This guy pulls into my driveway, gets out and approaches me. The first thing out of his mouth is, "I'm not selling anything. My name is Joe Blow and I'm running for State Representative."

OK, hold the phone, Joe. Yes, you are selling something. You're selling yourself. That's the first thing a candidate must wrap their head around. They are selling themselves.

Next, he hands me his palm card as he says, "Here's my palm card with some of my information. Do you have any questions?"

Do I have any questions? You just walked into my life. I don't know you from Adam and in the nanosecond I've had your palm card in my hand, I apologize that I haven't had the time to read it!

I stammer out a "no." And then he says, "I hope I can count on your vote in the August Primary. Have a nice day."

I take his card and put it on my tool box and go back about my business. What he should have done is one or more of the following:

1) Told me in 25 words or less why he's running.
2) Told me why he's more uniquely qualified than anyone else for the position.
3) Told me the benefit to me for voting for him.
4) Highlight three issues and in 25 words or less tell me how or what he plans to do about it.

The sooner candidates begin realizing that they are no different from any other product being sold in the county the better off they will be.  Candidates need to focus on features and benefits when attempting to get someone to "buy" them.  Don't just ask me to vote for you. Tell me WHY I should vote for you.

I look forward to your comments.

Email me at hello@goplogo.com.
Read more campaign marketing articles and find out about GopLogo Waterless Tattoos at GopLogo.com

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File this under, "How To De-Rail Your Own Campaign" or "How To Screw Yourself Right From The Start."

This week the KY Jelly Award goes to a gentleman who is running for Judge.

While at a community event this weekend, This guy introduces himself as a candidate for Judge and hands me his business card. His card was the fold-over type and it had EVERYTHING!  His web address and phone number to a little quiz and a football schedule.

This card had everything .... but an identification statement. (paid for by (Usually mis-identified as a disclaimer)

Can you say, "Campaign Finance violation?"

I pointed out the missing identification statement to the guy and he replied with an astonished look on his face. 

Ignorant Candidates
Judges are supposed to know the law. Lawyers running for judge are supposed to know the law. This guy obviously doesn't know the law. He can't convince me that he has a command of the issues when he doesn't even have a command for the laws that govern his own campaign.  I visited his website. What a surprise! No Identification statement there either.

I'm not going to vote for this guy for Judge because it's obvious he doesn't know what he's doing and he doesn't have enough sense to seek proper counsel.

Opponent Leverage
What fun this guy's opponent could have. What minor misery could be created for a Judge candidate who has already racked up numerous campaign finance violations?

Easy Risk Reduction
If you are running for office, go to the Secretary of State website and download a copy of the Campaign and Election guide and all the appendices. Then READ IT!

Bottom Line: The information is just a mouse click away. If you don't access it, read it and implement it, you deserve what you get.

I welcome your comments.
Visit GopLogo.com for more Republican campaign marketing articles.
Emal us at hello@GopLogo.com

        

Showing Party Support
I went to a Republican District Christmas get together the other night. My first observation was that aside from me and a guy running for Congress, none of the other 20 people in the room had on anything with the GOP logo ... not even a pin.

Folks, if we are going to create interest in the Republican Party, we need to show that there are indeed, those who are proud enough and dedicated enough to the ideals of Republicanism that we are willing to WEAR THE BRAND.

We'll wear brand names on our clothes such as Wrangler and Nike. We'll drive around and advertise Chevy and Honda. But God forbid we leave the house donning a Republican logo.

What are your reasons for not wearing the Republican logo? Post your comments here.

In Support of Elected Officials
Next, let's talk about showing our support for those Republicans in office who do the right thing. Whenever a Republican official makes a tough decision - that is the right decision- although it's an unpopular decision, we MUST publicly, enmasse, show our support. Too often, a Republican will do the right thing and vote against a tax hike even though it will mean a cut in services. And then he/she is left twisting in the wind because no one is willing to support them. So the next time, that elected official isn't so willing to stick their neck out.

