Business and Marketing Myths Print E-mail

Have you heard this one before?

"It is no secret that, while women commit to at least the annual doctor's visit so that they'll more likely have some chance at screening for the most common health issues, men don't seem to have the same motivation."

As a male who visits the doctor every three months, over the last month I've been conducting a straw poll of the majority of women I meet, asking them how long is it since they visited the doctor and was it for curative reasons or preventative reasons. I've also been asking men as well.

The outcome has been interesting and it largely debunks the opening generalist put down ... that men don't visit the doctor until it's too late.

I'm not being "precious" but I am sick and tired of hearing this message which it is believed will motivate men to actually do something about their health. To the contrary I believe it does little more than add to the gender divide and perpetuates a myth.

Movember (the month formally known as November) is a charity event held during November each year.

At the start of Movember guys register with a clean-shaven face. The Movember participants known as Mo Bros then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their moustache and along the way raise as much money and awareness about male health issues as possible.

Why this questioning?

I'm currently participating in a men's health awareness raising project called "Movember".

Why participate?

This awareness raising is not about hitting men over the head saying "bad man", it's getting across a subtle message and in some cases getting women to take responsibility for their own health management as well.

What this whole process has done is made me look at the assumptions we wrongly believe, the urban myths that perpetuate flawed strategies and outcomes and it served for me to ask myself and clients a number of questions.

  • Are their myths such as "all women see the doctor regularly and all men don't" that you use as the basis of communicating to your message?
  • Are there some "facts" in your industry sector that are just plain fiction and business is conducted on this "factual" basis?
  • Are you making decisions in your business that are based on other similar mythologies?
  • Do you use terms of a depreciating nature which put people down (negative) rather than build them up (positive) when you communicate with them?

The saying ... "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" sounds great but when it's costing you potential business by miscommunication and poor decisions I figure it's time to debunk some of these myths.

What's the point of this writing ... I'm recommending that you please check what information you are basing your decisions on, they may be built on mythological ground.



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