Lessons On Turning The Political Tide With Online Campaigning

Playing an unlikely but crucial role in the recent Presidential elections in France was a five-minute video called the “Human Bomb”. It was produced as advisors worried that Sarkozy was being constantly demonized in the online media through videos like la France D’après, which imagines a new repressive nation state under Sarkozy with riot police, urban unrest and burning cars. 

The video drew more than 450,000 viewers attracted by an old chapter from Sarkozy’s life: as the brash suburban mayor of Neuilly sur Seine personally negotiates with the “Human Bomb,” a deranged man who seized kindergarten students as hostages in 1993.

The video offers a pensive look at this past along with equally pensive soundtrack music (“Honor Him” from the movie, The Gladiator). According to Arnaud Dassier, a strategist for Sarkozy, their “Human Bomb” video was so effective that people were literally left in tears. “We were losing the battle on Dailymotion and YouTube and before we launched this video there was not one pro-Sarko video in the top 50.”

Accorodng to the IHT – When the backstage story of this presidential campaign is written, new media will play a starring role. American campaign strategists have already traveled to France for a glimpse of the new political rituals and pronounced them “one click ahead” of techniques in the United States, as Michael Murphy, an advisor to the California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, put it.

Decide whether it’s worth reaching for tissues when you watch it.

How To Make Amends For Work-Life Imbalance

I cam across this interesting post from Tom Stern of FC.  If you ever find yourself caught up in work and missing out on the relationship part of life – despite your best intentions, here are a few pointers to help make reparations:

Flowers – Forget it. If you’re anything like most of us its been done to death unless she really, really loves flowers.

A Weekend Away – Always in good taste. Try to gauge the travel distance and type of getaway by the severity of your transgression.

Simple Card – Often surprisingly effective – for a few dollars or less -  if you know where to look!

Jewelry – According to Tom – A diamond is forever. Which means it will be a constant reminder of your pitiful inadequacies. That’s what engagement rings are for. Think twice on this one says Tom. I disagree with this – it works and symbolises what she means to you.

Dinner and a Movie – Be selective on this on – good chick flicks would be best, so hold off on the crash, bang and bang type blockbusters until you’re out with the guys. 

Lingerie – Hey, if you’ve got the cajones to browse in a Victoria’s Secret by yourself, more power to you.

Gift Certificate – For a favourite store or better still to Victoria Secret. Two birds with one stone. Nothing like retail therapy!

Alone Time – Perhaps the most valuable make-up gift of all. Pledging a definite block of alone time says loud and clear to your mate that she has been bravely and lovingly…penciled in. Make sure to call and confirm day-of, in case anything changes.

Spa/Pamper treats – A chance to pamper your mate, make feel and look great whilst getting away from the daily grind – always wins bonus points.

How To Connect With Your Audience

Connecting with people is critical for selling, persuading or getting the point across. And one of the ways we connect with people is to tell them stories about ourselves.

I was at a business workshop recently, and the stories that were most effective (by acclamation of the attendees) were ones where the person let down his/her guard, and revealed something personal. This is one of the reasons storytelling is more effective than reciting a list of benefits to a prospect. In addition to being interesting and easy to understand, it also helps create a personal bond with the prospect. It means that you may want, in your business storytelling, to reveal anxieties, fears and feelings.In other words, to give the prospect your confidence.

Lessons From Conversational Experts

According to Simon Jenkins from the Guardian, experts advise:

• Never to converse with too many because in much company, few listen
• Be brief to avert tedium and interruption
• Avoid anecdote; refer to others but not oneself
• Be eager to listen and ready to change one’s mind
• This discipline, the subjugation of anger to social ritual, is key to the exhilarating, serendipitous, controlled anarchy that is good conversation.

Where To Invest In PR and Marketing For Tech Products & Services

Charlene Li from Forrester has put out a new fascinating reporton social technographics which looks at how consumers approach social technologies. Forrester segmented the online audience into several different stratas – what they call a ladder of participation. They found that “Inactives” are by far the dominant group (52%). They’re followed by spectators, joiners, critics, collectors and last but not least creators. This last cluster, according to the analyst firm, dabbles in lots of different activities but few do all of them. See the chart below for more.

