Slack Technologies, Inc., commonly known simply as Slack, was founded in 2009. As a company, Slack has a fascinating background. Their core product offering was originally developed as an internal communication tool for a now-defunct online game. In what could be described as one of the greatest pivots in the history of technology business, Slack rapidly changed direction and evolved into a standalone product aimed at transforming workplace communications.
The platform officially launched to the public in 2013 and quickly distinguished itself by offering an innovative way for teams to collaborate through channels, direct messages, and integration with numerous third-party services. Slack is essentially a messaging app for teams, designed to make workplace communication easier and more organised. Conversations take place in channels, which are like separate chat rooms for specific topics, projects, or groups of people. The intention is to keep discussions tidy and focused as users choose which channels to join depending on what’s relevant.
Slack’s rise to success is marked by its rapid adoption across a wide range of industries. The value proposition was simple – their tool would reduce reliance on traditional email and meetings with a superior way to communicate. The company’s public listing in 2019 further solidified its status as a key player in the tech industry, with millions of active users globally and a continually expanding suite of features.
This case study will examine some of Slack’s digital messaging and consider how they company successfully persuades organisations across the world to rethink how they communicate. We’ll also consider how their strategies adhere to the fundamental principles of rhetoric, such as ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic).
Theoretical Persuasion Goals
While we cannot assert with absolute certainty the exact intentions behind every corporate strategy, it is possible to deduce Slack’s persuasion objectives based on their marketing and product offerings. We can theorise that their core persuasion trigger is:
“Traditional emails and meetings are no longer the most efficient ways for teams to communicate. Instead, our modern platform, which focuses on direct and group messaging, shared spaces, and seamless integrations, significantly enhances team productivity.”
Let’s break this down into two parts:
- Inefficiency of traditional methods. The first part of Slack’s objective is to challenge the status quo by convincing potential customers about the limitations of traditional communication tools like email and meetings.
- Advocacy for a modern solution. The second part of the belief is the proposition that Slack offers a superior alternative.
If they can use digital messaging to successfully persuade business decision-makers of these two beliefs, then they have achieved their objectives.
Ethos – How Slack Established Credibility
The foundation of persuasion rests on the credibility of the speaker. Therefore, we’ll start by exploring how Slack positions itself as a credible authority on the topics of business communication and productivity. A fundamental aspect of this strategy involves showcasing customer success stories. By sharing these testimonials, Slack demonstrates social proof and builds trust with potential users. Immediately upon visiting their homepage, visitors are greeted with a banner displaying well-known companies that use Slack, providing further evidence of the company’s credibility.
Slack also publishes well-researched content such as blog articles, guides, and eBooks. Through this material, Slack positions itself as a thought leader while building goodwill from potential users.
Moreover, Slack’s pricing model also contributes to the company’s credibility. Offering the platform for free allows users to try the product and experience its value firsthand, conveying confidence in their product’s quality.
Finally, we can consider the growth model as well. As Slack is fundamentally a communication tool, it is often shared by existing users. This facilitates organic growth through word-of-mouth, another robust method of reinforcing credibility through social proof.
Pathos – How Slack Appeals Emotionally
Slack’s messaging often highlights the stress and inefficiencies that come with overflowing inboxes and back-to-back meetings. For example, they might highlight the frustration of wasting hours on email administration.
One of their early video adverts, titled ‘Work, simplified’, paints a clear contrast between a hectic stressful work environment and an efficient team using the Slack platform. The video features contrasting sounds and colours to illustrate the problem and solution emotionally.
A particularly engaging example is the video ‘The Big Meeting,’ which humorously critiques excessive corporate meeting culture. It features an eccentric character overly enthusiastic about meeting preparations, suggesting absurdities like having a meeting to prepare for another meeting. This portrayal, paired with catchy songs and vibrant visuals, makes the content relatable by underscoring the unnecessary complexities of traditional workplace communication.
