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John Tantillo's Brand Winner... And Loser: Michael Moore and the Obama Trial Balloon
Posted by The Marketing Doctor at 9/29/2009 6:12 AM 
Categories: Branding
Tags: OTB Obama Michael Moore personal brand marketing Target Market Tantillo Obama Trial Balloon branding
Categories: Branding
Tags: OTB Obama Michael Moore personal brand marketing Target Market Tantillo Obama Trial Balloon branding
Brand Winner… | And Loser |
 |  |
Winner: Michael Moore
Loser: OTB (Obama Trial Balloon)
Folks, without further ado:
The Winner
The winner this week is a man I couldn’t disagree with more. In fact, I deplore most of what he says and seems to believe. Michael Moore.
But what I can’t dismiss, and you can’t either, is his track record and integrity.
Now I’m not speaking about Moore’s actual personal integrity, which has raised more than a few question marks… I’m talking about his brand integrity.
Yes, folks, all of us have a lot to learn from Michael Moore.
Unfortunately for Michael Moore, the lessons are not to be found in his movies but in his brand management.
Moore knows what his brand is and sticks with it.
He is a liberal (former editor of Mother Jones), almost socialistic gadfly who creates distorted “documentary” exposes in which conservative and corporate stick figures can be easily knocked down by clever editing, in-your-face stunts and Moore’s strident liberal narration.
The Moore brand is his public persona, which fits seamlessly into his movie persona. The Moore personal brand is a movie promotional vehicle, and the movies are a Moore personal brand promotional vehicle.
What he does especially well —and what he has done again with his latest work attacking Capitalism— is timing his work to meet Target Market needs. And you know how I feel about knowing your Target Market and meeting its needs!
There is a need among people —mainly Moore’s disaffected liberal-leaning Target Market— to “understand” the financial crisis through a certain lens, and voilà —Michael Moore is ready with a product to meet this need.
He did the same with Sicko (on health care) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (on the aftermath of September 11).
The beauty of marketing and branding is that you can appreciate the tactics that others use, even when you would personally not buy what they are selling.
Now, all we need is a free market-loving Michael Moore counterpart to take a page from this brand. Maybe Sean O’Keefe (of ACORN video fame)?
Loser
I’ve written about the danger of President Obama’s over-exposure in the past (although recently I’ve begun to wonder whether a scattered media audience requires a scattered, “I’m everywhere” response and that only media-watchers mistake this for over-exposure).
But whatever the answer to that question may be, far more perilous for the presidential brand is what we are beginning to see emerge from this administration.
Let’s call it the OTB: the Obama Trial Balloon.
Just the other day we had yet another example of an OTB: the suggestion that President Obama was going to head to Sweden to lobby for Chicago in its Olympic Bid.
Let me be subtle: this is about the stupidest idea I have ever heard emerge from this or any American presidency.
Why?
First, it reminds everyone of the President’s Chicago pol roots and the idea that he still has some local favors to pay back; two, it is demeaning to the office of the Presidency to head to Europe cap-in-hand to petition a committee (and not one with the most ethical track record) for consideration in a competition; and three, it suggests that his administration must have ADD to be distracted by minutia in the middle of the health care push .
Mr. President, you are the President of the United States, not the Governor of Illinois, for crying out loud!
Wait! The peanut gallery protests: Gordon Brown did this for England and it worked, so why shouldn’t President Obama do this for America?
Simple: because Presidents of the United States don’t do this sort of thing. Presidents of smaller countries lobby because the Olympics can make a substantive difference for their prestige and economies.
But America is much, much bigger than a single Olympic event. The Olympics are the cherry on top, not the whole ice cream sundae. Simply bush league, folks. (…Not to be confused with the former president, who didn't use the trial balloon strategy very much at all.) I’m getting more frustrated by the minute at the utter lack of marketing consistency.
Now, apparently, the administration might have back-tracked, and Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett could be going instead. Whatever eventually happens, I believe a precedent of decision by trial balloon is being set, and it could corrode the Obama brand.
Learning what your Target Market thinks and listening to it is critical for a politician, but there are better ways of doing this than publicly suggesting one course of action, having it shot down and then doing something else.
Obama is forgetting the general electorate who got him to the big show and narrowing his Target Market to Democratic true believers. Wow, this is a mistake. We’ve seen this before (with Jimmy Carter), and if Obama doesn’t mend his ways, he will end up as the Democrats’ once most-loved one-termer.
The best marketers —P&G, for example— don’t launch products until they are certain that they will sell. Only the inexperienced marketer decides to throw things against the wall and see what sticks.
My advice for the Obama administration is to promptly stop the OTB approach —there are only so many free passes for a presidential brand before it is seen as chronically weak and indecisive.
And remember, the business of politics is always easier when you keep marketing and branding in mind.
TODAY'S TANTILLO TAKEAWAY -
Brand development by trial balloon is never a good idea. Get your market information before you move your product to market, not after.
SAVE THE DATE!
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 8-10AM
BRAND FOR BREAKFAST
Make Your Business Healthy In Ninety Minutes
Marketing expert John Tantillo, PhD, a TV, radio and columnist personality, delivers you Value for money in his latest acclaimed Power Course and New York networking opportunity at top Manhattan restaurant Etcetera Etcetera.
(Breakfast and Subscription Web Support Included)
You’ll Receive:
1) Actionable brand and marketing intelligence
2) Timely and specific brand guidance
3) Instruction on Tantillo’s NAV protocol
4) Tips on how to rapidly develop your Target Market
5) On-line and continuous lesson support
6) The chance to meet other like-minded professionals
SAVE THE DATE!
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 8-10AM
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