Manhattan Marketing Maven

Watching the Panic & Mining the Meltdown

I have a nagging feeling that the economic meltdown is surfacing vital truths about our economic and political system and the way we communicate with each other that will be insightful, revealing and ultimately useful to marketers. Though I'm not sure exactly how, when or in what context it will be so helpful.

Maybe I'm a Pollyanna. Or maybe I just love to watch train wreaks. But I have a deep-seated hunch that there's something useful to learn by watching what's going on. And even if I'm wrong, this at least gives me something to do as I helplessly watch structures, institutions, and assumptions that I counted on crash and burn around me.

Consider these thoughts as a first draft.

1. Silence Isn't Golden. Everybody is blabbing madly on all sides of every issue. Those who are thoughtful and those who are thoughtless equally access the media and blast way. The net result is a great deal of noise but zero insight or ideas. It's more important to posture and to be seen than to have anything to say.

2. Everybody Knows & Nobody Knows. Where you sit dictates where you stand. No one seems to have a seat above the fray or a macro view of things. Partisans of all stripes speculate wildly but most of the fundamentals, questions like -- who are the people whose confidence needs to be rebuilt and what do they genuinely need to feel safe? -- never get answered. Endless experts and specialists are trotted out and ignored; as if anyone knew which experts to believe and which experts got us into this mess in the first place.

Ironically their is a robust debate about Sarah Palin's foreign policy expertise when the unarticulated demand seems to be for a leader with keen appreciation for what we need and a dollop of common sense to edit and put all the expert opinion into context and stake out a practical, workable solutions. What you know or claim to know seems more important than what you can do with what you know or what you learn. If you can pronounce "Ahmadinejad" but don't have a clue how to deal with Iran how impressed should I be?

3. Democracy is About Deals. Our system of government is a trial by ordeal. Claims, counterclaims, partisan interests and facts all get sorted out in a raucous process of horse-trading in which compromises deliver half-a-loaf or less to all participants. The bailout debate has pulled back the curtain on this often loud, messy and sometimes ugly process where success is an amalgam of self-interest,alliances, volume, threats and timing.

If a deal will ultimately be struck, how does behavior leading up to it influence the outcome or does it? People aren't that dumb. In fact democracy is based on the idea that collectively we can figure most things out and that 535 heads are better than one; especially W's or a royal one. Most understand that in any given situation there are a couple of real options plus the evergreen and universally-applicable choices; do nothing and cash it all in. So why do we need all the drama and distraction? 

4. Class/Caste is a Factor. We don't like to talk about it but Its always just below the surface. The Wall Street versus Main Street rhetoric lays bare considerable class antagonism that has always existed in the US. Getting the maximum relief for the maximum number of people has been the object of intense negotiations and equally intense political grand-standing. There is a history of the working class bailing out the upper class in our a long history of boom and bust cycles. And each bailout leaves its scars and its political residue.    

 

The Palin Parable

The choice of Sarah "Barracuda" Palin as the GOP "Trophy Vice" candidate has set off the most intense and creative political debate in my lifetime. John McCain's gambit short circuited Obama's post-convention momentum, shifted the terms of debate, refocused and energized our examination of the issues and brought huge numbers of people off the bench and into the rhetorical, if not political, fray.

This move has six profound lessons for marketers.

We Can Still be Surprised. America's new favorite hockey mom was a bolt from the great white North which caught us all unaware. But Sarah's ascendance immediately provoked strong reactions so much so that feminists were caught on both sides of every nuance. Its life affirming that somebody other than Apple can instantly capture the attention and imagination of our our post-modern, cynical, seen-it-all citizenry. There's always a market for something new and something different. Success depends on timing and packaging.

