that there is no real altern­at­ive. They may also have become dis­il­lu­sioned with the group pur­pose, pro­cess, or lead­er­ship and are seek­ing a viable altern­at­ive.”
Source: Changingminds​.org ³Conversion Theory. (2023). Changingminds​.org. https://​chan​ging​minds​.org/​e​x​p​l​a​n​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​t​h​e​o​r​i​e​s​/​c​o​n​v​e​r​s​i​o​n​_​t​h​e​o​r​y​.​htm

How does it work?

The social cost of hold­ing a dif­fer­ent view than the major­ity is high. This increased cost explains why minor­it­ies often hold their opin­ions more firmly. It takes determ­in­a­tion to go against the norm. ⁴Moscovici, S. (1980). Toward a the­ory of con­ver­sion beha­viour. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 209 – 239. New York: Academic Press

In con­trast, many major­ity mem­bers don’t hold their opin­ions so firmly. They might belong to the major­ity for no oth­er reas­on than that every­one else seems to be. ⁵Chryssochoou, X. and Volpato, C. (2004). Social Influence and the Power of Minorities: An Analysis of the Communist Manifesto, Social Justice Research, 17, 4, 357 – 388

According to con­ver­sion the­ory, while major­it­ies often claim norm­at­ive social influ­ence, minor­it­ies strive for eth­ic­al high ground. 

Conversion Theory Examples

Given the power of norm­at­ive social influ­ence, minor­it­ies typ­ic­ally form tight-knit groups that can gath­er around a core mes­sage.

Most big shifts usu­ally start with a small group of ded­ic­ated people:

Minority Influence: A PR Approach

Organisations with CSR aspir­a­tions can cul­tiv­ate a sense of pur­pose and accom­plish­ment among par­ti­cipants by align­ing with a move­ment that chal­lenges a stu­pid majority.

Since we tend to favour under­dogs, liais­ing with a care­fully selec­ted minor­ity can be a game-chan­ging PR strategy.

Minority spokes­per­sons with sol­id con­vic­tions often pos­sess valu­able know­ledge and author­ity, enhan­cing their per­suas­ive abil­it­ies and influence.

Disproportionately, minor­it­ies can con­vert numer­ous major­ity mem­bers to their cause, as many in the major­ity may have merely fol­lowed the path of least res­ist­ance, made decisions without much con­sid­er­a­tion, or lacked viable alternatives.

Additionally, a sig­ni­fic­ant seg­ment of the major­ity might be dis­il­lu­sioned with their group’s pur­pose, pro­cess, or lead­er­ship, ren­der­ing them more recept­ive to altern­at­ive proposals.

Proceed With Caution, Please

As PR pro­fes­sion­als, we must be cau­tious when imple­ment­ing the con­ver­sion theory.

Minorities aren’t always right, and major­it­ies aren’t always wrong. Minorities can hold futile views while still exer­cising a dis­pro­por­tion­ate amount of power.

Learn more: Conversion Theory: The Disproportionate Influence of Minorities

Diffusion of Innovations

The dif­fu­sion of innov­a­tions the­ory, pro­posed by Everett Rogers in 1962, remains a frame­work for under­stand­ing how new ideas, tech­no­lo­gies, products, or prac­tices spread through soci­et­ies over time. ⁶Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations (5^th ed.). Free Press.

The dif­fu­sion of innov­a­tions the­ory out­lines the pro­cess by which innov­a­tions are adop­ted by indi­vidu­als and groups, emphas­ising the role of com­mu­nic­a­tion chan­nels, social net­works, and the char­ac­ter­ist­ics of the innov­a­tion itself.

The dif­fu­sion of innov­a­tions the­ory offers insights into how new ideas and tech­no­lo­gies influ­ence soci­et­ies. Understanding these dynam­ics can inform pub­lic rela­tions strategies across diverse contexts.

“Diffusion research has helped under­stand new product adop­tion and dif­fu­sion, with net­work ana­lys­is and field exper­i­ments being prom­ising tools in under­stand­ing the con­sump­tion of new products.”
Source: Journal of Consumer Research ⁷Rogers, E. (1976). New Product Adoption and Diffusion. Journal of Consumer Research, 2, 290 – 301. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​8​6​/​2​0​8​642

Examples of Technological Adoptions

By examin­ing real-life examples, we can bet­ter com­pre­hend the prin­ciples of this the­ory and its applic­a­tions in vari­ous fields:

Learn more: Diffusion of Innovations

The Underdog Story: David and Goliath

We know the story:

The story of David and Goliath, ori­gin­at­ing from the bib­lic­al Book of 1 Samuel 17, unfolds in ancient Israel dur­ing a war between the Israelites and their long-stand­ing adversar­ies, the Philistines. The Philistine army, seek­ing to dom­in­ate the Israelites, had set up camp in the val­ley of Elah, where they posi­tioned them­selves on one hill. 

At the same time, King Saul and the Israelite forces occu­pied anoth­er. Between them lay an open bat­tle­field. To break the stale­mate, the Philistines put for­ward their ulti­mate weapon: Goliath of Gath, a tower­ing war­ri­or, described as over nine feet tall (based on some bib­lic­al trans­la­tions), clad in bronze armor, wield­ing an enorm­ous spear with an iron tip and a massive sword. 

