I don’t have many favorite politicians – check that – I don’t have a one! And, I’d bet most of you don’t have one.

Until maybe now.

Republican candidate for Congress and former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Allen West is someone I’ve been following throughout his race in the Sunshine State!

And you should too.

Allen West, is a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and is running this November as a Republican candidate for the United States Congress in Florida’s District 22.

Watch this video of West in action. No notes – pure passion and conviction – clear message coming from experience – a complete mastery of the power of video and the mastery of the public speech!

When the Republicans and McCain and Co., got outgunned and derailed by the Obama campaign in the last presidential election, there’s no question that one of big contributing factors was that they were far behind in mastering the New World Order of interactive and social media marketing tools.

In the next election/s, you’ll see that everyone will be on the SMM bus. And, it will be somewhat of a level playing field in terms of marketing execution since most everyone will be wearing a pretty nice SMM tool belt and carrying a well equipped toolbox.

Check out West’s Web site and you’ll see its complete with all the appropriate SMM tools however, his talent, integrity, character and clear brand message and performance rules.

Certainly money helps, but in this online, always on world we live in, citizen journalists can help West even out the playing field for his underfunded brand.

Watch out for the Allen West’s of the world (performance based brands with character, integrity and trustworthiness) and remember that tools are cool, but tools don’t rule because anybody can buy them and learn how to use them.

To excel these days, recognize that for today’s informed consumer, what truly matters is a clearly communicated and meaningful brand promise delivered from a trustworthy, proven brand. Guaranteed.

P.S.: I call Lt. Col. Allen West a Marketer’s dream because it’s so easy to promote a brand you believe in. I’ll bet West wins in November – this American Patriot prays and hopes that he does – we need more good people like him in government.

Today is a special day of remembrance for me because I’ve admired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ever since I was a young boy.

King’s life’s work was to create a formidable movement of change and progress on the issue of civil rights in America – which he most certainly accomplished. In fact, his legacy has expanded to encompass not only the advancement of civil rights, but human rights throughout the world.

Dr. King and others in the Civil Rights Movement taught me a lot about living my Christian faith and American patriotism out loud, and both taught me lessons about marketing a meaningful cause.

First and foremost, their brand message was true, right and good – they operated from a solid foundation of truth and righteousness.

From having a spot-on brand message – equal rights – the Civil Rights movement created support (buy-in) of their cause with personal, touching, motivating and powerful storytelling imagery such as:

• Segregation signs at water fountains, rest rooms, restaurants and hotels
• Elderly women in their Sunday best being turned back from voting
• Rosa Parks sitting in front of a white man on a bus and then being fingerprinted
• White firemen turning high pressure water hoses on the old and young alike
• White policemen leading German Shepherd attack dogs through black crowds
• Innocent black children being escorted by soldiers on their way to school
• Unarmed, peaceful marchers getting viciously beaten by armed police
• Disgusting Ku Klux Klan marches, and burning crosses
• Rampant black church burnings and bombings

There are certainly more, but I’m sure you get the picture.

All of these powerful images of factual accounts and experiences combined, provided a motivating case for drastic and immediate change.

Certainly, many images were created, but more often than not these images were created and spread virally because they were true, authentic and emotional which makes for a far more reaching impact.

The positioning message was a simple one of good vs. evil.

Dr. King persuaded, motivated and modeled the movement after Gandhi’s peaceful marches and protests with dignity and discipline. These non violent marches were impactful, but as impressive…if not more so…was the way in which he communicated his brand’s message of civil and racial injustice.

Two things I’ve always remembered in marketing are:

1. People don’t join causes…people join people with causes and
2. People typically buy first on emotion, then justify with facts

These two marketing maxims certainly apply to the Civil Rights Movement.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and listen carefully to Dr. King’s entire, “I Have a Dream” speech. The “Dream” speech is a masterpiece and it’s amazing how quiet the audience is throughout it too.

Here is a list of 10 Communication Tips from Dr. King that I picked up from his speech (see if you can pick them up and agree with them; and see if you can discover a few more):

1. The perfect imagery setting of speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial
2. The use of simple, small, easy to understand common words
3. The impact of the repetitive nature of select phrases (e.g., “now is the the time,” “we are not satisfied,” “I have a dream,” “let freedom ring,” “free at last”)
4. The effect of name personalization (e.g., my friends, you, me, we etc.)
5. The effect of location personalization (e.g., he lists key towns and cities where many of the members of his audience live)
6. The clarity of his speech – perfect annunciation and diction
7. The passionate nature of his voice – how can you motivate people if you’re not
8. The perfect pacing and changes in speech patterns (e.g., high, low, quick, slow)
9. The use of short phrases and sentences to drive home memorable key points
10. The fact that he used notes sparingly because he spoke from personal experience, believed in his message and thus knew it by heart – teleprompter be damned

Much is made about President O’Bama’s communication skills, but he’s far from being the skilled orator of Dr. King. The president has the Internet, a ton of communication consultants and speechwriters and his infamous TELEPROMPTER (which he uses entirely too much as a crutch). Dr. King had none of the tools that the President has at his disposal, but created such an amazing, impressive long lasting presence.

