Conversation with Dan Bartlett February 19, 2009
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: communications, Election 2008, marketing
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Note: I’ve been trying to write this post now for about a month – in the online world, FOREVER. Dan was extremely open and honest about challenges the Bush administration faced, and mistakes that were made. I wanted to be fair when recounting this conversation. Whether you agree or disagree with the Bush doctrine, take this for what it’s worth – a facinating discussion about the communication challenges all of us face, regardless of whether you are in the private or public sector.
We had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Dan Bartlett the day after the inauguration. Dan was a Counselor to the President during the Bush administration, and he flew back to Texas with former President Bush after he left the White House for the last time. Dan resigned from the administration in June of 2007, and currently works for Public Strategies, based in Austin, Texas.
It was interesting to see how the government and today’s companies face the same communication struggles, and, in the end, the old adages still apply:
Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). First and foremost, as communicators we must keep our message simple – it must be able to be easily understood and repeated. Dan applauded the Obama campaign for keeping their message simple and consistent. The message of “Change” never wavered, and every communication pointed back to that one key message. The federal government, with its multitude of agencies and departments, struggles with staying ”on message.” Likewise, corporations have the silos of public relations, analyst relations, investor relations, internal communications and marketing to contend with. In order to support your brand and maintain one message, companies need to have a comprehensive communications strategy that spans each of these groups.
A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words. The days of Katrina were definitely some of the darkest for America and the Bush administration. Leaving for a pre-scheduled event with the troops at Naval Base Coronado, Dan says Bush was under the impression that the levees in New Orleans were holding. At the base, Mark Wills presented Bush with his guitar when coming off stage. An ABC News correspondant took a picture of the exchange and sent it to friends “off-the-record” – instead the picture is broadcasted and tagged ”Bush Plays Guitar While New Orleans Drowns.” Traveling from San Diego to Washington, the administration decided to visit Mississippi and Alabama – also devastated by Katrina – on their way to New Orleans. Bush was seen as careless and non-responsive. According to Dan, Katrina was one of the major mistakes from which the Bush administration never recovered.
Know Your Audience. Most of us remember Bush’s speech aboard the USS Lincoln in May 2003, and the pictures of him appearing before a “Mission Accomplished” banner. The picture appeared throughout the traditional media and online postings, and garnered quite a bit of backlash – many felt it was wrong to declare the war over when we were still occupying Iraq. The interesting “other side” to the story is that Bush never knew the banner would be there. The commander of the vessel asked the administration whether they could display the banner – the carrier crew’s moto during their 10-month mission – and Dan was the one to approve the decision. When presented the idea, Dan said, he was simply thinking of the pride the sailors took in their mission. Unfortunately, much to the administration’s dismay, the decision was not looked at from all constituents’ point of views. Dana Perino, White House press secretary, told CBS News in 2008, “We have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner.” It’s important to think about how each of your constituent groups will interpret your communications.
Know Your Most Credible Messengers. Heading into the later years of the war, the Bush Administration knew that they needed a knowledeable and credible spokesperson to communicate efforts in Iraq. In January 2007, General David Petraeus was named Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said of Petraeus, “He is the preeminent soldier-scholar-statesman of his generation and precisely the man we need in this command at this time.” After his appointment, USA Today, stated in February 2008, that “the US effort has shown more success.” Clearly the American public respected General Petraeus as the voice of the Iraq battle: he was named as one of the four runners up for the Time Person of the Year, in 2007; GQ “Leader of the Year: Right Man, Right Time”, in 2008; and the 16th most powerful person in the world by Newsweek in 2008.
Talk About What You’re For, Not Just What You Are Against. The percentage of Americans who get their news from traditional media sources continues to decline. Social media is changing – and challenging – the way the government, as well as corporations, communicates with constituents. In today’s digital world, sound bytes can be repeated around the globe in an instant. Dan believes that participation in social media is well worth the risk – you must participate in the conversation. However, when you choose your message, you must choose one that transparently and honestly communicates who you are and what you believe in. In 2001, President Bush did not submit the Kyoto treaty to the Seneate for ratification. Fortunately, the administration stayed on message. Unfortunately, the message was completely about why they were against the treaty – they failed to mention what they did support.
Speaking with Dan was facinating, and definitely the highlight of our 3-day marketing strategy workshop. Many thanks to him for taking time out of his busy schedule to spend with our team.
Inauguration Day! January 20, 2009
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: CNN, Election 2008, Inauguration, Twitter, YouTube
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What an amazing event we experienced this afternoon. According to the Associated Press, more than 1 million people attended the inauguration in the National Mall – one of the largest-ever gatherings in the nation’s capital (there’s satellite images to prove it). Once again, we have accomplished a peaceful transfer of power.
