In every ad agency pitch for a big account, there is that one client who rolls their eyes at even the topic of messaging.
It’s usually a finance guy or ops person invited as a courtesy.
They sit there like a bubbling teapot until they inevitably boil over…
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It’s usually a finance guy or ops person invited as a courtesy.
They sit there like a bubbling teapot until they inevitably boil over…
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https://twitter.com/paulwaldman1/status/1463514466759462915
…and blurts something out like “I don’t understand why we need to do all this. 🙄 We just need a good slogan like Nike.”
And everyone else around the table cringes. Their own colleagues.
You were supposed to just sit there and eat your bagel, Frank from Finance.
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And everyone else around the table cringes. Their own colleagues.
You were supposed to just sit there and eat your bagel, Frank from Finance.
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It’s like the scene in the Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway makes a snide comment about a “blue sweater” and Meryl Streep takes her apart for her simplistic understanding of fashion.
Cerulean. It is cerulean. And you didn’t choose it. You were made to choose it.
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Cerulean. It is cerulean. And you didn’t choose it. You were made to choose it.
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When people snidely say shit about “the brilliant message that will change everything for Democrats” to actual communications people, they may think they’re being condescending and cutting, but they’re just outing that they have no idea what we’re even talking about here.
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Let’s take the Nike example.
Frank in Finance thinks “Just Do It” is “Nike’s slogan”.
And he thinks that’s the same thing as “Nike’s messaging”.
Frank doesn’t know what a messaging strategy is but if asked, he’d think it was somehow “Just Do It” also.
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Frank in Finance thinks “Just Do It” is “Nike’s slogan”.
And he thinks that’s the same thing as “Nike’s messaging”.
Frank doesn’t know what a messaging strategy is but if asked, he’d think it was somehow “Just Do It” also.
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“Just Do It” is not Nike’s “messaging strategy”
It is not “Nike’s messaging”.
It is a tag-line they use only *sometimes* in some things.
Nike’s “messaging” is actually a vast, comprehensive, coordinated program to reach and influence hundreds of millions of people.
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It is not “Nike’s messaging”.
It is a tag-line they use only *sometimes* in some things.
Nike’s “messaging” is actually a vast, comprehensive, coordinated program to reach and influence hundreds of millions of people.
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Their “messaging” is everything they convey in all of the thousands of communications they produce.
And all of that messaging ladders up to some common themes (like setting high goals, working hard for them, and earning your success).
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And all of that messaging ladders up to some common themes (like setting high goals, working hard for them, and earning your success).
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“Just do it” is one little tool in a multi-billion dollar toolkit.
It wasn’t some “Brilliant message that changed everything for Nike.”
The strategy behind it was brilliant.
The way that strategy was executed was brilliant.
The way Nike brought it to life was brilliant.
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It wasn’t some “Brilliant message that changed everything for Nike.”
The strategy behind it was brilliant.
The way that strategy was executed was brilliant.
The way Nike brought it to life was brilliant.
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And in the first meeting when the agency presented it, some version of Frank from Finance rolled his eyes as the brand strategists explained the strategy and plan that literally did change Nike.
And Frank probably hated “Just Do It” too. And now he runs in cerulean Nikes.
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And Frank probably hated “Just Do It” too. And now he runs in cerulean Nikes.
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Democrats have never demonstrated a real strength at messaging in the full sense of what that word means in the communications world.
Even when we are literally trying to give away water in the dessert, we get out-messaged.
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Even when we are literally trying to give away water in the dessert, we get out-messaged.
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The Affordable Care Act provided insurance to people who were dying without it…
…and we somehow *never* succeeded at persuading them.
The ACA became popular over a long period of time only as people were exposed to it.
Repubs messaged against it endlessly.
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…and we somehow *never* succeeded at persuading them.
The ACA became popular over a long period of time only as people were exposed to it.
Repubs messaged against it endlessly.
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We need to all face some realities so that we can address them.
Using the ACA as an example, Republicans had a better messaging *strategy*. They had a better messaging *plan*. They had more effective *messages*. And they executed better than we did.
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Using the ACA as an example, Republicans had a better messaging *strategy*. They had a better messaging *plan*. They had more effective *messages*. And they executed better than we did.
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Ask any senior communications strategist with agency experience if they can spot when a client is communicating without a strong strategy in place from a million miles away.
When I say Dems have no equivalent of the brand strategy that took Nike to the top, believe me.
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When I say Dems have no equivalent of the brand strategy that took Nike to the top, believe me.
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When I tell you Dems need better “messaging” - meaning a strategy, plan, tactics, and execution - believe me.
When I tell you it is a very big problem that they don’t seem to get this, believe me.
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When I tell you it is a very big problem that they don’t seem to get this, believe me.
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If you’d rather keep rolling your eyes and saying sarcastic shit about “a brilliant message that is going to change everything” though, go nuts.
If you want to be the Frank from Finance in the conversation, go right ahead.
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If you want to be the Frank from Finance in the conversation, go right ahead.
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People like me love those kinds of people.
They are the absolute easiest to market to because they fully believe they just liked those blue Nike’s more.
They’re cerulean, Frank.
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They are the absolute easiest to market to because they fully believe they just liked those blue Nike’s more.
They’re cerulean, Frank.
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