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.

What can this do for you? Twitter may have been intended for individual use, but it hasn’t taken long for a few enterprising minds to think of ways to use this in political settings.

For example, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and John McCain have all embraced the service as a way to recruit and communicate with America’s youth. While it has been successful for two of them, Obama is leading with nearly 42,000 people following him over Clinton’s 4,142 and McCain’s 68. What’s interesting about Obama’s use is that not only does he have thousands of followers, but he is also following over 43,000 people; imagine the tweets he gets. Click the links for their pages. Obama. Clinton. McCain.

The bottom line is that we are living in an age where information is updated and disbursed every second. For a politician to succeed, they will have to figure out how to keep up. Will Twitter be the way?

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Report from the Field, Views on News • June 12th, 2008

Notes from the silly season

by Chris Lato

In the “Herding Cats” department, some party leaders are straying from the pack – and it’s happening on both sides of the aisle.

Democrats don’t like Barack Obama. Republicans don’t like John McCain. Hillary supporters are saying they’d rather vote for McCain - “Anybody but Obama.”

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Buttons, Messaging • June 2nd, 2008

Cha-ching!

by Chris Lato

Once the ‘Holy cow! $200 million!’ shock wears off, what does this tell us?

First off, for all the talk about new ways of executing political communication (social media, internet, Facebook, you name it) TV is still king, far and away. If you want to catch a lot of attention and eyeballs, it is still the way to go if you have the dough.

But money isn’t enough. John McCain was outspent roughly three-to-one by Mitt Romney, and look who’s still standing. Sometimes all the marketing money in the world won’t get voters to buy what you’re selling – especially if your message is garbled and you have failed to define yourself, what you stand for and why you are running.

And, what a mind-blowing number for the Democrats. All this over a battle for the nomination that has been great fun to watch, yet has allowed John McCain to run his campaign unscathed by Democrat attacks for months. Admittedly, if the Dem nominee will have this level of support at his disposal, McCain will be pelted with a non-stop barrage of attack ads any time now.

Despite the $46 million spent by the Hillary Clinton campaign, the study points out that in a number of key states Barack Obama still had the airwaves all to himself for a significant period of time – and made his biggest gains for a two-week stretch in February. Pure tactical outmaneuvering, coupled with the means to make some big buys, that helped move the needle in Obama’s direction.

Get ready, Wisconsin – the political airwave war in the Battleground Badger State is about to get underway….

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Global Concerns, public relations • May 14th, 2008

McCain goes green and conservatives see red

by Chris Lato

This guy just can’t catch a break with conservatives.

The John McCain campaign has unveiled what it calls eco-friendly campaign items for sale on its website. And some conservative commentators are apoplectic about it.

Geez, settle down, people. Some of these guys are looking for something, anything, as a reason to tear McCain a new one. To those people, the question remains: would you really rather have Barack Obama? Seriously? This is hardly a case of high treason against the conservative cause.

I think it’s absolutely ingenious. From a pure marketing standpoint, the ‘green’ movement is white-hot. Heck, the whole issue is hot, and there is room for everyone to get into the debate over whether the climate change folks are right-on, or are alarmists blowing a lot of, ahem, hot air. People are talking about it, people care about it. To simply dismiss it out of hand is short-sighted and out-of touch, and McCain recognizes this.

McCain is making a move to steal a key issue the Dems claim to dominate on, and make it his own. He is working to defuse the rhetoric that he will aid and abet the big polluters, who of course are all Republicans who sleep on beds of hundred-dollar bills.

McCain’s ‘green’ collateral is a great example of brilliant thinking when it comes to campaign promotional items. On the flip side, this reminds me of a couple of minor brouhahas that erupted back in the day. Great examples of how bad choices in collateral can totally ruin your day.

Brouhaha #1: The sale of Republican-themed shirts at a GOP booth at the Wisconsin State Fair a few years back. Turns out the shirts were made in, I believe, Mexico. A local TV station was tipped off by a Democrat operative, and things took off from there.

Brouhaha #2: When I was a radio news reporter in Madison back in the late 90s, Wisconsin celebrated its 150^th year of statehood with a special ceremony that included handing out small bells to ring. Only problem: the bells came with a small “Made in China” sticker affixed to each one. Oops!

The moral of the story, if you’re doing anything even remotely political: consider ‘buying American.’ Yes, I know, Americans are involved in design, production, sales, etc. of products that are ‘made’ overseas, but what it says on the label will make a symbolic difference. Let’s face it, you don’t want to be put in the position of trying to explain the nuances of global commerce.

Bottom line: The McCain campaign seems to get the messages it needs to send out. The underlying McCain policy will be what tells the real story, but for now this is a clever, funny and audacious move. I’ll recycle a plastic bottle in their honor today.

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New Media, public relations, wispundits • April 29th, 2008

TXT Release

by Greg Batiansila

A creative public affairs pro will constantly be testing and exploring new platforms for their releases. So this and this were inevitable. And, if you ask me, it’s not going to go away. So remember to come up with a brief version of that three-paragraph release for those who have a trigger reflex for cell vibrations.

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New Media, public relations • April 17th, 2008

Divorce, YouTube-Style

by Chris Lato

Divorce by YouTube

Since my business is communication…and business is good!…I am fascinated by disturbing new trends, like this video. Some of the discussion in the middle of this clip may be NSFW if you’re in a prudish environment…so keep the volume low.