More than ever, we had access to an abundant amount of information. For instance, Michelle Obama looked stunning in an Isabel Toledo dress and coat, in “lemongrass”. The dress alone sparked enough twitters, blog postings and even a Wall Street Journal article. But, the information frenzy didn’t end there – Kodak was quick to mention that Malia Obama used a Kodak Easy Share M893 to click the pics of her dad during his inaugural address. The twitterverse was also the first to point out that the fumble in the presidential oath was actually because Chief Justice Roberts, who was reciting from memory, cited the oath incorrectly.
We also found out in real-time that Senators Kennedy and Byrd were both removed from the first lunch with the new President. Senator Byrd was taken from the room because he was visibly upset after witnessing Kennedy, who was sitting next to him, have a seizure. Senator Kennedy, who left on a stretcher, is reportedly doing well in the hospital. The embarrassing part is that someone actually updated both Senators’ Wikipedia pages saying they had passed – it was quickly corrected.
We were given a blow-by-blow of the presidential parade, including when the Obamas decided to get out of the “Beast” and walk. We quickly spread the word that – although the Secret Service reported no arrests from the crowd at the Mall – approximately 30 kids were waiting at D.C. police stations because they were separated from their parents in the mayhem. We also watched as the Dow sunk below 8,000 on Obama’s first official day in office.
There was also a flood of statistical data, according to Mashable:
- There were 600,000 status updates posted through the CNN.com Live Facebook feed
- Facebook averaged 4,000 status updates per minute during the broadcast
- 8,500 status updates were posted during the first minute of Obama’s speech
- “Millions” of people logged into Facebook during the broadcast
And, Twitter saw 5x normal tweets-per-second and about 4x tweets-per minute, per the Twitter blog. Overall, I must admit that Twitter did extremely well given this surge of traffic – they are definitely learning and improving with each major event. CNN, which linked up with Facebook, set Web traffic records this morning with 18.8 million total online viewers. They also served more than 1.3 million concurrent live streams before Obama began his address. Overall, CNN broke its all-time total daily streaming record of 5.3 million live streams.
CNN also posted its full view of the inauguration using Microsoft Photosynth. From here, you can view “the moment” from every angle, as if you were there live (actually, better…).
We also learned some new terms, new sites, and new IDs:
- Change.org was quickly (and seamlessly, I might add) transitioned to whitehouse.gov
- There is a new White House You Tube channel (youtube/user/whitehouse)
- And, a new Twitter ID (twitter.com/thewhitehouse)
Looks like Obama is planning to continue its social media communication plan.
Overall, extremely exciting! Tell me, how did you participate in the inauguration?
Tasty Marketing Treats November 17, 2008
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: Change.gov, Election 2008, Elf Yourself, Twitter
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Here are just some of the things I’m reading about this week:
- OfficeMax’s Elf Yourself campaign has started again. Remember, according to Advertising Age, 26.4 million people spent a total of 2,600 years at Elf Yourself last year.
- The New York Times has published an article claiming that President-Elect Obama may have to give up his Blackberry. I’ve said several times on this blog how impressed I am with the way that Obama has used multiple social media tools to communicate with his constituents – from YouTube and Twitter to iPhone applications. For all of us that are Blackberry / iPhone addicts, we all understand how utterly disabling this could be. It will be interesting to see how he handles this first conflict.
- President-Elect Obama has also released his first weekly video address to the nation. These will continue to run at Change.gov and the Obama YouTube channel. Forrester Analyst, Jeremiah Owyang, is quick to point out that Obama has just as many views as the top-rated Fred channel, but far less subscribers. Jeremiah will be tracking progress of Obama’s YouTube success.
- Mom everywhere are still very upset with the Motrin Moms video on Motrin’s official website. Apparently, the video is still there, but as of this morning I couldn’t get to Motrin’s site. This is still one of the hottest discussions on Twitter at the moment at #motrinmoms. The video talks about how uncomfortable and painful it is for moms to carry their babies. Ooops…bad idea, Motrin.
Change.gov November 8, 2008
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: Election 2008
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On Thursday, our President-Elect, Barack Obama, launched a new website, change.gov. The website invites people to share their story and their vision for the new administration. Users can submit emails to tell the new administration policies they want to see carried out in the next four years. The website begins to outline the agenda of the President-Elect, and also calls on Americans to serve in programs such as the AmeriCorps and Peace Corps “in order to meet the nation’s challenges.”
The front page includes a countdown to the inauguration of Obama and Biden in 73 days, on January 20, 2009. But, until then, visitors can also apply for jobs in the new administration through the “Jobs” link. News and appointments to the administration are posted on the site’s blog.