Goliath, brim­ming with arrog­ance and dis­dain for the Israelites, issued a chal­lenge — rather than a full-scale battle, the con­flict would be settled by single com­bat: an Israelite cham­pi­on would face him in a duel, and the fate of both nations would rest on the out­come. For forty days, Goliath strode onto the bat­tle­field, mock­ing the Israelites and their God, dar­ing any man to chal­lenge him. But Saul’s war­ri­ors, para­lysed by fear, saw no hope against such an indom­it­able force.

Enter David, the young­est son of Jesse, a mere shep­herd boy from Bethlehem who had been sent to the bat­tle­field to deliv­er food to his older broth­ers serving in Saul’s army. Unlike the sol­diers, David did not see Goliath’s size as an insur­mount­able threat but as an affront to Israel and God. He volun­teered to fight, much to the aston­ish­ment of Saul and his men. 

Though ini­tially dis­missed due to his youth and inex­per­i­ence, David con­vinced Saul by recount­ing how, as a shep­herd, he had slain both lions and bears to pro­tect his flock. Rejecting the heavy armor offered to him, David took his simple sling and five smooth stones from a nearby stream. Facing Goliath, David remained undaun­ted by the giant’s taunts, declar­ing that he fought not with weapons but in the name of the Lord. With a single, per­fectly aimed stone, David struck Goliath in the fore­head, caus­ing the mighty war­ri­or to crash face-first to the ground. 

Swiftly, David seized Goliath’s sword and beheaded him, seal­ing vic­tory for Israel. Upon wit­ness­ing their champion’s defeat, the Philistines fled in ter­ror, while David’s tri­umph marked the begin­ning of his rise to prom­in­ence, even­tu­ally lead­ing him to become King of Israel. 

Underdogs, Misfits, and Giants

The tale of David and Goliath has become a uni­ver­sal meta­phor for the under­dog over­com­ing impossible odds through cour­age, faith, and skill.

In David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell out­lines the dynam­ic between map­ping your and your oppon­ent’s strengths and weak­nesses. He goes on to sug­gest that under­dogs have sig­ni­fic­ant advantages:

Instead of fight­ing Goliath on his terms (strength and power), David used his advant­ages (speed and accur­acy). One could argue that David’s dis­ad­vant­ages (being more neg­li­gible and less exper­i­enced) forced him to out­smart his opponent.

If David had been an exper­i­enced war­ri­or with the phys­ic­al size to match Goliath’s prowess, David would prob­ably have decided to fight him on equal terms, right?

The Obstacle is the Way

The legend of David and Goliath endures as we find com­fort in know­ing that the strongest does­n’t always win. The under­dog approach isn’t just help­ful in fight­ing; it has a proven track record of being highly use­ful in pub­lic relations.

In The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, Ryan Holiday describes how choos­ing the path of the most res­ist­ance max­im­ises our growth as both indi­vidu­als and organisations:

Having the odds stacked against you might not be as bad as it seems at first glance. If noth­ing else, it’s the start of a great story.

Play To Strength, Exploit Weakness

Yes, David exploits Goliath’s weak­nesses (not being fast or accur­ate enough to beat David from a dis­tance). However, David still chooses to fight Goliath on “his” grounds — to steal away “his” audi­ence. It’s safe to say that only a minor­ity thought that David would beat Goliath before the actu­al fight. 

From a PR per­spect­ive, David could emerge from nowhere and beat the mar­ket lead­er by exploit­ing an inter­est­ing social phe­nomen­on: the major­ity is some­times just wrong.

Stupid, even.

The fact that a stag­ger­ing major­ity of bystand­ers — includ­ing one con­fid­ent Goliath — nev­er expec­ted David to stand a chance gave him the upper hand.

We cel­eb­rate that David chose a bet­ter weapon when we should instead cel­eb­rate his suc­cess­ful manip­u­la­tion of the stu­pid major­ity; from nowhere, David inser­ted him­self into the top spot in just one bold move.

In the fight against Goliath, we admire David not only for his wits but also for his guts. After all, David did bring a sling­shot to a sword fight.

The Classic Underdog Story

Leveraging an under­dog pub­lic rela­tions strategy to beat a major­ity lead­er is not about bring­ing bet­ter weapons; it’s about hav­ing guts and tak­ing on a major­ity that is stu­pid, incom­pet­ent, dead wrong — and more power­ful than you.

Some major­it­ies of today are destined to be gone tomorrow.

The more sig­ni­fic­ant and dom­in­ant the major­ity, the more likely it is to con­sist of a sub­stan­tial silent major­ity who are just along for the ride, mainly because every­one else seems to be. 

Seeing a minor­ity defeat a major­ity makes for good enter­tain­ment — when the major­ity is also stu­pid. From a PR per­spect­ive, the big bad is about to beat the under­dog against all the odds.

Now that’s a great story, just beg­ging to be told!

Learn more: The Underdog Story: David and Goliath

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