Barack Watch: Day 3--The Hope-ometer

I haven't read through a transcript yet, so I could be a little off, but I was keeping a running tally of how many times "hope," "change" or "yes, we can" were mentioned during the inauguration speeches. And I'm sorry to say that those who were expecting both "hope" and "change" were sadly disappointed.

Among the speakers, the word "hope" was mentioned only four times. Once by Diane Feinstein, and only three times by President Obama (it still feels funny, like the new Pope having one name instead of two). And two of those "hopes" came in the last :30 of his inaugural address.

"Change," was only mentioned twice, once (unless you count the fact that he said "changed" right before he said "change," in which case he said "change" twice") by Presi O. (just trying some other names out--seeing what fits) and once by Rev. Rick Warren in the inaugural "prayer"/speech.

(Oh, and as a side note, did anyone else feel like all of the other speakers were the warm-up acts--the comedian, the local garage band nobody cares about--that you had to sit through before the band you actually bought a ticket to see got on stage? Just a thought.)

The 42-year-old 44th president of the United States (who is seven months younger than Gabrielle Carteris, an original cast member of Beverly Hills 90210) said both "Yes, we will" and "We can," but did not repeat the phrase that became synonymous with his campaign. "Yes, we can" was only mentioned once, in the Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction.

But these lack of recuring themes was one of the most exciting things about Obtimus Prime's (too much?) address. "Yes, we can" was his campaign slogan, his rallying cry. But he's not running for office anymore. "Yes we can?" "We did." (That is if you were among one of Obami O's [as you read this someone's currently copyrighting that to make a Captain Crunch flavored cereal] supporters--I for one wrote in Ted Lange, like I have since 1988.) And now the campaign is over. Now he's got a job to do that won't be solved with positive slogans or promises of "hope" and/or "change." But at least from his inaugural address I know he understand that. And that gives me hope after the crushing disappointment of my candidate losing yet another election.

Oh, and poet Elizabeth Alexander might have said any one of those phrases. I was watching, but at that point I'd pretty much tuned out. Maybe I felt a little bad, but at the same time, I just didn't care. I saw what I wanted to see,. And, I mean, do you put on a band after the Rolling Stones? I don't think so.

Oh, and I just read the subject of President Obama's first State of the Union Address: Positivity and Modifications.

(Ed. Note: The NY Times has a nifty app that allows you to see the number of times particular buzz words are used in Obama's speech - as well as the speeches of every American president since Washington.)

--Captain Awesome, Copywriter

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Marketer of the Year? Whatever.

While brainstorming in our “brilliance pit,” I stumbled across an issue of Ad Age from a couple weeks ago. For those even more behind the times than I am, the Association of National Advertisers named Barack Obama Marketer of the Year for 2008. The Top 5 were rounded out by Apple, Zappos, Nike and Coors.

There’s no argument. All of those companies have marketed themselves well and experienced great success because of it, but seriously, did these guys really have the toughest product to market? There was presidential buzz around Obama the night he was elected to the Senate in 2004.

Apple’s been cool since the iPod was released six years ago. And Nike? Michael Jordan strapped on his Airs back in 1985, and no sneaker has been more recognizable over the past 25 years. Kids literally line up outside shoe stores when a new pair of Nikes comes out. These were not difficult products to market.

Let's talk challenges. You know who I think had to work a political miracle? The people behind David Duke. A former Grand wizard of the freakin' KKK and considered by many to be one of the most detestable political wannabes in America, he ran for office half a dozen times! He was a State Representative for Louisiana, and even ran for President in 1988, receiving more than 47,000 votes. Now, that was a guy who needed some serious marketing help.

A shoe company that’s done some great work—Crocs. They’ve convinced people to buy footwear, which the first time I saw I thought were disposal shoes. Sure, they have minimal support, are made of the same material as hot glue sticks, and have been known to get caught in escalators. So buy two. Buy three. There’s a good chance you’ll need a new pair provided your foot doesn’t get taken off along with the Croc.

You want to talk about technology? Let’s talk Blu-ray. These days you hear an advertisement for Blu-ray discs with every movie coming out on DVD, but do you actually know anyone with a Blu-ray player? Probably not, because people don’t want to pay for a DVD player that’s more expensive than their entire entertainment center. Yet some marketers convinced studios that during a recession was the perfect time to heavily market movies on Blu-ray, even though no one owns something to play them on. Nice work.

And beer? Maybe Coors has done some great advertising, but when it comes to beer, where’s that going to get you—other than reminding Coors drinkers to drink Coors. When it comes to beer, I’ve had so many different kinds, from Meister Brau and Busch to fancy IPAs and Stouts served in wine bottles. And with beer, you’re not going to sway someone’s opinion on whether a beer is “good” or not. People like what they like, and that’s it. You want to talk about a little beverage that could—how about Clamato juice? The refreshing combination of tomato juice and reconstituted dried clam broth. It’s like V8 mixed with just a hint of the Dead Sea.
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Did they do some brilliant, head-turning advertising? Absolutely, but it’s easy to market products people already like. How about next year we dig a little deeper and look for products that were actually difficult to market—poison, evil, beating up puppies (Michael Vick will be looking for some new representation), and how about a nice Kaczynski/Gargamel ticket in 2012?

My point is, advertising can be pretty hard, and most companies and agencies aren’t advertising products that are all peaches and cream. Why not acknowledge the marketers who turn a tricky product into a success? Like in one year taking the Renegade Agency Confessional inside the Internet’s 767,444 most popular sites (according to Alexa), to the Top 600 of Ad Age’s Power 150, and making us the 69th most popular agency blog in all of the UK.

You know, sometimes I really love me.

--Captain Awesome, Copywriter/Self-promotion Specialist

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OMG! R U 4 CHNG N HOPE 2?

Slate Magazine reports political scientists at Yale have determined the marketing tactics voters respond to most during campaign season.

Their findings shouldn't be much of a surprise for anyone who pays any attention to consumer habits or, barring that, uses common sense. In-person interaction still pulls rank in terms of effectiveness. Automated phone calls, on the other hand, rank at the bottom of the list, just behind stashing a wad of cash into the trunk of '72 Buick and pushing it off a bridge.

One tidbit pulled from the fact-crunching meat grinder was the effectiveness of text messaging. The Obama campaign has employed the tactic in lieu of automated phone calls, still a staple of many--if not most--political campaigns. It's allowed them to target their messages not only by geography, but even down to personal details provided by the hundreds of thousands of Changemongers who signed up for the mailing list.

With one vote converted for every 25 people contacted, it falls behind the conversion rate of one vote per 14 contacts that in-person canvassing produces. But when costs per converted vote are tallied, it's ridiculously cheap. A vote converted from text messaging costs about $1.50 compared to $29 for a vote coaxed through person-to-person contact.

Don't expect text messaging to perform like that in the future though. If there's one thing marketers (particularly, political marketers) know how to do, it's wear out a good thing. They'll ride that pony all the way to the Alpo plant.

But for now, it's working. That leaves at least one question unanswered: How long before we finally retire the automated phone call? It may mean waiting for the old-guard politicians to go extinct. They'll no doubt be buried in their diamond-encrusted tombs with their auto-dialers and door leaflets.

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