SLOW BURN MARKETING
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact

What is the trump card in effective media messaging? (And no, "message" should never have become a verb. So it goes.)

7/26/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE WITH THE POWER OF A FLOWER
 
It is considered the single most successful attack ad in the history of political advertising.
 
It promises that your vote is now more important than ever.
 
If you don't vote this November, it's highly likely that the United States of America will end up being led by a notorious and ignorant martinet at the helm.
 
The world could even be looking at nuclear annihilation.
 
And you, the faithful reader of this weekly screed, probably know exactly which advertisement we're talking about. 

(You also know that somehow, this ridiculousness is all going to be tied back in to your own marketing, don't you.)
 
THE COMMERCIAL IN QUESTION IS NOT NEW
 
It does not come from any of today's ever more exciting and distinguished presidential campaigns.
 
It's the 1964 political advertising classic, "Daisy."
 
An anti-Barry Goldwater message from the Lyndon B. Johnson campaign, "Daisy" is widely regarded as the most controversial political advertisement of all time.
 
(If you don't know the commercial--which seems unlikely--it is simply this: a little girl in a field, plucking petals from a daisy as she counts them up. The audio segues to a mission-control, launch-pad countdown. Freeze-frame the little girl. Cut to a series of uber-violent nuclear explosions. LBJ's voice says, "These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." An announcer VO says, "Vote for President Johnson on November 3rd. The stakes are too high for you to stay home.")
 
"Daisy" is considered to be one of the main reasons for LBJ's landslide victory over Goldwater in the presidential election--even though it only ever aired once as a paid spot. (It was broadcast several more times in the context of news reports. Thank you, earned-media credits.)
 
What's interesting is this: if you ignore "Daisy," and look at the other attack ads that came out of that campaign, know what you see?
 
AN OPPONENT'S WORDS BEING USED AGAINST HIM
 
Absent "Daisy," the TV commercial "Eastern Seaboard" is considered the quintessential attack ad:
 
A hand saw is cutting through the east coast of the United States. VO: "In a Saturday Evening Post article dated August 31st 1963, Barry Goldwater said, 'Sometimes, I think this country would be better off if we just sawed off the eastern seaboard and let it float out to sea.'" The saw finishes cutting and the east coast floats away. "Can a man who makes statements like these be expected to serve all the people justly and fairly? Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home."
 
But really, one of the most shocking, fear-mongering anti-Goldwater messages is the infamous "KKK For Goldwater" spot. We'll refrain from quoting it all here. We'll simply say that it's a series of Ku Klux Klan newsreel clips (klips?) shot at night, filled with white hoods and burning crosses. The VO quotes a series of racist, hate-filled sentiments from KKK Grand Dragon Robert Creel--along with Creel's statement, "I like Barry Goldwater. He needs our help."
 
SOUND VAGUELY SIMILAR TO WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY? 
 
Just do a Google search on "best anti trump advertising."
 
There is a slew of work out there featuring idiotic things Donald Trump has said and done in front of a TV camera.
 
And publications like Mother Jones are proud to trot out Clinton-produced anti-Trump videos and hail them as brutal masterworks allowing the candidate to hoist himself with his own petard.
 
Here's the problem.
 
They're not masterworks at all.
 
Yes, sadly, they are accurate representations of what has come out of the man's mouth.
 
THEY ALSO WON'T WORK
  
They are entirely too complicated. They cut together all kinds of clips from all kinds of different sources. They become dizzying in their effort to prove the candidate is a buffoon.
 
In short, they lack focus.
 
Combine that with an unfocused media landscape that is vast and fragmented beyond anything anyone could have imagined in 1964, and the problem is further compounded.
 
When there were only three national TV networks and no other video media besides your local stations, focus was the default position.
 
And messages like "Daisy," "Eastern Seaboard" and "KKK For Goldwater" were clear, succinct and had POW RIGHT IN THE KISSER impact.
 
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ANTI-CLINTON ADVERTISING?
 
Well, if you do the same kind of Google search for "best anti-clinton advertising," you're going to find something different.
 
Yes, the candidate's own words are being used against her.
 
But they're being done with much more brevity, clarity and punch.
 
That doesn't necessarily mean they're going to work.
 
There's still the challenge of the fragmented media landscape (among others).
 
But the messages are often doing a much better job of hitting a single, resonant note.
 
Of course, none of this is to say it couldn't all change overnight. We're talking about life at the speed of digits.
 
But it all goes to underscore a long-running challenge with the Clinton campaign, to wit...
 
A LACK OF FOCUS AND CLARITY
 
This is nothing new.
 
As far back as a year ago, there were news stories about the erstwhile Secretary of State's inability to develop a cohesive brand.
 
The campaign has never communicated one way the voter should feel about Hilary Clinton.
 
There absolutely is one way the voter should feel about Donald Trump.
 
It might be repellent and appalling, but it's firm and concrete. 

Love it or hate it, you know what the Trump brand is.
 
No, there will probably never be any single online video or series of videos that have the same overall impact as the Goldwater attack ads.
 
But here's the useful take-away for the small-business brand.
 
FOCUS AND CLARITY RULE
 
The focus and clarity of the anti-Goldwater ads were hardly an accident.
 
The messages were produced by the same ad agency that gave us some of the most resonant, clutter-cutting advertising messages of all time.
 
