Hey politicians….we are not listening!

Ah, fall.  The crackle of the fallen leaves, the sounds of football fans cheering in the stadium, the crisp air and the unmistakable squawking of politicians trying to get elected.

Blech.

Here in Iowa, we are in the middle of a heated political battle for Governor.  In one corner, we have Jim Nussle.  His website tells us how horrific his opponent is and we can see him shown with the Iowa Pork Queen.  (Could we not all do 20 minutes on that alone?)  In the other corner, we have Chet Culver.  Chet’s site and ads tell us of the evil that is Jim Nussle.

Enough already!

Imagine for a minute that every Pepsi ad simply told you how awful Coke was, and visa versa.  How stupid can politicians be?  And a better question, how stupid are we for allowing it?

Marketing 101 — define yourself.  Tell your audience why they need/want you.  Demonstrate how you are going to add value.  Earn the audience’s trust.  Be credible, consistent and authentic.

Have you seen one political candidate this election season that has understood or embraced the principles of Marketing 101?  I sure haven’t.  And you want to know the saddest part of it all.  I’m not sure, if there was a candidate ethical and brave enough to do it — that he/she’d get elected.

Over at the Brilliant at Breakfast blog, the point is well  made.  We say we hate this sort of election antics and yet, we keep responding.

We’ve all seen horrible ads that seem to keep running over and over for products or services that appear to be less than desireable. Why do they keep running?  Because they are working and someone is making a lot of money.  I guess the politicians aren’t such dumb marketers after all.  How sad for us all.