As kids, we all took part in a common practice. When faced with judgment for a misdeed, we learned at an early age it’s far easier to deflect blame to a sibling or friend who did something wrong to take the focus off the misdeed at hand.
I think it’s pretty safe to say the phrase, “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you follow?” was created specifically to counteract this tactic.
As a father, I witnessed my own kids try this approach countless times. And, I’ve also witnessed a similar practice in the business world over and over again as well. Far too often I see ads that go negative and trash a competitor’s product, rather than promoting the positive attributes of a product.
One or two instances may go unnoticed, but repeated negativity between competitors begins to come off as childish and frustrating for those to whom the messages are targeted. I’ve seen it in our own industry too. A specifier once told me after visits from competing material providers that we looked like the Three Stooges in a slap fest.
In the long run nobody gets ahead so we, as an industry, need to take the higher road and ensure we are highlighting the positives precast can offer. I am confident that these attributes are more than enough to convince specifiers to use our product.
Ty Gable
President, National Precast Concrete Association
The high road is the only road. Too bad not everyone realizes that these days. As you said, ‘a slap fest’ is what we have predominantly seen in our media and particularly politicians.