I have to applaud the Office of the President-Elect for continuing their online presence after the election. As I stated in my previous posts, I hope that the Obama-Biden administration continues to use social media to communicate with country. This is a great first step – especially with the fact that the site allows for a dialogue, asking visitors to submit their ideas for the new administration.
I would suggest that the new administration continue to use their other forms of communication as well, including Facebook and Twitter. Push information out using the Obama iPhone application. As with the energy crisis, this is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Each of these tools will help the new government to reach a broader audience. Using change.gov as the portal to these other mediums – including traditional marketing, such as print and TV – would be great. Change.gov should link to all of the other communications being submitted by the new administration.
Now, what would be even more revolutionary would be to push this to the Senate and House as well. I feel that once we vote a Senator or Representative into office, it becomes extremely difficult to communicate with them. How many of you have heard, “write your Congressman”?? Why can’t I communicate with him/her faster? Imagine watching C-Span and being able to Twitter ideas with your Congressman about the upcoming vote!
Plus, since these officials are public servants, I would like to see online how many sessions my representatives are attending. How many votes were they present for? This could completely change the accountability and communication of the government. And, I might add, improve the countries satisfaction with their leadership? Wouldn’t you be more satisfied knowing that your Congressman is present and representing their constituents?
Even if you didn’t vote for Obama, this is a great place to get involved and help shape the direction of our country. Tell me what you think.
Procrastination finally paid off! November 3, 2008
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: Election 2008
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I procrastinated during early voting, and now I’m looking forward to a morning of standing in line waiting…and waiting…and waiting…tomorrow to vote.
But, my day is suddenly looking up! The lovely “I Voted” sticker will gain me (and millions of others) access to some pretty sweet freebies tomorrow. Thanks to the Guru of New, Heyitsfree.net, Slickdeals, Delighted and others for these great finds!
Chick-fil-A: Get a free chicken sandwich for all voters. In some locations, Chick-fil-A is also letting campaigners bring in their election yard signs on Wednesday, November 5, for a free chicken sandwich.
Krispy Kreme: Get a free star-shaped donut with red, white and blue sprinkles
Ben & Jerry’s: Get a free scoop of ice cream, between 5 and 8pm
Shane’s Rib Shack: Get an entire free “Vote America Meal” of three chicken tenders, fries, and a 20oz. drink
Starbucks: Get a free cup of brewed coffee (none of the fancy stuff)
California Tortilla: Get a free taco (DE, MD, DC, PA, VA, WV)
Rock the Vote: Download these songs for free:
- Maroon 5 – Not Falling Apart
- Sara Bareilles – Many the Miles
- Phantom Planet – Dropped
- Raining Jane – Incline
- Menomena – Wet and Rusing
- Michael Franti and Spearhead – Hey World (Don’t Give Up Version)
- Ry Cuming – Home
- The Duke Sprit – This Ship Was Built To Last
And, only in Dallas – New Look is offering free tattoo removal.
Cupcakery (Frisco, TX) – Get a free McCain or Obama cupcake
Most of these offers are only valid with an “I Voted” sticker. I don’t know what to tell those of you that voted early.
Unfortunately, for all of you in California, the California Elections Code bans such freebies to reward voters. The election code was originally established long ago to stop the bribing of voters with food and liquor at the polling place. It’s unknown whether anyone has ever been prosecuted for violating the ban, however this could effect the status of these freebies tomorrow.
Have fun voting!
7-Election 2008 November 3, 2008
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So, tomorrow’s the big day when this election will [supposedly] draw to a close. I’ll be glad to be rid of the catty comercials, but there’s still a part of me that has enjoyed watching the new ways that candidates get their message out to the public.
For the past three elections, 7-Eleven convienence stores have run their 7-Election campaign. Each store offers blue coffee cups for Obama and red coffee cups for McCain. Cup sales are tallied and posted on www.7-election.com.
The 7-Election national results (as of 10:00am Central on Monday, November 3) have Barack Obama ahead by 20%, and winning in every state with a 7-Eleven franchise except New Hampshire and North Carolina, which are ties. The interesting part of this campaign is that according to 7-Eleven, in 2000, the George W. Bush coffee cup outsold Al Gore’s cup by just 1 percentage point. And, in 2004, the 7-Election results were identical to the national results, with 51% for George W. Bush and 49% for John Kerry.
This will definitely be an interesting – and historic – week. Go Vote!
You can be anyone you want to be [with the Internet] October 22, 2008
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: Election 2008, Elf Yourself, Make Me Super, viral marketing, Yearbook Yourself
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Yes, folks, you can harness the power of the internet to become whomever you want to be! No, I’m not talking about going to school online, or online dating. Aim higher! Become a superhero!
