Note to CMO: the Future of Debates vs. Dialogs

Dear CMO:

A trend, a trajectory, and an event to animate it all.

The trend: the world seems so caught up in its own ability to self-publish that it is ignoring the other half of “dialog” – there is a growing shortage of conversation, with only massive parallel monologues taking place. Look at blogging in general, the growth of groups within LinkedIn where “discussions” have no “answers”, and the lack of debate in debates. We’re all talking. Unfortunately, no one’s listening.

The trajectory: our traditional gatekeepers are crumbling. Look at television: today, you watch a show created by a production company, packaged by a network, and delivered by a cable operator. The network decides when you can watch it. The cable operator decides whether you get to see it at all, and what else it comes along with. Want to watch the Tennis Channel? Here, have these six Mexican soap opera channels, as well. The arrival of ubiquitous bandwidth, unlimited storage and Ethernet connections in the back of our TV sets means the rules are about to quickly change. I want to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it – either “live,” in the case of a debate or a sporting event, or “when I damn well want to,” like all four seasons of House. Disintermediation is increasingly the name of the game.

The event: if you saw the Vice Presidential debate last night – and still have a burning passion for politics, and better yet are actually “undecided” in this upcoming election – you may be the rarest of rare things, the “sub-segment of one.” Whether we watch elected officials hurl accusations and conclusions at each other (again, everyone talking and no one listening, let alone “responding”) or blindly spouting their talking points, regardless of the question asked, we see a complete lack of meaningful discussion taking place.

If we look at the US election cycle as the most intensely studied branding event of the current day, we would be forgiven if we categorized it thusly:

• Consumers have been over-marketed to and creative burn-out has set in. The quality of the story is very poor at this point.


• There is no brand switching taking place.


• The choices of media fail to hit our emotional hot buttons.


• The gate keepers think they’re the story.
  

Ms. Palin mentioned that she’s happier speaking directly to the American people and not through mainstream media celebrities too busy packaging their own brands to care about the “news.” Barack Obama bought a channel on Dish TV to continually run a 2 minute commercial, possibly until the end of time.

If we live in a time and place where we have access to the emotional impact of video, the immediacy of the internet, and the ubiquity of fact checking, it seems logical that a candidate might choose to promote their agenda and personal brand by meeting the public half-way.

Give us a daily, or twice weekly, video telling us what you want to say – talk about energy independence, talk about your views on market regulation, talk about national defense – and give us details. Five minutes of real content, not sound bytes. Give us links in the page that show us the congressional record supporting your statements and debunking, if necessary, those of your opponent. Let us hear the story, straight from you, without the gatekeepers. Treat us with enough respect to let us choose how deep we want to fact check – a little or a lot. And push everyone through your investments in traditional media expenditures towards your site, where your brand resides. Neither of the candidates do this on their respective sites today. Both push talking points, neither show objective proof, and neither speaks directly to their audiences.

Now, if we can pan back and refocus ourselves on the broader marketing agenda, we have more than a few enduring lessons to take away:

• We are increasingly wary of gatekeepers, especially when we have the ability to speak directly to our own public with little help. Gatekeepers can – in some instances – imbue the brand with additional authority and credibility. Third party reviews meet this definition. The mainstream media? In politics? Not so much anymore.


• We are all tired of propaganda. We want facts. And facts are so easy to check now. So be as transparent as you say you are by providing easy links to the source material that proves your point. If there is inconsistency, feel free to say why. But treat the public with respect. This will make you very unique in your market, regardless of what market you serve.


• Use the best possible means to reach your audience. Video has become amazingly cheap with the advent of digital handheld camcorders and PC based editing. What used to cost $50K now costs $5K.


• In a world of glitz and gloss, authenticity is the new “new.” Teach them how to learn the truth. Create experts, not evangelists.
  

Your mind is already made up for this election. If you’re a US citizen, you already know who you’re voting for. You made your decision largely on partisan – and purely on emotional – grounds, in all likelihood. Branding your product is more subtle and far less emotional than branding a future President of the United States. But wouldn’t we all be better off if we had the option of learning more before our emotional walls flew up?

Regards.