ReThinking Republican Party Marketing: Talking Off The Rose-Color Glasses
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
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
Well said Michael!
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Thanks, Bill. Now that I've bellyached enough, I'll start posting actual tactics and strategies that local Republican parties can use to build membership and makeup for the shortcomings of State and national leadership.
Be sure and share this site with your friends.
Warm Regards,
Michael
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You have a very good point here. The target market should know what is the principles of the party for them to decide if they are worthy or not.
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Thanks for share good comment
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I think that there should be change in strategy from the upper echelon of the Republican Party. Our failure is that we have not been able to let the general public know the good things we have done. In simple words we are lagging far behind in marketing our good deeds. In order to succeed in this changing world we should start from the grassroots level. We should try to find out the real problems of people. I found this blog really thought provoking.
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