We want smaller government.
We want less taxes.
We want a return to personal responsibility.

To reverse the direction of this great Titanic we are on will take some time and it will mean that there is going to be some pain. We can no longer afford to say, "Do what you have to do as long as it doesn't affect me and it's not in my backyard."

If we truly want what is best for this coutry and future generations, we must let our elected Republican officials know that we not only expect them to do the right thing ... but we will also support them and help insulate them from the political backlash that will surly come.

What do you think? Post your comments here or email me at hello@goplogo.com.

Be sure to visit www.GopLogo.com for campaign marketing insight.

Looking for a great Republican Christmas Gift or perhaps some Republican Gift Wrap?  Visit www.GopLogo.com

 

        

When it comes to Republican marketing, we can take a lesson from the auto industry.

Lets use Ford as an example. It's the job of Ford Motor Company to market the Ford brand and position it in the mind of the consumer as a better choice than the competition.  It's the job of the local dealer, say City Ford, to market City Ford and position City Ford in the mind of the consumer as a better choice than the other Ford dealerships while reinforcing the Corporate message.

It's marketing that starts at the top and works it's way down.

As Republicans, we haven't been doing that.

I believe  the National Republican Committee should  market Republicanism and position Republican in the mind of the consumer as a better choice than Democrat or Libertarian. Lets start with clearly defining what Republican s stand for. The NRC would also provide the State Republican Committees with marketing tools to help state parties market and position brand Republican to fit the state niche.

It would then be the job of the local county parties to seek out, train and offer up the best candidates. Working together, the local candidates and the local parties would continue to reinforce in the publics mind the brand message and why the local Republican candidate is better than the competition.

Once this type of system begins to take place, we can then begin to see some brand building taking place and begin to capture a position in the public's mind.

Until that happens ... we'll continue to loose market share.

Just like all large corporations have lobbyists to handle the "politics" of the business, So must the Republican Party engage in politics ... but not at the expense of marketing the message.

And just like the Bush administration told Detroit, no bailout money until you guys come up with a plan .... I don't see Republican fund raising efforts being exceptionally successful until there's a solid plan in place to develop and market the message.

We need to focus on:

1) Unique Selling Propositions
2) Marketable Differences
3) Feature/Benefit

And for you future political types still in college, maybe focus a little less on the Political Science and a bit more on the Marketing and Advertising classes.


For more Republican Campaign Marketing Tips and Strategies, visit www.GopLogo.com

Warm Regards,
Michael Crooks
e: hello@goplogo.com

        

We don’t need to change our politics … we need to change our marketing.

Basic to effective marketing is to have a brand that stands for something. Currently, the Republican brand doesn’t stand for anything. Oh, perhaps it stands for something in the minds of the upper echelon of the Republican party. Problem is, they forgot to tell the rest of us what the hell it is. And I’ll bet most of them can’t articulate it so anyone can understand it anyway.

Walk down the street and ask 10 people what the Republican Party stands for … and if you get one answer, you’ll get 10 different answers. Case in point. Saul Anusis, who is running for Republican National Committee chair, recently published his  “Blueprint for a GOP Comeback.” In it he refers a lot to Republican core values and core principles. But do you know what’s missing from his sugar-coated, rose-colored glasses Blueprint?  Any definition or listing of what the Republican core values or core principles are!

So! If a guy who wants to lead the party can’t or won’t define what we are or where we stand, how are voters supposed to know?
 
We just got our ass handed to us from coast to coast and those who would like to lead our party into the future STILL aren’t defining our position.

In November of 2007 I wrote;

We need to get away from "lifestyle" issues such as "gay" anything and abortion. We need to focus on what people really care about when they are in fear of losing their jobs or not being able to afford college or a trip to the doctor. To that end, we must convey to the public how the core Republican concepts of:

1) Less Government
2) Less Taxes
3) A Commitment to Personal Responsibility

will make their lives better.