Volkswagen's "Think small."
 
Avis' "Number two and trying harder."
 
Life Cereal's "Mikey likes it."
 
Ad agency DDB was a powerhouse of media messaging in the 1960s.
 
It's difficult to find much in the current, evermore cluttered media landscape that cuts through and resonates with Bill-Bernbach style simplicity and zeitgeist magnetism.
 
Except maybe, oh... 

Advertising form Apple, which looks very Bernbachian. 
 
TOO MUCH TOO MUCH TOO MUCH TOO MUCH TOO MUCH 
 
There's just too much communication.
 
None of us have the luxury of unfocused branding and unclear messaging.
 
Clarity and focus.
 
Clarity and focus.
 
Clarity and focus.
 
Is that clear and focused?
 
Clarity and focus.
 
THEY MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER
 
Herb Kelleher's internal directive, "We are the low cost airline" for running Southwest Airlines.
 
Apple's "Think different" directive for the personal computer in your life.
 
McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" fast-food happiness infusion.
 
Consistent clarity and focus are the trump card. (No pun intended.)
 
Be clear.
 
Be focused.
 
And remember to be relevant.
 
Do all that, and whatever your campaign, you just might win.

As always,

Blaine Parker
Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in

1 Comment
Honey Parker
7/26/2016 09:49:36 am

100% spot on.

Yes, Trump says hateful things, but in a barrage of hateful things, each hateful thing looses impact.

It's like watching an action movie where one hundred people get mowed down. Each individual person was a person with a story. If we only saw one person go down, we could focus and care. But in a mass of one hundred? Well, we're just desensitized and can't focus enough to care. And in an action movie, that's what they want. If the audience slowed down and cared, they'd hate the movie.

And that's what Team Trump has on it's side. It's all too overwhelming to focus, care and rally.

Focus people! Focus.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Blaine Parker is prone to ranting about any and all things related to brand. In many ways, he is a professional curmudgeon. While there is no known vaccine for this, the condition is also not contagious. Unless you choose it to be so. 

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    Abe Lincoln
    Advertising
    Advertising As Art
    Ad Writing
    Amazon
    Apathy
    Art And Advertising
    Attack Ads
    Authenticity
    Beat Bobby Flay
    Besotted
    Best Ads Of 2017
    Big Ideas
    Billboards
    Bobby Flay
    Book Marketing
    Brand Advertising
    Branding
    Branding Book
    Branding Santa Claus
    Brand Names
    Bud Light
    Budwieser
    Burger King
    Burger King Advertising
    Burning Man
    Burning Questions
    Business Book
    Buy Now
    Car Advertising
    Carefu;-ish
    Careful-ish
    Casablanca
    Christmas
    Commercials
    Commitment
    Communication
    Content
    Core Customer
    Corny
    Corporate Culture
    CoupleCo
    Couplepreneurs
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Crazy Ivan
    Creativity
    Creativity Over Message
    Cult Brands
    Customers
    David Ogilvy
    Dick Orkin
    Diisruptive
    Down Market
    Dr Sam's Eye Care
    Effectivness
    Electronics
    Entrenched
    Exceeding Expectaion
    Facebook Advertising
    Feeling
    Focus
    Focus Grouping
    Fonts
    Food
    Fraud
    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Hair Club For Men
    Hanukkah
    Holidays
    Hotels
    Hugo Boss
    Hurricane Relief
    Ideas
    Influence
    Inspiration
    Internet Radio
    Jeep
    Jerry Lewis
    Johnnie Walker
    Jungles
    Krylon Spray Paint
    Lawyers
    Lightning Branding
    Logos
    Lulu Lemon
    Mackerel
    Make Customers Care
    Marketing
    Masks
    Meaning
    Media
    Medical Tourism
    Membership
    Me Too
    Millennials
    Milton Glaser
    Must See TV
    Napa
    Nastalgia
    New Clients
    New Skills
    New Years
    Nicaragua
    Niche Brands
    Offers
    Ogilvy On Advertising
    Outdoor
    Pasta
    Patriotism
    Pen & Paper
    Personal Brand
    Pizza
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Point Of Purchase
    Political Advertising
    Political Correctness
    Price Advertising
    Pringles
    Procrastination
    Product Experience
    Publicity Stunts
    Punctuation
    Puppy Monkey Baby
    Radio
    Reader Question
    Reality TV
    Relationship Marketing
    Repeat Customers
    Research
    Rhode Island Tourism
    Road Trip
    Romance
    Rosser Reeves
    Sailing
    Sales Staff Writing Radio
    SEO
    Small Business
    Small Business Branding
    SnapChat
    Social Media
    Social Media Marketing
    State Farm
    Story
    Struggling
    Subaru
    Super
    Superbowl
    Super Bowl Ads
    Sushi
    Sy Sperlling
    Taglines
    Thanksgiving
    The Big Short
    Trademarks
    USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
    Vail
    Velcro
    Vernacular
    Vocabulary
    Wine
    Words Good
    Writing
    Writing Advertising
    Zeitgeist

    RSS Feed

OFFERING:
Branding & Marketing
Speaking
Books
Newsletter


INFO:
Services Breakdown
​
Clients
About
Testimonials
Contact
STORY LAB
Picture
​
​
© Copyright 2020 Slow Burn Marketing LLC
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Picture
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact