Monday, September 15, 2008

Purple...The Hot New Color Of Political Decor!

Purple has always been an interesting color.

I remember from my elementary school years how we learned that purple was a secondary color made up of the primary colors of red and blue.

There’s an article in today’s online version of Advertising Age titled, “Painting a picture of Purple Voters.” It is all about the independent voters in the swing states of the presidential election now seven weeks away.

If you get a chance to read the article, I think you will agree with me that purple deserves equal classification as a primary color with both red and blue!

Acxiom, a research and market segmentation company, is noted in the article with a report they released called, “The Purple States: Why They Affect Elections.”

Purple states are defined based on the last couple of elections and how close the two primary parties posted and how the independent vote affected the outcomes. In political circles, they call these states “Swing States.”

Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Hampshire and Nevada represent the Swing States.

Turns out that the purple voters are more likely to be Baby Boomers and Matures, identify themselves as conservatives and most likely to watch FOX News.

Interesting.

Those states in the Midwest and Great Lakes in many ways represent the “Heartland” of America. Outside of several larger cities like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas, a significant share of each of the states lives in the small towns and farmland hamlets.

The Big Red GOP and the Big Blue DNC each have their loyal base. According to the press, its all BIG Business Executives that drive the GOP and all the Eastern and California Intellects that drive the DNC.

BrandVenture pays a significant amount of dollars each year to get access to the premiere and most comprehensive lifestyle snapshot of the US called PRIZM that has the US population segmented into 66 lifestyle groups.

PRIZM, by the way, is owned by Claritas that is owned by Nielsen…you know, those guys and gals that publish the TV ratings.

We did a computer run this morning using the most recently released information from Claritas and Simmons about who’s out there watching The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News.

Yeah…there are lifestyle groups like “Upper Crust,” “Blue Blood Estates” and “Country Squires” watching it that are Red Voters to be sure.

And Yes…there are liberal Eastern groups like “Bohemian Mix” and “Up-and-Comers” that are not.

But, the Ad Age article is smack on target.

There are lifestyle groups bearing nicknames like “Gray Power,” “Country Casuals,” “Traditional Times,” “Simple Pleasures,” “Heartlanders” and “Old Milltowns” that are tuning into O’Reilly after putting the cows and chickens to sleep and popping the meat loaf in the oven.

“Red, White and Blues” is a fascinating group that is also tuning in. This group found in many of the purple states is tuning into The O’Reilly Factor 56% more than the average American!

Here is how Claritas describes them…

“Red, White & Blues typically live in exurban towns rapidly morphing into bedroom suburbs. Their streets feature new fast-food restaurants and locals have recently celebrated the arrival of chains like Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, and Payless Shoes.”

The median household income of this group is $43,254 as of September 2008 and the Blue party’s tax cut for the American Middle Class might sound good on paper.

Obama’s tax cut is only good for the taking if you post a household income of $50,000.

To be specific, 58% of this lifestyle group would qualify and 42% would not.

According to the Advertising Age article, “the study suggests that targeting older populations will be key for both parties. Republicans should appeal to conservative tendencies, while Democrats should address economic and healthcare issues, both of primary concern to purple voters.”

Isn’t it interesting how the press fashions sentences and uses words… ”conservative tendencies”?

Say what you want to say, but having a woman on the GOP ticket that was birthed in Idaho, hunts moose, known for her PTA leadership, was mayor of a small town and goes by the nickname Sara-cuda might just mirror the population of the purple party and the emotional chords that drive them to the polls.

Something tells me that the GOP might have actually applied some of the fundamentals of marketing we preach here at BrandVenture.

As we ask our clients… who are your current, growth and desired customers and what is the brand experience that the desired customers desire and seek to bond with?

Who represents your brand’s “purple party” and what can you do to swing their vote?

Come…let’s journey and find out!

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