Attack Existing Assumptions. Ms Palin's origins and pedigree crosscut all our notions about the national political elite. She's a small town girl out of the far west with a bachelor's degree from a former land grant college. No eastern or western coastal sophistication, no Ivy League politesse, no old-money, political dynasty or WASP lineage.  Add to that a so-so dye job, the wrong eyewear and cheap shoes and you begin to understand why she provokes such a visceral reaction both pro and con. Maybe if she were the same girl from an Ohio political dynasty with a Harvard degree, we'd react differently. We have preconceived notions about things. New data is compared and processed against preconceptions, which are usually subconscious and unarticulated, and either squared up with them or rejected.  In this context you can understand why we default to moose jokes.

Account for the Decision-making Process. The choice of Sarah Palin might just be the greatest test of Malcolm Gladwell's blink theory in which he argues that snap decisions can be as good as and often better than more deliberate and rational choices. When fly-boy McCain revisited the maverick instincts of his youth in picking this unknown, he moved fast and relied on his gut more so than a team of vetting agents. Given the performance history of all the properly vetted bozos we've endured over the years, it will be interesting to see how things turn out. Consumers/Voters make snap decisions with equal speed and deliberation in a majority of the choices they face. If you don't anticipate and prepare for this dynamic you miss the chance to persuade them.

Perceptions Can Be Manipulated. Have you noticed how effective highly charged words (liberal, right-winger, right-to-lifer) are in the political arena? Did you see how in one fell swoop a party of old pasty uncaring, indifferent , elite white fat cats was transformed into a young vibrant army of PTA-attending, child nurturing, tax reducing Sam's Club Republicans? Labels and slogans matter. They are the short-hand tools that drive public debate. In politics and at retail, its the label and the volume not the facts or the nuances that triumph. It ought not to be. But it is. Marketers must take heed.

Reputation Management is a Fantasy. Nobody, not even the world's greatest PR guy or the propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party, could be prepared for the onslaught that Sarah Palin has endured. Imagine an army of reporters investigating your life, scores of instant experts and pseudo-psychiatrists pontificating about who you are and what you stand for or represent or an army of bloggers writing snarky comments about every aspect of your life or dredging up kids you hated in high school for their 15 minutes of revenge. The rush to judgment --with or without the genuine facts -- is real. In a 24/7/365 always-on multi-channel media world you can never nail everything down or spin all that needs spun. So you have to work to create an overall impression. Ignore anyone who tells you they can manage the buzz.

The Conversation Counts. The most valuable aspect of the Palin nomination is the fast-acting hyper-energy injection it gave to the global conversation about America's future and our presidency. The terabytes of commentary in words, pictures and music from the big corporate media superstars to the nobody solo bloggers is the essence of democracy and the dynamo that powers and shapes our evolving culture. In this crucible of babble and ideas the big issues of experience versus promise will be hashed out. In this maelstrom without manners we'll decide what feminism means and what priorities we expect a working mother to set. As our social media and technology evolve these conversations will reflect the pulse of our culture and project a mirror image of who we are, what we want and who we want to be.      

When Washington Meets the Internet -- Watch Out

The  Internet, eCommerce and online marketing evolved without much government intervention or interference. But as the digital world morphs, expands and impacts on traditional models it collides with existing law, demands new laws and creates questions and confusions for legislators and regulators many of whom have just a passing understanding of what we do, how we think or what will come next.

Attending the 35th Washington Caucus of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), the trade association of choice for the online set, was a clarion call to recognize the need to allocate time and resources to address DC audiences, especially those who could threaten our future.

In presentation after presentation Senators, Congressmen and Commissioners, speaking in life-affirming regional accents, made it very clear that there are knotty, substantive issues on important topics like government spying, privacy, health records, spectrum access and allocation, copyright and patent reform or the fair use doctrine that can't be left to legislators or bureaucrats to decide arbitrarily or politically. They also left me with the feeling that on Internet matters the Congress is mostly clueless and likely to default to the positions advocated by phone companies and cable operators.

Its funny how we all know that Congress is a mixed bag of people from all walks of life and all corners of the nation madly wheeling and dealing for resources, programs, dollars and votes in an adversarial hothouse that sometimes reflects reality but often doesn't. Since the beginning of the republic the politics of Capital Hill have been a source of scrutiny and sarcasm as partisans fight tooth and nail for the spoils that only government can dole out. But rarely do we connect this understanding to the business we are building each day or to the medium we are helping to build out.

Now its time for the bits and bytes people, many of whom couldn't be bothered with the pathology on the Potomac to defensively jump into the fray. Why? Because an awful lot of the laws and regulations on the books are rooted in ideas and technologies that are long past. Few in official Washington have a nuanced or experienced understanding about the online world and the expectations about open access, privacy, user generated content, customer service, fairness or community that millions hold to be self-evident and instinctively consider to be their rights as citizens. Too many important decisions turn on technical arguments presented to newbies or neophytes beholding to partisan or corporate interests.

In some cases there are serious debates to be had about how technology is changing fundamental relationships and kicking over or complicating precedents and traditions. In other cases we barely understand the impacvt of technology now and yet have to project its use and its implications into the future. In still other cases, we need to get the fox out of the hen house and stand-up to entrenched interests and the political allies they've bought and paid for.

The future of of the Internet can and will be determined by decisions, choices and definitions that affect technology, taxation, intellectual property rights, privacy, civil liberties law and investments of government attention, resources and cash.

Why should we look up from our monitors and get involved in DC? Because we -- online companies, online merchants, online marketers -- need to

1.Affect how the rules of the game are written.

2. Influence how the laws are enforced or not enforced.

3. Keep the Congress from politicizing cyberspace and from using online issues to ride political or partisan hobby horses.

4. Increase our visibility on the Hill so that we're heard and considered seriously and so that entrenched interests don't buy our representatives out from under us.

The Shortcomings of Political Branding

It's remarkable. I cannot tell you much about the personalities of either Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama and I know even less about the differences in their positions on critical issues like the war in Iraq, health care, the credit crisis or foreign policy.

And its not as if I'm not paying attention. I'm no slouch when it comes to inhaling the news. So I blame the campaigns. If the first law of branding is to draw a sharp distinction between your product and others in its category and to inform or educate your most likely consumers about the benefits of your product to them then neither campaign has got to first base after almost two years of yammering.

And if I can't tell you, I'll bet few others can either.

It looks as if vapid slogans, set piece photo ops, plain vanilla stump speeches and the desperate hope to avoid media gaffes have taken priority over acquainting the audience with the candidates. Thoughtful voters or those concerned with issues seem to be left to either infer who the candidates are and what they stand for or pore over dense policy papers on the candidates web sites.

Once you get past the obvious and the differences in political biographies, I have no feel for how each might think, handle or organize things in a crisis or under day-to-day circumstances in Washington. How is it that these two people are both simultaneously so visible and so invisible? How come I know more about Aunt Jemima, Orville Reddenbacker and the Jolly Green Giant than I do about either Democratic candidate?

The campaigns need to go back to branding basics..

1. Draw Sharper Distinctions. He's a breathe of fresh air; an example of the new politics and she's the more experienced one; the White House insider. The former is based on appearances and rhetorical cadence. Why not make it clear on a policy level? If Hillary truly has the benefit of experience governing, let's hear what she knows and let's see what she learned along the way. Tell us straight out. Don't leave us to do the math ourselves.

2. Take a Tough Stand. Pick a lightening rod issue and get out on a limb. State a clearly different and even radical stance to make the differences in outlook, posture, and positioning clearer. If you read the candidates' positions they range from vague to mealy-mouthed because they are hedged and caveatted to offer maximum flexibility in fending off political attacks. No one can attack them as naive or hot-headed. Similarly no one can see them as bold leaders either.

3. Be More Specific. Take the positions on the key issues. Boil them down to simple phrases and pound away at them. Make us understand that Hillary Means Universal Health care or that Obama will be Out of Iraq fast. Give us something to brab onto and a reason to believe.