While those who engage tend to get all of the attention, the thickest part of the ladder is in the vast majority of people who have no desire to participate. I imagine this number will shrink some in the years ahead, particularly as the generation that grew up with the Web enters the workforce. However, there will always be a large portion of the online audience that remains just that – consumers. While technology is flattening the marketing landscape, there’s a need for agencies that can help guide clients in the dynamic two-way world. Marketing and PR is best suited to thrive in this environment and getting the right mix is where it all starts.

So what can PR and marketing learn from this?

The report provides insights into what drives and motivates people to engage with the web. For each program, you can assess where your audience sits on this continuum. Are they inactives, creators or somewhere in between? The key is to then devise the right kind of communication strategy depending on what you discover. While the ladder provides the outlines marketing and PR will need to provide the appropriate creative components for the concerned audience.

Here are a few ideas:

Let’s say you have a start-up that has a new piece of software that bloggers will love. Then it would seem appropriate that executing a peer-to-peer program that targets creators, critics and collectors would be main thrust  of your strategy. In addition to the possibility of tapping into social networks, blogging and other Web 2.0 communities through the use of the peer to peer program. Media coverage targeting outlets that bloggers read would also help.

Where as if you have software like a 37 signals product that has value to a large number of consumers, then you’d want a broader mix that combines the best of new media/mainstream media, all while investing proportionately in strategies that reflects the groups on the ladder.

Why Build Credibility and Consensus To Communicate Effectively

A common question asked by employees today – Why should I do it requires persuasion. No longer the skill of sales people persuasion is much more than just selling it is a learning and negotiating process for leading employees or colleagues to a shared solution to a problem. Here are a few pointers from an HBR article:

1. Establish credibility. Your credibility grows out of two sources: expertise and relationships.
If you have a history of well-informed, sound judgment, your colleagues
will trust your expertise. If you’ve demonstrated that you can work in
the best interest of others, your colleagues will have confidence in
your relationships.

If you are weak on the expertise side, bolster your position by

• learning more through formal and informal education—for example, conversations with in-house experts

• hiring recognized outside experts

• launching pilot projects.

To fill in the relationship gap, try

• meeting one-on-one with key people

• involving like-minded coworkers who have good support with your audience.

Example: Two developers at Microsoft envisioned a controversial new software
product, but both were technology novices. By working closely with
technical experts and market testing a prototype, they persuaded
management that the new product was ideally suited to the average
computer user. It sold half a million units.

2. Frame goals on common ground. Tangibly
describe the benefits of your position. The fastest way to get a child
to the grocery store is to point out the lollipops by the cash
register. That is not deception—it’s persuasion. When no shared
advantages are apparent, adjust your position.

Example: An ad agency executive persuaded skeptical fast-food franchisees to
support headquarters’ new price discounts. She cited reliable research
showing how the pricing scheme improved franchisees’ profits. They
supported the new plan unanimously.

3. Vividly reinforce your position.
Ordinary evidence won’t do. Make numerical data more compelling with
examples, stories, and metaphors that have an emotional impact.

Example: The founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics made a speech comparing sales people’s
weekly meetings to gatherings among Christians resisting Roman
rule.This drove home the importance of a mutually supportive sales
force and imbued the work with a sense of heroic mission.

4. Connect emotionally. Adjust your own
emotional tone to match each audience’s ability to receive your
message. Learn how your colleagues have interpreted past events in the
organization and sense how they will probably interpret your proposal.
Test key individuals’ possible reactions.

Example: A Chrysler team leader raised the morale of employees demoralized by
foreign competition and persuaded management to bring a new car design
in-house. He showed both audiences slides of his hometown, which had
been devastated by foreign mining competition. His patriotic appeal
reinvigorated his team, and the chairman approved the plan.