This is pretty groundbreaking in all the wrong ways. I can’t believe her estranged hubby won’t sue over this, and I can’t imagine he wouldn’t win, but what does this open the door to? All sorts of wild, unsubstantiated allegations posted on video? I know in many ways, the Internet is already the wild wild west, with all sorts of crazy stuff being posted all the time. But this seems to take things into newer territory, where it becomes easy for ‘regular people’ to accuse and embarrass one another without the benefit of a fair response.

Also, what’s to stop disgruntled former employees of businesses making videos accusing the company of engaging in illegal or unethical conduct (except for the obvious lawsuit)? Are businesses prepared to respond fast to something that can spread like wildfire if it has a good hook? It is what crisis communications is all about, and I suspect too many businesses – and people in high places who could be slapped with this kind of stuff – may not have the first clue as to how to respond. Online crisis communications doesn’t get a whole lot of attention and this trend could get a lot bigger before all is said and done.

Think PR, people…(end of commercial).

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Branding Politix, Fundraising, Messaging, New Media, Report from the Field, Research & Ideas • April 8th, 2008

It’s a millennium thing. Get used to it.

by Greg Batiansila

For years, American culture – from politics to entertainment to our interpretation of law – has been under the influence of the Baby Boom generation. Boomers will continue to enjoy considerable power and sway even while they gray and retire. But Americans will now have to reckon with a new force – the Millennial Generation.

Millennials – the name given to those born between 1978 and 1996 – boast Boomer-like numbers, education and clout. Researchers are finding this new generation is very different from previous generations in their view of the world and how they vote. For example, almost 50% of Millennials identify themselves with the Democrat party while only 35% align themselves with Republicans.

Laying claim to the media platforms where Millennials communicate, shop and visit is an essential part of today’s and all future campaigns. McCain’s may be the last of the dinosaur campaigns that ascend almost solely through traditional fundraising and media. Look for all campaigns in the future to use the web – perhaps exclusively – create and enhance community, and raise money.

In 2008, close to 50 million Millenials will be eligible to vote. How many actually vote, and how they vote, and what moves them remains to be seen. But you’re already seeing the beginning salvos…like here and here and here…in a battle for the heart, soul and vote of the Millennial generation.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Messaging, wispundits • March 18th, 2008

Who are you?

by Greg Batiansila

It’s a question the electorate asks of a candidate, a question campaigns work to answer. It’s a question Romney and Hillary haven’t answered clearly - and it’s cost them.

One local adman, Steve Eichenbaum, has shown proven excellence in showing his candidates as a man of the people. It was Eichenbaum who showed Democratic Senator Russ Feingold as a suburban underdog with little money but a lot of honesty and integrity. This election year, he’s developing similar folksy charm for Steve Novick, a Democratic underdog in Oregon.

Should every candidate be cast as a man or woman of the people? Hillary’s handlers have tried it with sometimes damaging consequences. Clearly Barack’s people are comfortable with depicting him as something beyond “everyday.”

In John McCain’s latest advertisement, his campaign has positioned him as a timeless figure – quite the opposite of the everyday man. In the ad, McCain’s words are intercut with images and speeches of some of the greatest leaders in Western history.

The advertisement is brilliantly crafted. Who is John McCain? The ad answers: McCain is Churchill of this era. Where Obama’s strengths focus on his oratory, this advertisement says much without words. Time flies by, the cosmos undulate, it says. Greatness transcends these things. The wonderful shots at the close of the advertisement shot - in lush, cinematic saturated glory, and then melting to what looks like the cosmos - are brilliant.

I give the ad tremendous props for swinging for the fence and answering the age-old political question with gusto. Sometimes when you swing for the fences, however, you just miss.
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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Grass Roots Organization, New Media • March 17th, 2008

MoveOn beckons Web 2.0 to race

by Greg Batiansila

MoveOn.org, the outspoken left-leaning political website, is showing just how much the political grassroots landscape has changed in just one election cycle.

The site is calling on filmmakers, writers, directors, actors, editors, composers, graphic artists, and animators to use their creativity and create an ad supporting Barack Obama. MoveOn has even YouTubed their call to creative arms.

What you’re seeing and will continue to see is a move on the Internet toward social media, one where the audience creates content and essentially contributes in a conversation with itself and a website. The result is powerful – you give contributors their minutes of fame and priceless exposure, get free content, and engage the audience to share and contribute.

Politically, this is the first major step toward audience-created media that skirts campaign rules and campaign-driven “talking points.” If MoveOn.org posts its top 100 videos, and one or more are risky or take avant garde stabs at the opponent, both MoveOn and Obama can simply disassociate itself from the ad as something made by a novice and not from their campaign – even while displaying the ad under the context of a contest. But if something is truly moving and great, Obama or MoveOn can snatch the ad up and give it national play.

Locally, politicians could use the same platform to engage the electorate. more »

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Branding Politix, Creative, Messaging • March 14th, 2008

Different ads for different eras

by Chris Lato

My post on Thursday included a YouTube video of a hilarious 1984 ad from the Mondale/Ferraro campaign that took Ronald Reagan to task for exploring the ‘Star Wars’ missile defense system.

It got me thinking, and searching out some old campaign ads. I love these old spots, and I found this gem from the 1960 Kennedy campaign. Watch and then we’ll discuss:

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