The 2004 election is over, at least in the public mind, and analysis of why Senator John Kerry lost runs rampant. From a business perspective, you could say that he just didn’t sell the product. Or, more accurately, he didn’t sell himself to American voters, and by extension the Democratic Party, as a product. We all remember phrases like “This is the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time” and “I voted for the invasion of Iraq before I voted against.”
Imagine if Bill Gates took to the airwaves and said, “We’re against business. [N.B.: some Microsoft foes may quip that he’s succeeded.] But even though we’re anti-business, our software can do business better than our competitors’ products. So buy Microsoft even if we’re against business.”
Even all of Bill Gates’ millions couldn’t stop shareholders from taking him before a Wall Street firing squad. However, die-hard Windows lovers, like true blue Democrats, would continue to support Gates. They might even do it to spite Apple Computer, in the same way that many Kerry voters support Kerry because he wasn’t Bush. The catchphrase “The Uncola” worked for 7-Up, but that’s the exception. Most successful business ventures earn loyalty by telling customers who they are, rather than who they aren’t.
Consider the mundane example of juicers, specifically an online store front called LivingRight.com, one of a family of home appliance and lifestyle websites operated by Arizona-based company Open Chute. There are literally hundreds of juicer websites, so what can Open Chute do to convince customers to buy from LivingRight.com? Except for saying, “We’ll match or beat any of our competitors’ prices,” LivingRight doesn’t waste much time reminding the competition. Consider the statement on their home page:
“We supply commercial juice extractors and industrial juicers to businesses and also carry the best juicers for the juice addicts at home. We have gift ideas for the health nut in your life, juice recipes and juice tips for a healthy life, as well as a Best Price Guarantee.”
Let’s see what LivingRight just told you about itself:
Fact: You care about your health, and to prove it, there are images of juicers surrounded by fresh fruit. MMM. He even wants his friends and family to be healthy!
Fact: They supply commercial juicers and links to those products are at the top of the home page. But those juicers seem affordable for “homemade juice junkies.” Open Chute knows that if you’re going to invest in a juicer, you’re going to get something that lasts. And hey, there’s a best price guarantee!
Fact: LivingRight is so sure to make a difference in your life that it offers recipes to go with the juicers, as well as juicing tips for healthy living.
So, in one short paragraph, LivingRight has sold itself as a caring consumer advocate and provider of these nifty health gadgets. After all, everyone wants to be healthy.
Contrast this with Kerry’s message, delivered not in one paragraph but in hours of campaigning, debate and negative speech. For those of you who can’t remember what it was, “I’m Not Bush” comes pretty close. Although “We have better hair” also surfaced as a slogan. Reality check: People only vote for hair and makeup at the Oscars. Hillary Clinton herself denigrated the media’s fascination with her hair. Hillary is a better business leader than John Kerry. After all, she survived Whitewater, didn’t she?
So what could the Democrats have done differently, and what can you learn from them? To get started, you can realize and affirm the seven reasons why you are your best product.
1) You are successful at what you do. The LivingRight website says: “More than 25,000 health gadgets shipped!” “Sent” communicates follow-up, as in an earlier McDonald’s slogan “Over a Billion Served.”
While going to war is not a popular decision (as even Joan Rivers commented at the 2002 Oscars, “All the idiots in the world want peace”), President George W. Bush successfully prevented attacks on American soil by attacking first to al-Qa. ‘eda, then to oust Saddam Hussein from power.
2) You believe in your product, and by extension yourself and your vision, so much so that you use it yourself. Those cheesy Hair Club For Men ads hit right on the head, with a pun: “I’m not just the president of Hair Club, I’m also a customer.” If John Kerry was so against action in Iraq, why did he initially vote for it?
3) You are so convincing that you surround yourself with people who build up (not necessarily brown) rather than tear down your image. Bush has benefited from Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (another businessman who sold himself), Rudy Giuliani, Democratic Senator Zell Miller from Georgia, and especially the legacy of former President Ronald Reagan. Now Bush has really stepped into bold territory by appointing his own father and former President Bill Clinton, former political rivals, to spearhead tsunami relief in Asia.
