Is the pro-life movement really “all-in” on women facing unexpected pregnancies?
I don’t mean all-in in words, but all-in in deeds.
In my experience, the answer is no.
Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast episode about marketing that brought home in my mind once again why the pro-life movement is kind of “half-in” when it comes to women facing unexpected pregnancies.
The guest on the podcast was an expert at “human centered design,” meaning as a designer of products, services, experiences, brands, etc., he always begins his design work with the target customer’s needs and wants front and center in his mind.
So if you and I went to this designer and requested of him, “We would like you to design for us a portfolio of women’s reproductive healthcare products, services, experiences, and brands that would be attractive to young women who might one day face an unexpected pregnancy,” I’m curious what his design approach would be.
One thing I am very confident about is that his approach would be “woman centered.”
So let’s call it “woman centered design.”
Why am I confident about this?
Because this designer is a marketer and he knows that the target customer in this case, the person who will decide between choosing life, or the competing option of choosing abortion, is the woman.
Period.
Now let’s assume this designer is pro-life and believes everything that you and I do about the moral evil of abortion – that forcefully taking the life of an innocent preborn human being is never justified.
The designer won’t even take that into account in terms of what he designs for our portfolio of women’s reproductive healthcare products and services.
Why?
Because the preborn human being is not the one who will engage with the design of those products and services.
The woman, and the woman only, is the focus of that engagement, and the designer’s aim is to affect her in such a way that she will move toward a decision for life.
How does this apply to our frontline pro-life pregnancy centers?
If you analyze the marketing of the vast majority of frontline pregnancy centers, it is clear that they have missed the mark when it comes to “woman centered design.”
Their products, services, experiences, and brands were primarily designed using what I would call a “preborn human centered design” approach.
That design approach causes a dissonance in the minds of young women, leading them to turn away from pregnancy centers.
For all of our frontline pro-life pregnancy centers, a complete change toward a woman centered design is called for.
Brett
Doug
Brett,
Another great article. I believe the problem you are aptly pointing out is one that is very similar to all businesses. And let’s face it, pro-life missions, if they are to be successful need to function like a business if they want to win and save lives.
But my point is this, so many businesses fall into the trap of selling the value of the thing they sell and ignore the pain points of their target audience.
These pro-life centers truly need to focus their attention on their customer and guide them through the challenges they face. You know the expression, when you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Doug
Brett,
This problem is not unique to Pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). I believe most every business out there seems to fall into the trap of selling what they offer and not what the customer needs.
A slight distinction but I saw it in Medical Device Sales, I see it Real Estate, heck even pool sales. Pregnancy resource centers have to reassess who their audience is, and tailor a message that addresses their target audience’s pain points, their problems and be empathetic.
Until PRCs start acting like a business they will be treated like the little old lady with the “Take a book, leave a book” neighborhood library box. They are real business, with real consequences of failure. A marketing strategy is necessary. Heck even really successful Girl scouts have business plans that they execute on.
I think these PRCs can build a real business plan with a marketing strategy especially if Little Suzy Q can do it to sell some thin mints.