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\u201cWe all need help. We all need to move people. But we\u2019re reluctant to ask.\u201d While it may not seem related to branding and marketing, the social sciences\xa0of motivation and influence underly everything we do. That\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t wait to have Heidi Grant\xa0back on the podcast. She\u2019s the Global Director of Research and Development at the Neuroleadership Institute and the author of several books including her latest\xa0Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You.\xa0We discussed how to move people to get involved and take action on this week\u2019s episode of the On Brand podcast.\nAbout Heidi Grant\nHeidi Grant\xa0is a social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of motivation. She is the author of\xa0Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You.\xa0Her previous books include\xa0Succeed,\xa0Nine Things Successful People Do Differently,\xa0Focus, and\xa0The Eight Motivational Challenges. She is Global Director of Research and Development at the Neuroleadership Institute. She continues to serve as Associate Director of Columbia\u2019s Motivation Science Center and in that capacity now teaches Executive Education courses on topics related to her books. She received her PhD in social psychology from Columbia University.\nEpisode Highlights\nWait a minute. What does social science have to do with branding?\xa0\u201cIt\u2019s all about influence,\u201d reminds Heidi. As marketers we have to know how to \u201cget people to act not just in their own self interest. We\u2019re all trying to get people to help us and to do that we have to look at how brains work.\u201d\nHow to ask for help.\xa0\u201cWe all need to move people. As my editor at HBR said, getting people to do things is really what management is all about. People are more likely to help than you think.\u201d\nSo, what are we doing wrong?\xa0If people are more likely to help than we think, what are we doing wrong? \u201cFirst, we\u2019re reluctant to ask. A lot of times we make it weird. And there are a lot of ways to make it weird.\u201d Heidi outlined why incentives and excessive apologies (\u201cI hate that I have to ask you this \u2026 I\u2019m sooooo sorry \u2026\u201d) often backfire. Marketers take note: She also explains why tote bag giveaways don\u2019t have the intended impact.\nWhat\u2019s one thing we can if we want to get better at motivating people to help us?\xa0\u201cPeople don\u2019t know you need help. No one\u2019s a mind reader. Your requests must be elicit and specific. People want to be good help givers.\u201d For example, Heidi cites a study on why a specific appeal to \u201cSpread the Net\u201d (raising money for malaria nets) is stronger than a generic appeal to \u201cSave the Children.\u201d\nWhat brand has made Heidi smile recently?\xa0Heidi loves to laugh. She\u2019s a fan of the GEICO George Washington ad, the Tide ads from the Super Bowl (featuring David Harbour), and, of course,\xa0The Onion\u2019s\xa0Joe Biden articles.\nTo learn more,\xa0go to\xa0heidigrantphd.com\xa0and check out\xa0her new book on Amazon\xa0or wherever books are sold.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices