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May 9, 2009
Learning From "The Worst Person In The World"
This morning I read a thought-provoking editorial in The Economist, titled "The perils of unpopular populism." It reflected on Republican efforts to rehab the party's image and associated flagging political fortunes. It got me thinking about some marketing lessons that can be drawn from current political theater.
In this past election, we saw (and continue to see) Barack Obama use the Internet and social media to brilliant advantage. But, it was not social media or marketing that got Obama elected. Obama presented a timely message in meticulously controlled fashion to overcome the overwhelming disadvantage of his race and relative inexperience. He reached people across all voter segments to coalesce a coalition. He did something else almost unhead of in recent politics -- while his fiscal policies are decidely liberal, he campaigned (and is governing) from closer to the middle than many pundits thought possible.
So, why the ongoing war of words between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann...and by extension between Fox and NBC? Their childish rants against each other are increasingly unattractive to anyone with a brain. As The Economist's article so elegantly pointed out, there is an abiding comfort gained from talking to your tightly aligned followers, but if the objective is to sway the other side, then irrational invective does little to swing votes.
AIDA -- Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. We learned that in Markeing 101. Screaming about your rival/opponent certainly creates awareness. But bellowing about how your rival is a neanderthal or crook or "worst person in the world" does little to help sway moderates to your point of view. IT may galvanize your rabid followers, but isn't the objective to create new followers as well as keep the one's you have?
In fact, many talking heads continue to ignore the realities that Obama leveraged so well -- a really resonant message will move virally if properly facilitated. If you think back, Obama was not a fire-and-brimstone preacher...he was a measured, calm, albeit articulate and emotionally-engaging, speaker. He would hold a town hall meeting, and inspire a crowd, but the energy did not come from his pounding his fist or dashing around hystrionically. The energy came from the crowd. When people went home, the campaign creatively supplied tools and techniques to allow the new followers to spread the word..."Hey, you ought to listen to this guy....".
That, is social media marketing at work.
As marketers, the lessons above aptly apply to your day job. We all want to scream from the mountaintop about our products. And to create awareness, some screaming is needed. But, once people notice you, are you empowering them with the tools and opportunities to help you move the message if it really is resonant?
Posted by jcioban at May 9, 2009 10:09 AM
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