Loose Change?

Change is so hot right now. Each presidential candidate uses the word as a platform to paint beautiful brush strokes of what it will mean to live in America if they are elected President. As election season gears up, there is a lot of talk about changing minds. You may have “Rallied for Change” or bought a “Change Rocks” t-shirt. Barack Obama leads the change charge with his campaign slogan “Change We Can Believe In.” Hillary seemed to take a change cue from Obama getting on the change train after her disappointing loss in Iowa. Change has served her well with voter turnout moving into Super Tuesday.

What does change exactly mean? It’s such a vacuous word that can be both positive and negative. In marketing, how do we make sure it means something grand for your brand and not just loose change?

Pretend your brand and or service will be running for President. Here are some tactics candidates are using to bring on change that we know can work for your brand/and or service too. Check it out:

Roadmap to Permanence
Creating a well-executed campaign with a solid strategy can help carry your brand “into the oval office.” A stable roadmap will help guide the campaign and creative process, ensuring a cohesive, strong final brand or service focused on the audience. The world can be forever changed by the presence of your brand or services. That means permanence. That means President. Gandhi wrote “we must be the change we wish to see.” Decide on your vision for the brand upfront and how you want it to change. Then, act the part for awhile as your brand goes through the necessary change for good. Do you think McCain wakes up every morning feeling like the President? George Bush probably still doesn’t, but he acts the part.

Issue definition and position propagation
Clearly define who you are and what you do. The right messaging should be compelling, clear, concise, and to the point. The hope is your audience then reinforces and enhances your messaging by repeating it. Think Obama with his “Change Rocks” t-shirts. They are all over the place.

Collaboration and communication
Establish one individual voice for your brand that effectively communicates what you do. That voice should open channels of communication to all interested parties (your potential audience). Eventually, your individual voice will become one strong collective voice as word gets out about you and your story is told. Think Bill Clinton, everyone knows his story about growing up in Hope, Arkansas.

Social networking
Definition: User-generated content on the Internet and guerilla “out of the box” marketing. Here is a way of connecting your audience propagating grassroots exposure, news, and sense of ownership to what you deliver. In the political world, you will have throngs of college students mobilizing, getting on buses to flyer and knock on doors in small towns. That same feeling of a “movement’ should and can happen with any brand or service you provide by connecting with the right people.

Donations (errr…purchasers/users)
An engaging experience with the brand or service will attract repeat customers and brand ambassadors. Key points are communicate clearly and tell em’ and tell em’ again. Users will feel a perceived connection to the brand/service and the other people who use it. No campaign can survive without fundraising.

Likeability for victory
By focusing on connecting with your audience and a positive experience with your brand or service, you will come across as savvy and competent. Likeability = usability and if your audience can use you and see you fitting into and potentially changing their life, you’ve won.

The next President of the United States of Marketing is ____________.