Well, we didn’t do that. Why? Because we couldn’t. Because the Republicans have FAILED to make good on those concepts.

We do not have less government. We do not have less taxes. And, the concept of personal responsibility is a distant memory in this litigious society. And while Republican insiders can spin the numbers talking about "inflation adjustments", and "net tax decreases"  …  the average working person looks in his/her wallet and says, "I'm not convinced."

So badly have we failed, that the best we could come up with on te national level in this lst election was, “We’re for change too … but it’s a different kind of change than Obama’s change.”

And then we failed to effectively explain to anyone what that change is. And that brings up the biggest thing that must change moving forward.

We must be able to take a stand, identify that stand and effectively communicate to others what that stand is and how it will improve their lives.

It’s no longer acceptable to simply paint the Democrats as evil.

No more Republican political, sugar-coated, rose-colored double talk. I’m talking about a straight forward dialog that Joe Six-Pack can understand. No more spin-doctoring every Republican screw up, loss or set-back as some sort of victory. It erodes credibility.
 
Talking Off The Rose Colored Glasses is the beginning of a complete series I’m writing to help local Republican partys better market themselves, In the coming months we’ll discuss message development, membership outreach, ingraining, accessability and generally how local Republican parties can use sound marketing principles to build and strengthen their local party.]

Maybe, the idea of effective marketing techniques and tactics will trickle up to those who have yet to understand that if people can’t tell you what you stand for …. Then you don’t stand for anything ,,,, despite what you think.

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment.

Warm Regards,
Michael
hello@goplogo.com

        

How interesting to read the memo from Saul Anuzis that " ... we need to return to our core issues." Duh!

Months and months ago I wrote that Republicans basically had failed on the issues of less government, less taxes and a focus on personal responsibility.

How bad are thingsfor Republicans ? It can can be summed up by asking most people on the street one question:

"What do the Republicans stand for"

The blank stare you'll get speaks volumes for the failure of the Republican Party to effectively brand itself, create a cohesive, beneficial message then deliver it to the public.

Brand Republican is in the toilet. So you're darn right, Saul. We need to not only return to our core values, we need to find a way to deliver on those core values and then clearly communicate that to the voters without all the spin doctoring and rose colored glasses B.S. you've been spouting for the last year.

You can start by providing the proper support and education to the local Republican parties so that they can properly recruit and train upcoming candidates in campaign marketing  and protocol.  We've got way too many candidates running around who don't know the first thing about running a campaign. The local parties are no help because quite frankly, they really don't know what to do. Voter Vaults and all are useless if you don't have qualified candidates who can take a cohesive message to the voter.

The State Party needs to show some leadership and decide that if we are going to win elections, we must first have a marketable difference.  Then we must have an effective distribution channel (ie: qualified candidates). Then those candidates must be schooled in how to run an effective campaign.

When the political hacks start to understand that the Republican message and a political candidate are really no different than any other product that is sold to consumers, then they might begin to understand the power of marketing.

But to do that, you first have to have a message. So let's start with the basics. Answer the following question:

"What do the Republicans stand for?"

Define that simply, concisely and clearly and we will have the beginning of something that we can market going forward.

There is a growing group who call themselves Conservatives ... but do not consider themselves Republicans.

The law of marketing dictates that there can only be two dominate Brands in any market segment.  In political marketing, Democrat is one dominate brand. Over the next 2 to three years either Libertarians, Conservatives or Republicans will rise to be the dominate challenger of the Democrats. As it stands now, it's not going to be the Republicans. Unless,

we CAN return to our core values, define them and effectively communicate that message to the voters. Then, elect some Republicans who can actually make good on the promises.
 
Let me know what YOU think at hello@GopLogo.com or post a comment right here. All I'll delete are swear words.

