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Elections and Marketing

So it’s a beautiful fall day here in the northeast. It’s the morning after Election Day and I am a bit disappointed in some of the election results. But the American public just wants to get back to work, and they want to feel safe in knowing their job isn’t about to be out-sourced to some third world country, and we haven’t seen any evidence of that yet.

But that’s not what this post is about

This post is about marketing, and a bit of politics, and how it doesn’t matter how much you spend on advertising, if your product or service is shit, then nobody is going to buy it and it doesn’t matter how nice the packaging is.

Need proof?

Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, spent $142 million of her own cash to try to buy win the Governorship of California. Why anyone would want that friggin’ job is beyond me, but that’s a different blog. My point is, even with all the cash spent on buttons and bumper stickers, posters and parades, radio, television and rallies; she still couldn’t close the deal. This is a clear-cut case of a message not getting through to the people who were hyper-sensitive buyers, because if it did, she would be Governor-elect today.

How not to be Meg Whitman

First of all, don’t run for office, there is no nobility in civil service. Secondly, if you can establish a business where the perceived value of your product or service is greater than what you charge for it, you will have clients lining up at your door. And the best part is you won’t have to drop your pants on price to compete!