It’s An Attention Economy
As a blogger, I get my fair share of emails about events, stories and issues. Sadly, far too many of them are lifeless, uninteresting, impersonal press releases – a format that should have evolved much more than it has.
That kind of online communication – blogger outreach that consists of press releases and lifeless PR mumbling – just kills me….and it hurts the people who do it. It may be “on message”, but the message has buried by the marketing. It’s as if the first class at Communications University is How to Make Something Completely Uninteresting In 500 Words or More.
Many political campaigns do something similar, treating email like direct mail – lots of graphics and all the text they can cram in. This is exactly wrong. The bloated press release and campaign spam are a vestige of the era of direct mail and the fax, when there was a better reason to be more formal and to cram as much information as possible into the higher-cost shot you had at reaching people.
That simply does not translate to the internet. We read differently online. The mental cost imposed by marketing language is just too high. Tedious press releases won’t sell in a hyper-competitive attention economy. Online communication has to be fast, personal and authentic.
The lesson for communications professionals is this: If you can’t tell them exactly what they want to know in the first couple lines, well… they have a lot more emails and websites that will probably be more interesting than your message.
Why CRAFT | Media / Digital Does Not Have a Facebook Fan Page
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs are wonderful tools. So, should your organization use them? Maybe….or maybe not.
At CRAFT Media Digital, we sell communications strategy, tactics and execution to meet client goals. Social media falls under the “tactic” category. Many clients can use social media very effectively. However, for some clients, social media tactics do not meet their strategic goals. For some other clients, barriers to execution caution against investing in social media tactics.
CRAFT would be committing consultant malpractice if we told clients to invest in a social media tool just because it’s something we sell.
That means we sometimes tell clients this: If you don’t have a specific purpose for using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or a blog . . . then don’t use them.
Which gets us back to the subject of this post. CRAFT sells communications strategy, tactics and execution across all channels. So, when the question, “Should we have a Facebook Fan Page?” came up for discussion, there were two lines of thought:
- We don’t currently have a strategic or tactical need to create and maintain a Facebook Fan Page for CRAFT.
- How can CRAFT sell something that we don’t use for CRAFT? Shouldn’t we eat our own dog food?
My own conclusion was this: If we do not have a strategic or tactical need to create and maintain a Facebook Fan Page, then we should not have one. When we decide a Facebook presence is justified, we will create one. Until then, not using a tool we don’t have a specific purpose to use is eating our own dog food.
Web Video Driving Earned Media
Recently, we produced a web video for our client Keep America Safe. This video, titled “The Al-Qaeda Seven” was a central piece in their effort forcing Attorney General Eric Holder to release the names of seven Justice Department attorneys that had previously represented or advocated on behalf of terrorist detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
48 hours after the release of the video, FOX News reported that they had uncovered the names of the attorneys. Their identities were quickly confirmed by the DOJ. This development generated a tremendous amount of earned media for Keep America Safe. Every major cable news channel ran segments about the story and replayed the video in its entirety. In addition to placing Keep America Safe at the forefront of the debate, this media coverage amounted to several hundred thousand dollars worth of free national airtime.
Top conservative bloggers such as Michele Malkin immediately jumped on the issue driving traffic to both the video and KeepAmericaSafe.com. This created a flurry of online activity raising their profile among the conservative grassroots and generating email signups and donations to the group.
Traditional channels also picked up on the story. One week after releasing the video, The New York Times ran an A1 story about Keep America Safe. The article highlighted the video as the focal point of Keep America Safe’s efforts to bring attention to the issue. The online version of the story also linked to the video driving even more traffic.
This high-quality web video was produced in a matter of hours at relatively low cost. Web video is typically free from many of the constraints limiting television spots. Television advertising is still a very effective channel to consistently deliver a message to a wide audience. However, web videos allow you to be more edgy, somewhat more creative, and are often useful for providing a fresh angle to an issue. Web videos can be turned around quickly and are a great format for response ads and for articulating complicating or contrived issues.
If pushed through all the proper channels and timed correctly, web videos can reach a very wide audience. The potential for both earned media coverage and viral spread make web videos an extremely cost effective tool.
CNN Newsroom profiles “Pelosi is Wrong”
CNN Newsroom profiles “Pelosi is Wrong” on March 10, 2010:
The full “Pelosi is Wrong” spot can be viewed here:
“They will not be drove”
Perhaps the most important thing to understand about communicating online is this: It’s not about you; it’s about them.
