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The act of using controversy as an effective form of sales has always yielded result, and my thought begin to do the numbers of  various products, artists, names, etc that have employed this creative vehicle to succeed in their giving endeavor. The bible, the best selling book of all time, was borne out of controversy; Madonna, one of the bestselling musicians of all time, used sex as weaponry to command popularity; Passion of the Christ, sold out based on the Jewish Society’s acrimony towards the film. The list goes on and on as I remembered the days of gangster rap where this tool was the only means of guaranteed record sales.

So, I was not surprised when I heard on radio that Da Vinci Code (the film) has grossed the second box office sales of all time behind Star Wars after about 2 month of release. What an impact? This led me to a series of thought on human behavior and the paradoxes that are engaged in their heart; a man condemns something passionately but the same man will spend his hard-earned money to promote its cause. What an irony? But believe me its true.

As a skilled sales man, honed from Access Bank’s internship program, I have been opportune to witness various buying decisions and trust me they are not logical. For example, a woman will close a sale with me because I laugh like his boyfriend not because of my rational presentation or one will get the attention of an interviewer when you mention something in his thought he has been afraid to share with the rest of the management team. The art of selling is not logical but emotional and using controversy (Which operates on an emotional level) will always be a winner any day.

Controversy breeds argument, which is a clash in human perspective, and employs “word of mouth” which is the most effective sales method.When there is a clash in human perspective, each party tries to portray each others point with strong emotion leading to train of thoughts in the confines of each others private chambers. The question of which perspective is right leads to a deeper search and hence a paradigm shift is experienced. This shift leads to a greater understanding of the other party’s perspective and hence the said party is able to hold ground on his initial perspective

.My last week of vacation was cut short by a mentorship roundtable meeting I was to attend in Lagos, organized by Heinrich Boll Foundation and Lagos Digital Village (both are NGO committed to empowering lives). A controversy ensued in the roundtable meeting that affected my monthly meeting with TTC organization (also an NGO committed to training individuals on ICT skills). In this monthly meeting, where I am expected to speak on the relevance of certifications to industry, I was challenged by one of the mentors, in the roundtable meeting, redressing the relevance of certifications and pointing out the frailties involved in obtaining a certification. These points have always been in my subconscious but I knew the effect this would have on training centers who offer this certification training. So when I was invited to speak 4 days after my meeting at the roundtable, by TTC Organization, I was challenged with either telling the truth to the students or doing my normal ritual of telling them the irrelevancies of certification in a relevant way.

After three days of thinking it through, I decided to use the controversy method to pass across my points. In the presence of all the staff and student, I threw the topic of “Certification and Application” open to them and there were arguments amongst the student and staff likewise. After the meeting, they had passed across the message themselves even with a deeper understanding of the topic.Dan Brown, the author of the book “Da Vinci Code”, has successfully sold his thoughts to millions of people world wide through his fiction and as people keeps talking about the controversy inherent in the book. It causes the question “may be?” in the heart of people and Dan Brown would have achieved his aim………………………………..