public relations • July 9th, 2008

Doing good is great PR

by Jon Tingley

Ricoh recently made international news when they unveiled plans for an LED billboard in New York’s Times Square that runs on renewable energy. In case you didn’t catch it, you can read it at Engadget. This is a perfect example of leveraging a company’s good deeds to raise awareness of the company or an initiative.

The same works for political candidates. Both front runners for the presidency have highlighted their charity work in their campaigns. Obama has stressed his commitment to helping inner-city youth, while McCain has highlighted his dedication to C.A.R.E. and other organizations.

Incidently, Ricoh’s billboard installation perfectly aligns with its environmental goals. Several companies are jumping on the green bandwagon and reaping the benefits of being associated with the movement. DHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post, has started a climate protection program called GoGreen, and IBM just pledged $1 billion to Project Big Green, a data center conservation initiative.

Whether you’re a business leader or a politician, doing good can be an invaluable tool in maintaining a favorable image in the eyes of consumers and voters.

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Messaging, New Media • July 8th, 2008

Will McCain catch-up online?

by Jon Tingley

Okay. So there’s roughly five months until the big day for Obama, McCain, and the American people. The candidates are racing to raise money, maintain their images, etc. so that on November 4^th, you will vote for them. One medium that seems like a no-brainer to help accomplish these goals is the internet. Some candidates seem to understand the power of the web, while some just don’t seem to get it. The question I’m asking today is: why hasn’t McCain used the web to reach out to prospective supporters?

YouTube has shown how relatively normal people can be made into celebrities overnight, so why wouldn’t a political candidate want to utilize that resource? Alright, so McCain does have a Facebook page, and a Twitter account and several other social media connections. However, as most Facebook-addicted college students know, it doesn’t matter if you have an account unless people are looking at your page and becoming supporters. Currently, McCain has 162, 420 supporters on Facebook. That may seem like a large number, but remember, Facebook is a global site. Obama on the other hand has 1,112,689 supporters, and that’s just on Facebook. more »

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New Media • June 25th, 2008

Politicians tweet to future voters

by Jon Tingley

You may have heard about a crazy new thing called Twitter lately. The truth is, it’s not that new, and it’s not that crazy. Twitter was launched almost two years ago in July and has since gained almost 2 million users worldwide. The number of Twitter users is constantly growing, as is the sites popularity; around 2 million tweets are sent each day. As you’ll read below, a few politicians have started using Twitter and one has seen overwhelming success.

What is Twitter? Well, as confusing as it sounds, the idea behind the service is very simple. The service is based on the question “What are you doing now?” and from that, you can communicate your own or your business’s status to the world. Twitter was created as a cross-platform tool to communicate your status to friends. All you have to do is create an account, find some people to follow, find some people to follow you, and start tweeting. The beauty of it all is that your followers can choose how they would like to receive your updates, either by text message, instant message, or on the web. You can also update your status from your mobile phone, instant messenger, on the website, or through the multitude of applications and plug-ins that have been created just to tweet. more »

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Messaging, Views on News • June 23rd, 2008

Picking up the pieces

by Jon Tingley

It seems the Democrats are getting back on track after announcing Obama as their nominee.  It was just announced that former Obama rival Hilary Clinton will be joining him on the campaign trail in an attempt to reunite the party.  This comes at a critical time for Obama as he tries to underscore his decision to deny public funding for his campaign, a move that has sparked intense criticism of his credibility from both sides.

The question I have is: will the Clintons actually support Obama?

The press will be paying very close attention to Mrs. Clinton on Thursday and Friday when she meets with Obama and her top contributors to raise money for the Democratic bid.  So far, it seems she has gracefully stepped to the side to allow Obama to shine, but everyone will be watching to see if she can keep up the act.  Obama has been trying to do his part to mend their tumultuous relationship, even going so far as to scold his supporters in Detroit for booing Senator Clinton, saying, “Senator Clinton is one of the finest public servants we have in American life today.”