Warm Regards,
Michael

 

        

With the primaries right around the corner here's a few things Republican campaigns need to get squared away:

1) Photos. Do you have photos of yourself easily accessible? And I mean a digital photo that's  a file size of at least 1mb. Tell your designer you need your photo scanned so that it's AT LEAST 300 DPI at 2" x 2". The photo should be scanned to yield 300 DPI at whatever size you're going to print it at. So if it's 300 DPI at 4" x 6" it will work well when printed at anything smaller. An no. Submitting a print of yourself off your inkjet printer is not acceptable.  Need help? Let us know.
 
2) Identification Statement: "Paid for by ..." must be included on most everything you print.  Campaign finance law dictates that "paid for by" must be included in addition to the campaign address. Many, many Republicans are in violation of this. It's basic campaign stuff. Need help? Let us know.

3) Message: If you can't tell voters WHY you are a better candidate than the Democrat then it's time to figure it out. Mr. and Mrs. Six Pack are looking in their wallet and not seeing any evidence of less government or less taxes. As Republicans we've screwed the pooch on those two points. So for many, a good social program is starting to look pretty good .. and that's exactly what the Dem's will give them and business owners will pay for it. Focus on SUBSTANCE over Rhetoric.

4) County Parties: Party politics will account for nothing if your local candidates are making frosh mistakes left and right. Local parties cannot be so caught up in politics that effective campaign marketing gets no attention at all. Make sure candidates have a message that is believable and resonates with the electorate. Too many campaigns are floundering around without any direction. There's a pool of people out there with campaign experience .. identify them and tap into their experience. If you have experience and knowledge ... now is the time to stand up and be counted!

If you need help with anything, give us a call. 517-589-0008

Warm Regards,
Michael Crooks
hello@goplogo.com
www.GopLogo.com

        

Here's the main message,

If your message is change, don't just tell me we need change. Tell me WHY we need change and how I'm going to benefit from that change. Cause if you don't ... I'm, sticking with what I know, the Status Quo.

With the 4th of July parades over, it's time to review the campaign literature I collected. By and large, there's no substance in most of the lit. Republicans are scared to take a stand. No one has any backbone, yet candidates try to convince voters that they will be , "fearless leaders and fight hard for the issues we care about most."

For example, I have a piece from a guy who is running for Sheriff. He wants to bring change. Says it's time for accountability and time for change. Problem is, in my mind, things are fine at the Sheriff's office.

This piece was paid for by the local county party, but they've done an EXTREMELY POOR job of setting the stage ... of creating a notion in my mind that there's a problem in the Sheriff's office. That's what the local party should do. Create perceptions that the candidate can use as a springboard. Problem is, most political types understand politics, but they don't understand marketing.

And since this new guy offers no specifics and his lit piece doesn't urge me to his website to find out the "Real Truth" about why we need change so bad ... I'm gonna probably vote for the current Sheriff.

Effective Republican campaign marketing is no different than regular marketing. It's most effective when you are able to convey a BENEFIT to the consumer ... in this case voter. But make no mistake. Voters and consumers are the same thing.

So I will repeat:

If your message is change, don't just tell me we need change. Tell me WHY we need change and how I'm going to benefit from that change. Cause if you don't ... I'm, sticking with what I know ... the Status Quo.

Visit GopLogo.com for Republican campaign marketing articles and tips that will help you.

Warm Regards,
Michael  Hello@goplogo.com
www.goplogo.com

        

In the race for campaign superiority Republicans must ensure that they are not in violation of campaign finance law. This means ensuring that your identification statement, "Paid for by"  and any required disclaimers (authorized by, not authorized by ... etc.) are on every item that requires one.  

Being able to report an opponent for campaign finance violations makes the opponent utilize resources (time, personnel, money) to deal with the report. But too often, a Republican campaign cannot bring up campaign finance violations to knock a Dem campaign off focus, because the Republican is also in violation.

It's sort of hard to sell yourself as a lawmaker if you're a law breaker! It's also hard to rat-out your opponent when you're doing the same thing!

