Using Conflict to Bring Peace; How One Marketer Leans Into Conflicts to Bring People Closer Together

What happens when the first job of your political career results in the historical presidential win for Barack Obama? Consider a lifelong career in politics? What if your second political job had you thrown into the midst of an ever-deepening social divide after the loss of Hillary Clinton eight years later? For our guest this week, it spawned action. 

This week on The Media Roundtable, we are joined by Ciaran O’Connor, Chief Marketing Officer at Braver Angels, an organization founded after the 2016 election, in order to bridge our divided country by engaging with communities directly. 

O’Connor knows we have deep disagreements in this country but believes that’s the way it’s supposed to be; it’s how we interact with whom we disagree that needs to change. His organization aims to bring both sides together through media content, workshops, skills training, weekly civil debates, and local community alliances.  

Braver Angel’s goal is to have 1% of the population committed to their cause, and they’re breaking all the rules in getting attention. As CMO for the organization, O’Connor ironically uses conflict to bring people together, and his approach is something from which all marketers can learn.

Many marketers actively avoid or ignore conflict altogether (especially the political variety), but Braver Angel faces it head-on; encouraging debate and finding peace by uncovering common ground in the process. O’Connor walks us through how he does it and shares some of the resources his organization has created to facilitate constructive conversations while addressing hot button issues. It’s not a popular path, but as a country, we need to stop making people “bad’ just because we disagree, and diving into the deep end may be just the place to start. Learn more in this week’s episode.

Listen to the podcast episode HERE