Without a doubt, political campaign strategist is one of the most difficult brand manager jobs.
For starters, your product must talk (advertise) constantly to its target audience, both directly (rallies) and through a filter (news media). Your product changes packaging (clothes) daily.
And it’s got a mind of its own.
Then, there’s the marketing budget. The more your product sells (wins), the more revenue (donations) you get. Lose a few primaries, the cash dips — or worst-case, the product is discontinued (Mitt Romney).
After seeing Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton go through more than a few product revisions the past 45 days (ready to lead, verge of tears, debating and attacking), I can see why her campaign manager had to go Sunday. The product still isn’t 100% defined.
While Senator Barack Obama consistently sells change and stays on message, Clinton appears at times to be the opposite: an evolving test market beta appealing to what focus groups (polling) say they’ll buy today.
When marketing your products and services, are you telling a consistent story to consumers that they can believe? Are you true to your brand?
Compared to political campaign managers, marketers are lucky. Not only do we have more time to plan product launches, our tires, pickles, sneakers — whatever products our companies sell — don’t have to step up to a podium and give a speech.
photo: glowfish on flickr
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