Creative, Promotions, Uncategorized • March 18th, 2009

Slammin’ the slogan

by Chris Lato

Mama always said, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. So…how do I put this…

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New Media, Views on News • December 11th, 2008

The problems with print

by Chris Lato

In this down economy, it’s no secret that all sorts of businesses are struggling and going under – including the newspaper industry, which was thought to be on a long, slow slide to oblivion anyway.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Newspapers need to figure out how to make real money off the Internet and adjust to the change in revenue streams. Print media outlets will continue to face serious fiscal challenges – some will fade away entirely, while some will adapt to an exclusive online presence. Reporters and editors will lose their jobs as newsrooms work to maintain consistent output with fewer resources.

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Creative, Promotions • December 10th, 2008

Beware of the doghouse

by Chris Lato

This holiday season, don’t let this happen to you.

Funny stuff. I don’t know where this 5-minute ad would actually air, (presumably JC Penney is just counting on this thing to go viral?) but it takes the old joke to a new level.Never underestimate he power of humor to deliver messages that stick.

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization, Report from the Field, Signage, Views on News • October 13th, 2008

Here come the thugs

by Chris Lato

Right about this time we start seeing the stories about political vandalism – this story being one example.

In 2004, at the Republican Party of Wisconsin, I fielded numerous calls about stolen yard signs, damaged 4×8s, destruction at local GOP campaign offices, etc.

Sign theft or destruction, while childish and unacceptable, is nothing new. However, in recent years the targeted destruction has become increasingly alarming.

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Creative, Promotions, Views on News • September 29th, 2008

Atta boy, Attanasio

by Chris Lato

I am by no means a huge follower of major league baseball but it is a still a thrill to see the Milwaukee Brewers back in playoff action for the first time since 1982.

I remember being part of the crowd in ’82 when the Brew Crew beat the California Angels to clinch the spot in the World Series. It was an amazing thing.

A lot of the credit has to go to principal owner Mark Attanasio, who brought a level of enthusiasm to Milwaukee and the team that was lacking under the previous ownership regime. Attanasio wanted to win, and took the steps necessary to make that happen. He is a hands-on owner whose enthusiasm and love of the team is infectious.

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Creative, Promotions • August 15th, 2008

Milwaukee: Bringing sexyback

by Chris Lato

I couldn’t resist a few words about this one.

Marie Claire, a magazine I am not the target audience for, has deemed Milwaukee the ‘Sexiest City’ on a list called ‘Sexy 101.’

Pick your jaw up off the floor, all you sexy people out there.

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Creative, New Media, Views on News • August 12th, 2008

A campaign communication first

by Chris Lato

You have to hand it to the Barack Obama campaign: they have consistently shown they know how to use current communication technology to their advantage.

Rumors that John McCain was going to make his VP announcement via carrier pigeon went unanswered by the McCain campaign. (JK!)

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2008 Primaries, Creative, Global Concerns, Messaging, New Media, Promotions • July 28th, 2008

The GOP joins the Twitter generation

by Chris Lato

Hey, give ‘em points for trying. Some College Republicans are touring the nation, visiting only ‘red’ Congressional districts across the nation and pitching in with volunteer work.

Although one of my first thoughts was, gee, this must be costing them a lot in gas money.

The perception is the Democrats are young, hip and wired into the latest technology – that they’re swamping the GOP in appealing to the Twitter generation. Republicans, by comparison, are stodgier and slower to take on these new ways of communicating.

That said, in 2004 the Bush campaign and RNC invested a lot of dough in technology advances connected to collecting data on supporters for use in driving voter turnout. At that time, it was pretty clear the GOP was working to get ahead of the game. Presumably, improved versions of these tools will be employed to help John McCain this fall.

We’ve written about new technology and social media on this site before, and it’s difficult to say at this point how much this stuff moves the political numbers. However, any campaign ignores these tools at their peril, and they will only get more important to use as time goes on.

They may seem like bells and whistles, and a powerful TV ad or well-timed press event with plenty of photo ops (hello, Obama World Tour!) can still cut through the clutter like nothing else. But campaigns are well advised to use these relatively low-cost, potentially high-impact communication tools in ways that help spread and control the message.

One other note: I have argued in the past that widespread liberal bias in the press is more myth than fact – that of course there are reporters who are biased but in actuality, reporters prefer a good fight or a ‘gotcha’ than they do a nakedly partisan stance. But in the face of evidence like this, it’s a bit harder to make the case. Follow the money, indeed.

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Messaging, New Media • July 8th, 2008

Will McCain catch-up online?

by wispundit

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 wispundit

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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