This also points out why Republican campaigns should turn to vendors that have Republican campaign experience, like we do at GopLogo.  Let the Dems utilize the uninformed vendors who don't have a clue. GopLogo, the Republican Campaign Support Services arm of Crooks Advertising Alliance, has 18 years experience in Republican Campaign marketing. 18 years experience to bring to bear on your behalf and help keep you out of trouble.

Following is a list of exempted items, items that do not require an identification statement. This list is specific to Michigan. If an item is not on this list you either must get written exemption from the Bureau of Elections/Secretary of State office or you put the identification statement on it. Period!

Aerial banners              Ashtrays                                                       Badges & badge holders
Balloons                       Bingo Chips                                                    Bumper Stickers (4" x 15"  or smaller)
Brushes                       Candy wrappers (1 ½" x 2 ½" or smaller)        Buttons
Cigarette lighters         Campaign stickers (3" x 1 ½" or smaller)         Clothing
Clothes Pins                  Coasters                                                          Cloth pot holders
Cups                             Combs                                                            Earrings
Drinking glasses             Envelopes                                                     Emery Boards
Erasers                           Fortune Cookie Message (1.2" x 2" or less)    Frisbees®
Glasses                            Golf balls                                                     Golf tees
Hats                                 Horns                                                     Ice scrapers
Jar lid openers (5" or smaller)    Key rings                                      Knives
Labels                             Lapel pins/stickers                                  Magnifying glasses
Matchbooks                       Nail clipper                                      Nail files
Noisemakers                       Paper and plastic cups                   Paper and plastic plates
Paper weights                        Pencils                                       Pennants
Pendants                                 Pens                                           Pinwheels
Plastic tableware                      Pocket protectors                       Pot holders
Refrigerator magnets                Ribbons                                      Shoe horns
Staple removers                       Sun glasses                                 Sun visors
Sweatshirts                                 Swizzle sticks                             Whistles
t-shirts                            Wooden rulers (12" or smaller                 Wooden nickels (size of 5¢ coin)

Need to discuss this issue? Call us at 517-589-0008.

Warm Regards,
Michael Crooks

        

Poor planning will ultimately put my children through college.  Not MY poor planning, mind you. Rather, the poor planning of my Republican political clients.

It happens every campaign cycle. A candidate will come to me at the last minute ... in dire need of something. They know they want a banner, but they're not quite sure what it should say. Or, they want stickers, but they're not sure what size or how many colors. Or they want a post card, no wait ...  a flyer ... but they're not sure how many. Heck, they're not even sure what they want it to say — but they need it Friday and today is Tuesday. Oh yeah,  how much?

First of all, if your world is going to end if you don't have... whatever it is ... does it REALLY matter how much it costs? All I know, is that it will cost more than it should.

It's just not a cheap trick to rip a hole in the time/space continuum, slip though and produce your stuff last week.

The best way to save money in a Republican political campaign is to get with me EARLY. Let's plan something out so you order 40,000 lapel stickers  or Republican Logo Waterless Tattoos all at once and save money ... instead of ordering 5000 at a time, eight different times and always at the last minute.

Time will allow us to engineer your banners correctly - so they they will function as properly in a parade as they will hanging on the wall. Your name will be spelled correctly and the identification statement will be legal.

Time will ensure that you have "sign off "of every photo used in the brochure. Time will ensure that you spend your time effectively campaigning instead of putting out fires.

Rest assured, if your bacon needs saving at the last minute, my team and I can do it. We did it for Bush/Cheney  .. we can do it for you. Sure, it will cost you. But look on the bright side.

When my kids go off to the college of their choice, you'll know you did your part to help educate a new generation of bright, educated Republicans.

For more Republican campaign marketing articles, tips and unique Gop Logo'd items visit www.GopLogo.com

Warm Regards,
Michael Crooks
hello@goplogo.com
517-589-0008