Based off last year’s successful viral campaign, Elf Yourself by OfficeMax, several new 
websites have launched aimed at allowing you to create characters based on your appearance. Yearbook Yourself lets you put your face onto yearbook pictures from the 1950s to today (wow, I sounded like a slimy radio DJ just then). Here’s my “yearbook” picture from 1968.
This month, Kodak Gallery launched Make Me Super. Make Me Super, like Yearbook Yourself, takes your headshot and puts it onto a super hero’s body. It produces a funny video of you showing off your super powers. One of the great things about Make Me Super is that Kodak found a way to also try and make money off of their viral campaign. You can order products with a picture of your super self – a mug, a mousepad, or a deck of cards.
Today, I found two new websites that allow you to pose with your favorite presidential candidate. Upload your photo to be in several different pictures with McCain or Obama. Here’s my pic of me with fellow super hero, McCain, for example.
There are also several websites which allow you to create a Japanese-inspired cartoon characacher of yourself. These manga or avatar sites let you choose your skin tone, eye color, hair color and style and clothes. I made mine at a site called faceyourmanga.com. For a while I didn’t think that you could be on Twitter without having a manga.
So, what do all of these mean to marketers? Well, everyone is out to create viral marketing. Viral marketing, as explained by wikipedia, is the “marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.” Like the video of the skateboarding dog – come on, you know you forwarded that to 10 of your friends. The interesting thing about viral is that it can’t be produced – it has to happen spontaneously.
You may still be asking why people are so interested in viral marketing. Bottom line, it translates to money (cue the “cha-ching” sound). Let’s go back to Elf Yourself – which by the way, Office Max is relaunching this year. Elf Yourself contributed to a 20% increase in holiday traffic to OfficeMax’s website. According to AdAge, the website received over 36 million hits in 5 weeks. Over 123 million elves were created, and users spent a combined average of 2,600 years on the site.
As Elizabeth McDowell, Publicist for EVB San Francisco, the co-creator of “Elf Yourself” says, “The success is in part due to three fundamental characteristics: 1) Keep it Simple; 2) Make it Personal; and 3) Give People a Reason to Pass It On!”
Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics October 20, 2008
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While we’re on the topic of the election, I highly recommend that everyone watch John Stossel’s Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics, which aired on 20/20 this past Friday.
It was such a great program! It went through several of the issues and how, even though the candidates are promising change, we’re not likely to see much once they’re in office. And, that’s not a bad thing. We don’t need an all-controlling government. The office of the President can’t create high-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced, as some candidates promise. The job of the federal government should be to balance the budget and protect us from foreign interests. And, for those things that they try to change, many of them become a bureaucratic mess.
Take farm subsidies, most of the money goes to agri-business conglomerates. They even featured a farmer from Nebraska that is worth over $1 billion, yet he still receives his subsidies. Then, there is campaign finance reform, which was originally established to help new candidates enter politics. But, we find out no more new candidates have entered office, and the incumbents are using the law against their new opponents.
The less that government interferes with our life, the better off we are. It comes down to spontaneous order. Businesses going into business, businesses go out of business. Jobs are created, jobs are lost. Its a cycle that we need – and one that has made Ameria so great. We learn, we evolve. We adapt, we overcome. As one economist on the program mentioned, it would be tough to say that the ice delivery man could keep his job after the refrigerator was invented.
It’s all good October 20, 2008
Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.Tags: Election 2008, Good
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What an interesting week we’ve had since I last blogged. Let’s see – Ringo Star said he’s not accepting fan mail after next week; Joe the Plumber, Joe Six-Pack and Average Joe are all having the best week ever; Angelina announced she wants more kids; Britney’s back in court and McCain and Letterman made up. Plus, I just found out that @snoopdogg and @therealbritney just joined Twitter. Phew!
What I’ve really enjoyed over the past couple of weeks is the Good Sheet from Starbucks. These are one-page, mini newspapers which each feature one topic important to this year’s election. Each Thursday a new Good Sheet and topic is released at Starbucks – past issues have been dedicated to Health Care, Immigration and Education. As the Good Sheet states:
Good is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward.
This is the [number] Good Sheet, part of a series we hope will stimulate thought and conversation as you head to the polls on November 4. For us, this is not about red states or blue states, this is about every American making the most informed choice possible, no matter what that choice may be.
Each Good Sheet unfolds to present a in-depth look at the statistics on the featured topic. It’s a non-partial, bi-partisan look at the issues. And, it’s presented in an easy to read, USA Today-type format. Here’s a look at the new issue on the Economy:
The issues just present the data facts, so you’re free to make up your mind about which candidates (this is more than just the President) can help the situation. Next time you are in Starbucks, pick up an issue!
