When a startup pitches their business to a venture capitalist to finance it, usually there is a question the potential investor will ask them:

is your company a vitamin or a painkiller?

That’s a very good question also when we talk about lobbying and the specific issue that you or your company are advocating: is your position a vitamin or a painkiller for the policy-maker.

A vitamin means that it enhances their status, it gives them more visibility,
it helps them look better in the eyes of voters or their peers

A painkiller, on the other hand, is something that could, for instance, help them avoid the loss of jobs, or avoid the banning of a certain substance or material. So that’s more about damage control.

The two narratives are vastly different because advocating
for a vitamin is a very positive narrative

that is easy to sell and inspires anyone who is dealing with that particular policy.

Whereas advocating for a painkiller is often more defensive and is harder to sell and harder to convince policy-makers about it.

What companies often forget is that the
very same issue can be packaged either way.

If you manage to turn that painkiller into a vitamin and present it to a member of the European Parliament or a national legislation, suddenly it will trigger a very different reception and a much better outcome in terms of your policy goal.

See video: https://youtu.be/Kj6A-Znfj84

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