I have to give Kerry and the Democrats partial credit for being associated with, or at least benefiting from, a successful movie franchise, even if we don’t call “Fahrenheit 9/11” a documentary. Unfortunately, Michael Moore himself has proven to be less than stellar by being his own product. Although at the time of this writing he won the People’s Choice award for best picture of the year, he has also developed a reputation for lack of integrity, not to mention the attacks on the US that have given him his career. . Moore’s entire image as “a man of the people” has been called into question many times. Although Michael Moore’s marketing is an Oscar-worthy production, 51 percent of Americans did not find it credible.
Celebrity endorsement is only as good as the celebrities themselves, and many Americans considered the Dixie Chicks, Barbra Streisand, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Jessica Lange, Ed Asner, Janeane Garofalo, Whoopi Goldberg, and many members of the supposed elite to be less than convincing, particularly with the way Hollywood continues to sell crudeness, vulgarity, violence, and intolerance for any point of view other than its own. The multiple military backgrounds, doctorates and public service records that the Bush team collectively possesses put into perspective the glamor of some Academy Award winning and hit TV shows, movies or albums.
4) You are self-confident enough not to ridicule people who opt for an alternative product. British newspapers ridiculed the majority of Americans who voted for Bush as “fools.”
As my voice acting coach, Samantha Paris, founder of Voicetrax San Francisco/Desert Cities, says about casting for radio, storytelling, animation, and TV commercial work, “It’s selection, not rejection.”
5) He likes competition, does not take it as a personal attack and does not turn competition into personal attacks. Politics violate this rule all too often, and the 2004 campaign was nastier than most.
Contrast that with Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Competing celebrity endorsements (Santa and the polar bears on the Coca-Cola side, Ray Charles and Faith Hill on the Pepsi side) only prolong an ongoing competition that likely won’t be settled anytime soon. The Pepsi Challenge shook Coca-Cola out of its 1980s complacency, and Coca-Cola learned from its abysmal mistake with New Coke. Although to be fair, Pepsi had their own klunker with Crystal Pepsi, though they did bounce with Pepsi Twist.
These days, Coca-Cola has brought back Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, and even branched out into Coca-Cola with lime. Keep in mind that Coca-Cola doesn’t tell investors how horrible Pepsi is, and vice versa. It’s just good old fashioned competition where you, the businessman, do your best.
6) You don’t change who you are. People were never sure who John Kerry was, while George W. Bush’s arrogance (“what in Texas is called walking,” he commented in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention) is not hidden. Bush has made no attempt to correct his oft-reported lapses in language and even admits as much (“Sometimes people have a tendency to correct my English; I knew I was in trouble when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it.”) Bush’s folksy ways show he’s comfortable with himself. Similarly, Bill Clinton did not switch to McDonald’s caviar (much to his chagrin later). Costco hasn’t added high-end cafeterias or gourmet food stands, but checkout lines are as long as ever.
7) You focus on who you are for the present and the future, instead of who you used to be. Senator Kerry’s rehash of the Vietnam conflict and the Swift Boat controversy that arose to haunt him illustrates how drawing on past glories (or controversies) only leaves people confused about who you are today. Imagine if Coke and Pepsi brought out all their marketing mistakes, and imagine if Pepsi tried to resurrect its embattled Michael Jackson ad campaign. Outdated at best, controversial at worst.
People connect with who you are right now and who you will be in the future. When someone buys, say, a juicer, they envision many mornings of fresh, nutritious, homemade juice and the wellness they receive, wellness they come to associate with the company or store that makes and/or sells the juicer. Past history is helpful, particularly for maintaining customer relationships, but don’t keep repeating it. “You’ve Always Been There for Me” sets the expectation that, like State Farm, you will be there in the future. You can enjoy a restaurant twenty times, but have you ever noticed that a bad meal can make you think twice before going there?
A coda to this list: Fortunately, if you’ve made it your flagship product, even the most critical eaters can forgive a slip, because they’ve already invested in you. So make sure you’re an investment they’ll want to hold on to and, in the case of the Democratic Party, a future they believe in.