Only time will tell if the former contenders can patch things up with their supporters in time to succeed in November; maybe that’s why Obama is taking the extra cash.

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2008 Primaries • May 6th, 2008

The Democratic Dichotomy

by Jon Tingley

The battle for the Democratic nomination continues after Obama narrowly escapes defeat in Guam by 7 votes. The fact that Guam’s four delegate votes mattered to Clinton and Obama is a telltale sign of how close this battle really is. The question Democrats should ask themselves now is: what is this prolonged battle doing to the Democratic party? This power struggle between Obama and Clinton could divide the party and lose them the election if they don’t figure out how to unite after their nominee has been chosen.

Howard Dean has said that the deciding will be done by June 3^rd, but many still question whether he has the power to make that kind of guarantee. Both Clinton and Obama have shown how dedicated they are to winning, so unless one of them suffers a huge loss soon, I don’t see this fight ending by June. While the two continue to throw punches, McCain is out recruiting more Republican voters and improving his image.

It’s hard to blame the Democrats though, both nominees are pretty evenly matched. For example, both have a hard time remembering the facts about their past. Hilary spoke in March about her experience in war, which proved to be far from the truth. Obama has made a similar mistake in addressing his relationship with good ol’ Rev. Wright. In the beginning people seemed to believe that Obama had never heard or supported Wright’s radical views, but now his assertions are becoming hard to believe. The effect of these follies is magnified in this election because it is not a fight between Republicans and Democrats, but a fight between Republicans, Obama and Clinton. The two Dems are concentrating more on battling each other than beating McCain and I’m not convinced that the Democratic party will be able to rise from the aftermath in time to win the election. According to a poll in Pennsylvania, 26 percent of Clinton supporters said if Obama won the nomination they would vote for McCain, while only 19 percent Obama backers said they would support McCain if Clinton won.

As this battle continues, the Democratic party loses ground in the eyes of the electorate. Who will win the nomination? It’s hard to tell, but unless things shape up soon, the Dems are in for a world of hurt.

Just for fun, check out Conan mocking Wright on Late Night.

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2008 Primaries, Messaging • March 19th, 2008

Obama speaks out

by Jon Tingley

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama yesterday gave what some people are calling a landmark speech, addressing comments made by his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In his speech, Obama denounced Wright saying his statements “expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country,” and were “not only wrong, but divisive.” Obama goes on to explain the history of his relationship with Wright and says that he cannot disown his pastor for a few minutes of sermon over 30 years of service. Obama asserts that he never once heard Wright talk about these subjects before they appeared on YouTube and in the broadcast media.

Regardless of whether you believe Obama, he astutely distanced himself from the radical portrayal of his pastor while illustrating his ability to remain loyal.

more »

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Branding Politix, Creative • February 25th, 2008

7 ads that win

by Jon Tingley

One of the most crucial things to a campaign these days is a great ad campaign. In the business world, the ultimate goal of most ads is to increase revenue, but political ads lead to something much more powerful…votes. Listed below are some ads that win. Some of these ads may not be political, but they are creative, innovative and sometimes inspiring; these values certainly relate to advertising in the political arena.

• Lexus “the letter h” campaign for their hybrid line. Watch the spots here and here, read the whole post including the press release via Autoblog.com

• Leo Burnett’s Arcor Bubblegum ad via thecoolhunter.net

• Christy Mihos for Governor of Massachusetts

• Dove’s “Evolution” ad promoting its Real Beauty Workshops

• The classic “Daisy” ad for Lyndon Johnson

• Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign ad, “Interview”

• And another from thecoolhunter.net from Australian police…here.

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization, New Media • February 18th, 2008

New tech on the campaign trek

by Jon Tingley

Many people may not have decided on a presidential candidate, even this close to the Wisconsin primary. But they would likely agree that the 2008 election has spawned an entirely new style of political campaigning. There are several key reasons for this.

more »

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