The President and all of us can learn a great deal about tolerance, patriotism and doing the right thing from Dr. King AND we can all learn a great deal about how to be a Marketing Rock Star too!

Happy Birthday and Rest in Peace Dr. King.

Last Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Public
Relations Society of America (PRSA) honored the region’s
best public relations campaigns and tactics, as well as its most admired communicators, during the 2009 Renaissance Awards.

Held in the East Club Lounge at Heinz Field, the Renaissance Awards were emceed by Andrew Stockey,
anchor of WTAE-TV Channel 4 Action News. In attendance were some of the country’s leading communications professionals representing global
agencies, Fortune 500 corporations, and elite higher education
institutions.

An independent judging panel from the Los Angeles Public Relations Society of America evaluated nominations for more than 40 award categories, such as special events, media relations campaigns, and direct mail pieces. The top entries earned the coveted Renaissance Award, while runners-up received the Award of Merit.

I’m proud to report that the Pittsburgh Public Relations Society of America honored BrandMill with three First Place Renaissance Awards for Best Public Affairs Campaign, Best Press Kit and Best Poster for the Whiskey Rebellion II campaign to “Axe the 10% Drink Tax” in Allegheny County.

These three PRSA Renaissance awards complement BrandMill’s and F.A.C.T.’s (Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation) Marketer of the Year award in the Sports Entertainment Hospitality award (and third runner-up overall for Grand Marketer of the Year) for its Whiskey Rebellion II campaign given by the American Marketing Association of Pittsburgh this past December.

Here is a link to the Pittsburgh PRSA’s press release about the 2009 Renaissance Awards.

I try to stay apolitical in this Blog, but WOW…how can a marketer not comment on this landmark Presidential campaign? What a unique game-changing marketing performance and case study! What a two-year marketing ride choosing between Brand McCain and Brand Obama.  No matter if your guy won or lost, you can learn a great deal about marketing by scrutinizing why Brand Obama was the brand more Americans preferred.

The main reason why Obama won was that he/his brand was uniquely different!!

However, here are 10 more reasons why Barack Obama’s marketing campaign rocked America’s house:

1.    Brand Obama stayed on the singular message of CHANGE!
2.    Brand Obama was a better storyteller. His oratory skills were spectacular and his messaging was focused and clear. His classic speech on race…WOW, it doesn’t get any better than that.
3.    Brand Obama’s internet marketing strategy was superior. Viral media, engaging media all excellent.
4.    Brand Obama built a bigger permission based database which led to record donations.
5.    Brand Obama reached beyond its base to be inclusive and nice to others to convert
6.    Brand Obama was clear and calm. Any leader can row a boat when its calm, but can they do it when the water is rough? Obama showed a calm demeanor through the entire campaign and people were looking for calm, cool leadership and not the cowboy arrogance of Bush.
7.    Brand Obama executed better – flawlessly. He never seemed to make a mistake.
8.    Brand Obama worked to pump up the pumped up. He reached out to other groups unlike his base, but they were interested in change.
9.    Brand Obama attacked actions not the person. People respect those who do not attack ther person, but rather his/her actions.
10.    Brand Obama satisfied customer’s main need to fix the economy. In mid September when the race was getting a little tight and the banks started to collapse, McCain said, “The fundamentals of the economy are strong!” Well, Obama’s team jumped on the statement which showed he was a bit out of touch not recognizing the famous line of the Clinton campaign, “It’s the economy stupid!”

Here’s a good New York Times story that adds a bit more texture to my argument…Hail to the new Chief! “Yes we can” learn terrific marketing lessons from this campaign. God bless America.

After yesterday’s defeat of Congress’ proposal to bailout the economy, ever the marketer, the U.S. Mint released a new dollar bill reflective of the times!

After I catch my breath and figure out what to do with my shrinking portfolio, I’ll check back in with a few thoughts about how accountability, performance, truthfulness and TRUST can help you become a Marketing Rock Star!

P.S.: It’s a good thing my hometown of Pittsburgh has the most bridges in the world (a total of 446 bridges – three more than former world leader Venice, Italy), because every time I think about jumping off one in times like these, I don’t because I can’t figure out which one to leap from…jk!