The enemy effect

When two sides both hate the same thing, they share a common enemy - despite any other differences they may have.

Common enemies lead to cohesion in groups. When two sides hate the same thing, they’ve got something in common.

We might not like the same things. But if we hate the same things, it can most certainly bring us together.

Having something in common doesn’t always have to be a positive thing. Thats how radical groups and conspiracy theories thrive.

Getting riled up against villians

Sometimes we feel so fired up at villians after watching movies. Usually, it may not be common for us to feel this way after a movie. All of the best movie villains have something in common. We hate them because of what they represent. And that makes us love the people fighting against them even more.

The reason we feel so emotionally fired up at villians is because he/she is not just a person. He/She is the embodiment of an ideology - corporate greed, personal greed, authoritarianism, patriarchal oppression, bureaucratic ail, etc.

Brand & Celebrity Examples

You know how some people have fans and other people have freak fans.

There is something deeper to Taylor Swift fandom - something guttural - something instinctual - something so magnetic about her brand - so rooted in identity that it makes people act like they are crazy. It makes it even crazier to watch this fan Dynamic from the outside. But Taylor Swift isn’t the only one who has this kind of impact on her fan base. There’s Trump, Lady Gaga, Nike, Disney.

This is mouth frothing tattoo getting fandom. What is it about these brands that lead to such loyal communities? How can it teach us to build a magnetic personal brand?

Every person or brand that people give a fuck about use the enemy effect.

Trump’s enemy is the lame stream media. So if you love Trump you don’t just love Trump. You hate traditional news media outlets.

Lady Gaga’s enemy is Conformity. So you don’t just love her. You hate the way that Society tries to drum the individuality out of everyone.

The best brands use this.

Nike’s enemy is apathy. Apathy in athletic Excellence. But also apathy in the face of Injustice - which we saw when they took a stand with their Colin Kaepernick campaign.

Disney’s enemy is growing up, which comes through in the way that they build World in their movies with childlike wonder. and the kids are always the heroes.

How Taylor Swift makes use of The Enemy Effect?

Taylor Swift has used the exact same strategy in her brand. Taylor’s whole career has been built in opposition to an ideological enemy - the cool girl. She was bullied in high school for being different. This enemy, the cool girl, has been built into every facet of her branding. She tells this story in interviews. She talks about the concept in her songs. Fans fight or die for her, because, it’s not just about Taylor. It’s about being united, together against something bigger - something that she has made very sure that she represents.

If you love Taylor Swift you don’t just love Taylor Swift. You hate the bullies and the doubters and anyone who made you feel silly for loving what you love or being different. And this this is a feeling that we have all had before, on some level. By finding an enemy, Taylor assembled all the people around the world who know this feeling and gave them a place to fit in together with a common foe.

You know what that is. That’s a community. That’s the difference between a fan base that’s lukewarm for you or a fan base that will get your face tattooed on their face.

The Psychology Of Enemies

When you move through the world with the knowledge that you stand against an enemy and you let this filter into your actions, the way you speak your content and your beliefs, people will be drawn to you. you will become magnetic. but why? what’s actually going on here? what’s the deeper reason?

Why does actually work?

When you establish an enemy, it creates an us-versus-them Dynamic. You’re a Swifty or you’re not a Swifty. You’re a little monster or you’re not a little monster. You’re a Nike fan or an adidas fan. This ingroup-outgroup identification Taps into a deeply rooted human trait. The need to belong.

From an evolutionary perspective, back in the old cave days, group affiliation was critical for survival. Being in a group gave you an evolutionary Advantage. If we didn’t have people around us with the same values, helping us hunt and child rearing and keep the cave lights on, we would get killed by a giant dinosaur or whatever was going on by back then. These days our immediate survival is not dependent on group affiliation. We’re the ones eating the chicken now - not the other way around. But thanks to a little concept called evolutionary lag, we still very much emotionally need to belong to a group.

And this becomes even stronger in the face of the underdog phenomenon. When you pit yourself against something bigger, you become the underdog. People love to root for the underdog.

If you are developing an idea or a product, how can The Enemy Effect help you?

Whatever problem your product or service solves, make that problem your common enemy. Talk negatively about it and focus on eliminating that problem to increase engagement. Think about the problem that your product or service solves and make that your common enemy.

You need an enemy

To be magnetic you need need a joker to your Batman, a Regina to your Katie, a Drake to your Kendrick. You need an enemy.

Not just someone that you get mad about because he/she did something stupid. Not a person. You need an ideological enemy.

How do you find your enemy so you can be magnetic?

Well, journaling time. Write a list of all the things you hate most in the world. This is the opposite of gratitude journaling. And get super specific - like, you know how when you get a haircut and after the haircut you’ve got all these tiny little hair stuck in your clothing, and they kind of itch at you all day? Get specific. Now, choose the one on the list that makes you the most mad, and identify its underlying theme. If it’s a person, what does that person represent? If it’s a thing, what does that thing represent? For example, if you hate those fake finance creators that tell you they made a quillion dollars in 7 days just to sell you a course, then you hate deception. If you hate those weight control meal services like light and easy, you hate restriction. This theme is your enemy. So now you’ve got your enemy. Now write three ways that this enemy is impacting your people - how is it causing pain to them? How is it hurting them? And get angry about this - because it’s not fair. Now you have your enemy in the way that it’s impacting your people and their lives. All you have to do is seed this enemy into your branding to become magnetic.

References

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Psychology