When a message just doesn't connect

I got an e-mail this morning from a "Mr.Mohammed Yusuf, in Angola." As if this pitch doesn't sound familiar, think about the imagery it brings up in your mind:
I was a patient in the Medivaal Hospital situated in Angola , During my stay I was previledge to share the same room with a Woman who is a public Figure in our in Angola, She is the wife of a prominent politician here in a Angola.

Her husband, Mr. Abdulwahad Ahmed, was arrested and charged to court for a multibillion dollar arms deal fraud which she said was politically motivated by his enemies as her husband was the chairman of parliament in Angola. She also told me that he accented to plead guilty in exchange for his acquittal on corruption charges but was later convicted on trumped-up
charges.

This led to his bank accounts in Angola and abroad being frozen. Now, things are really bad for her husband and children.
Okay, aside from the fact that this is just a twist on the bank scam from Nigeria, whose main export nowadays is e-mail, think about the imagery it brings up. We're supposed to emotionally connect with a corrupt Angolan multibillion dollar arms dealer? Just because things are tough on his family?

This is of course silly, but it's a pretty good illustration about the portrayal of your candidate or cause.

Remember back several years ago when Jim Beddow ran for Governor with Jim Abbott as his Lt. against the Janklow/Hillard ticket. I hardly remember anything about that race - except for the Beddow farm commercial.

It was such insipidly bad imagery. Here was the epitome of academia - DWU President Jim Beddow - on a farm in a flannel shirt. And if my dim recollection is correct he was talking about moving manure while holding a grain shovel. It was so bad it bordered on parody.

I can't imagine that I wasn't the only one who just didn't buy it. Yet, year after year we're assaulted by pitcures of politicians dressed in flannel in the same kinds of commercials. And 9 times out of ten, they look utterly ridiculous. Because the image they are trying to portray is so contrary to what people already know about the person.

"Hi! I'm a university liberal arts professor. But now that I'm dressed in stylish flannel and pictured on a farm - POOF! - I can relate to you farming type farmer folks."

I actually was standing outside of a room once where a kind of focus group was being conducted. And one of the campaign staff played one of these commercials for the "focusees." They politely viewed it and in typical South Dakota style, told the staffer what a good job they did, and how much they liked it.

Then, not 5 minutes after the staffer left, these same people started talking amongst themselves as to how the commerical sucked, and how out and out bad it was. The scene was too atypical of what they knew of this person, and they thought it quite insincere. But they also didn't want to hurt the staffers feelings. (Awww. Wasn't that nice). Needless to say, that candidate lost.

I can't tell you what imagery is correct all the time. It really depends on who your candidate is. Clint Roberts could certainly get away with riding a horse in his commercial. If Dusty Johnson (and yes, Dusty - consider this advice) tried that, it would not likely be considered a good fit.

When developing a theme and the visual stylings that represent a campaign, don't stray too far from what is already established about your candidate. Keep in mind who they are, and what they do. If they don't at all feel comfortable doing it, they aren't going to be convincing.

And remember: Don't bring a grain scoop to a manure spreading contest. And quit wearing flannel. (It's so five years ago).

Comments

Erin said…
Oh, does this bring up matters. I worked for a campaign that had some local volunteers who happened to be professionals of some long-standing in the field of communications. They could provide very shrewd critiques of ads and campaign ploys that would not work--and what would. However, the paid agencies dismissed them. What could anyone living in the boondocks possibly know about anything? When a candidate tries to fill an image rather than project his/her essential character, he/she is already in trouble. It is not the way to counter the portrayals of how the opposition is trying to define you. But those images become important long past the election cycle in which they occurred. I, for one, will never forget the image of Tom Daschle being portrayed next to the images of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. And I will never forget who was responsible for those portrayals. And I plan not to let anyone else forget, either.
Anonymous said…
A Carole Hillard ad comes to mind from the primary against John Thune. Carole, a nice, soft-spoken lady is walking down the street and says, "If you do the crime, you do the time."

I think it could have been worse...they could have shown her packing heat....fortunately they didn't.

Even so, I giggle thinking about it although it's nearly a decade since it aired.

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