Each point is promptly contrasted with another employee recommending Slack as an alternative to each ridiculous idea. Those using Slack are shown going about their work calmly, clearly enjoying a healthy work-life balance without all the fanfare.
The big meeting appeals emotionally for several reasons. Firstly, anyone who has worked in a corporate environment will relate to the jokes such as the ridiculous yet very real experience of holding a meeting to prepare for another meeting. Secondly, it highlights pain the audience is feeling and then offers an immediate solution (a powerful sales and copywriting technique). Thirdly, all this is done through catchy songs, visuals, and storytelling. Fourthly, the story itself is a metaphor, likening the task of organising a meeting to putting on an elaborate theatre production. To puntuate this, the video ends with the phrase “You don’t need a big production to get productivity”.
We can also observe Slack appealing emotionally through imaging. Their ads frequently feature pictures of employees ecstatically celebrating being liberated from overreliance on emails.
This visual storytelling makes light of the situation while still drawing attention to real issues.
Particularly in its early years, the platform was introduced as the ‘email killer’. The people at Slack were likely aware that they would never completely replace email, and even now their website messaging states that email is limited rather than completely useless. But by introducing “email” as the enemy, they deployed a powerful rhetorical strategy of creating a common adversary, which united users against a shared source of frustration. This strategy simplifies the problem for users, making it emotionally clear: moving to Slack is not just a change of messaging tool, it is a move towards liberation from pain and chaos.
Logos – How Slack Appeals To Logical
Slack does an excellent job of appealing emotionally but that is only half the job. After making this emotional appeal, they need to justify logically that they offer a worthy solution to the issues highlighted.
Slack presents clear, data-driven arguments that highlight the efficiency of their platform. By showcasing metrics such as reductions in internal emails, decreased meeting times, and faster project delivery, they offer concrete evidence that Slack is a superior alternative.
A notable example is highlighted in the blog article, Swap email for Slack: How to save employees 11 hours a week, which provides empirical data supporting the platform’s benefits. Along with demonstrating the tangible advantages of using Slack, the article also appeals to logical reasoning, emphasising the productivity gains.
Along with establishing credibility, the testimonials and case studies referenced earlier serve a logical purpose. By presenting real-world examples of companies that have successfully integrated Slack into their operations, they provides proof of their claims. This appeals to a form of deductive reasoning, “If X company is benefitting from using Slack, then so will I”.
Finally, Slack supports logical argument through demonstration. The first option of their website menu is dedicated to showcasing the features of the platform through pictures and video. They don’t just tell you how their product solves the issues highlighted, they show you. They then invite you to try for yourself without needing to pay.
Slack’s Email Marketing
Finally, we can consider how Slack approaches email marketing. Given Slack’s branding as the “email killer” their email marketing strategy is notably measured, using this channel cautiously so as not to contradict their core messaging.
Slack’s emails are designed to be helpful, but never overwhelming. They provide value through tips or updates that enhance the user’s experience with the platform. They’re careful not to replicate the very issues—such as overload and interruption—that Slack aims to solve. This allows them to utilise email marketing while maintaining credibility.
Slack also sends emails sparingly, which is crucial for a company that promotes reducing email clutter. The content they do send is highly relevant and timed to match the user’s journey with the product. This judicious use of email underscores their ethos of enhancing productivity without overwhelming their users.
Conclusion
Slack achieves their persuasion goals through the classic technique of agitating a problem and then immediately offering the solution.
Other than their statistics on enhanced productivity, they take the view that people are already fed up with traditional email and meetings, therefore, they don’t need to convince potential users of a new problem, they just need to highlight existing pain and present their platform as a worthy solution. They rely heavily on social proof to establish credibility and adopt a see-it-for-yourself strategy when providing evidence for their claims.
In short, we can see how their messaging adheres to the three pillars of rhetoric persuasion. Establish authority in your domain, appeal emotionally to pre-existing pain that people face every day, and provide ample evidence that they offer a solution while being careful not to contradict themselves.