The Norwegian Red Cross had a serious problem.
Blood banks were critically low.
They needed thousands of new donors, fast.
The obvious move would have been to email previous donors.
Remind them. Educate them. Appeal to reason.
They did none of that.
Instead, they leaned into something far more powerful.
Identity.
Football fans often say they would bleed for their club. The Red Cross simply asked them to prove it. They launched the Blood League.
When people registered to donate blood, they chose the football club they supported. Every donation added points to that club. A live scoreboard showed which fans were the most loyal.
Suddenly, donating blood was no longer a civic duty. It was a statement.
They took it further. The campaign ran adverts showing a man in need of a life saving transfusion. The doctor explains that the only blood available belongs to a rival club supporter.
The family hesitates. Jokes fly. Pride is tested. The ad was customised region by region to trigger the most intense local rivalries.
It worked. Spectacularly.
Sixteen thousand lives were saved. Awards followed. But the real lesson has nothing to do with blood donation.
Not because they were asked nicely, but because the club was part of who they were.
Same pattern. Different context.
People do not move because you just explain.
They move when you connect the action to who they believe they are.
This is where most marketing misses the mark.
It tries to convince instead of enrolling. It argues features instead of activating identity.
In cybersecurity, logic is everywhere. Risk stats. Breach numbers. Compliance language. Necessary, but rarely motivating on their own.
What actually drives action is belonging. Being the team that takes security seriously.
When people choose you, they are not just buying software. They are choosing what kind of organisation they want to be associated with.
The Red Cross sold loyalty.
That is the reminder.
If you want people to act, stop talking only about what they should do.
Start tapping into who they already are.
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