Sunday, February 5, 2012

Learnings From The Political Race

I write and talk a lot about generational groups.

Maybe it’s because I am a Boomer myself that I seem to feel a calling to report what I observe.  Boomers get a rush out of “discovery” observations!

Sitting here post the Nevada primary, I cannot overlook a set of observations.

Whether you support him or not, clearly Obama pitted the Millennials against the Boomers. 

He rallied them with tapping into their social media and online sites.  More on those stats later…

I would probably also give him an “A” because he raised the bar above rational thought and tapped instead into the Millennial emotions of “change.”

I am first to say I would NOT give Obama an “A” for achievement.

Here are three armchair observations…

(1) Throwing Stones

We have two MBA-headset Republicans that have reverted to the “who can accuse the other the most” paradigm of the past. 

Forget the brand platform.  Forget the emotional drives. 

Bring back the Coke-Pepsi model and shoot from the hip.

The boys are back to fighting it out in the parking lot.

One thing for sure… the boys are not alone… many brands cling onto the same approach. 

You simply do not want to be one of them.


(2) Watch as the dissenters unite

Alternative brands that challenge convention continue to rattle the marketplace. 

All you have to do is turn on your television set and count how many of the top programs are “real time TV” versus “planned series.”

From Apple to MINI to Red Bull to Chipotle, alternative brands are posting higher “Q-Scores” (awareness and likeability) than the staid, giant brands of the past.

While Romney may believe he has the lead… many of the alternative candidates from Sarah Palin to Hermann Cain are uniting behind an alternative candidate. 

I hope that at some point, the boys stop throwing the food across the table, step back and think about what happened in the 2010 Election Year.


(3) Dwelling in the past

When brands have limited distinctive elements to communicate about their personality, you start seeing ads either…
(a)  Scattered with words like “quality,” “accessibility” and “value”
(b)  Showcasing their “made in America” roots

In addition to the message, the communications media mix reverts back to the “mass media” paradigm… the more I spend on top rated TV, the more likely I will be elected.

Forget the interactive media… reaching 70%+ at least 4 or more times, will get voters to switch.

Its not like Obama doesn’t forget things too… as far as his promises are concerned and his two years of total congressional control… but Obama did reach beyond the old model of mass media and bond with his voter block through social media.

Here is where Obama’s Facebook following stands today… Sunday February 5th, 2012…24,878,080 members.  Nearly 25 MILLION members. 

His claims to be “in control” might just have some merit.

While the First Lady has less… it ain’t bad either… 6,488,949.

Okay… they’ve been campaigning before, but they still have a sizable lead…
Sarah Palin has 3,269,031 members and Mit Romney has 1,409,501.

Mit probably needs to bring on a Social Media VP to assist in combating Obama among the Twitter-clickers.

Romney clearly is ahead of the pack with social media… here are the other three still in the race:
** Newt -- 265,933
** Santorum -- 96,139
** Ron Paul -- 814,376

The line that Ron Paul has a devoted few is well illustrated in his membership numbers.

Bob Dole came out a few days ago tearing down Newt Gingrich.  Too bad Newt’s campaign guy didn’t go back against dear Old Bob and say the guy is history. 

Bob Dole’s Facebook membership is 2,486.  I heard that the dial-up Internet access really moves slow on the social media sites.

Sooooo….

The way I will end this blog post is simply to say… there are a lot of lessons to learn from watching the politicians. 

But… if I were teaching a marketing class as I write this, I would tell those Millennial graduate students to watch the Super Bowl tonight… interesting commercials, hitting and grinding that scores and some good times to text to your Facebook friends.

Something much more exciting than watching politicians in the mud pit. 





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