It’s a point that’s been made often before, even by George Washington, who once said “A people unused to restraint must be led; they will not be drove.” That’s more true online than anywhere else in history. The internet is an attention economy. People are increasingly capable of self-selecting their information environment.
If you’re not very relevant, you’re not invited.
Push communication has its place, but it simply cannot compete with pull communication. Information that pulls the audience will be far more effective than information pushed at them. This means you need to know what bloggers, activists and other influentials care about, what they’re talking about, and how they’re doing it. Their interests must drive your communications.
The internet is not an organization, full of people to direct. It is a market, full of people who already have things they want to do. Feed them.
You cannot force an audience to care….but you might find an audience that already does. Then, if your information is relevant and your communicators are good, you can lead that audience in the direction they already wanted to go.
ClickZ: Partners in New D.C. Firm Cut Teeth on GOP Controversy
This morning CRAFT was featured in ClickZ’s Politics and Advocacy section focusing on our new business model.
Partners in New D.C. Firm Cut Teeth on GOP Controversy
By Kate Kaye
The man behind a controversial video portraying Barack Obama as the messiah, and a recent video attacking the U.S. Attorney General, is just one of several partners of a just-launched Washington, D.C. political consultancy. Another partner was hired in ‘06 to help buffer Senator George Allen’s image among bloggers following his infamous “macaca moment.”
The group of right-leaning heavy-hitters from the online and offline campaign worlds has come together to form Craft, a consultancy aiming to remove barriers between digital campaign efforts and traditional disciplines such as direct mail and television.
“What we’re able to do is blend all these disciplines together…to create a more harmonious and stronger message,” said Web video producer Justin Germany, co-founder and partner of Craft.
Advertising agencies serving commercial clients have long sought to remove so-called silos from their internal structures which often separate digital teams from those handling television or other traditional media. What Craft may have going for it is the fact that it has originated with this goal in mind, rather than attempting to change a structure staffers have grown accustomed to.
When it comes to Germany’s medium of choice – Web video – that means shooting for Web and television simultaneously. “When we shoot something for a client it’s all multipurpose,” he said. The lines between the two “start blurring, start disappearing.” Germany has served as the McCain ‘08 campaign’s director of online media and Bush-Cheney ’04’s online campaign videographer and editor. He’ll be working closely with co-founder and managing partner Brian Donahue, the firm’s resident TV expert. Donahue also worked on Bush-Cheney ‘04, and has done work with the Republican National Committee.
Partner Jon Henke gained notoriety in part through his outreach to bloggers on behalf of George Allen following his infamous “macaca” comment, which contributed to the Virginia Senator’s 2006 re-election campaign loss. Henke later worked as new media advisor to the Senate Republicans, and consulted for Fred Thompson’s ‘08 presidential campaign.
To read the full article click here.
Web Video: Keep America Safe Questions Obama Security Policies
CRAFT’s work was highlighted this morning in Politico for the group Keep America Safe.
Cheney group questions loyalty of Justice lawyers
By Ben Smith
Liz Cheney’s group Keep America Safe, which has led the resurgent Republican attacks on President Obama’s national security policies, is releasing a video this morning that questions the loyalties of Justice Department lawyers who advocated for detained terror suspects during the Bush Administration.
The group has been hammering Attorney General Eric Holder for months on the issue, which has drawn increasing attention from Senate Republicans. Senator Charles Grassley last month pushed Holder to identify any lawyers who had represented detainees, and the Department said last month that nine Justice Department appointees filled that category — but he refused to name those whose work hadn’t been previously reported. Conservatives view the partial disclosure as another Holder misstep, and in a new video, the group is going on offense.
“Holder will only name two. Why the secrecy behind the other seven? Whose values do they share?” asks the video, suggesting that the lawyers support terrorism. “Americans have a right to know the identity of the Al Qaeda Seven.”
For the full Politico story click here: Cheney group questions loyalty of Justice lawyers
The Changing Face Of Campaign Combat
A few years ago the title of “video tracker” on a campaign would be met with the simple response: Huh? But in just a few short years, most notably beginning in the 2006 cycle when YouTube was becoming a presence in everyday Internet use, the video tracker has become a critical campaign position.
The importance of the video tracker is something that many consultants and campaign managers still fail to grasp. Those who don’t take it seriously though risk being on the losing side of election night. Currently, both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) as well as their counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) utilize trackers for tracking Members of Congress locally in D.C.
But while the Democrats have a huge majority in both houses of Congress, the NRCC has been far more aggressive in tracking vulnerable House Democrats. In fact, I would go so far as to say the NRCC is winning the video tracking war.
To get the best shots, film when the target is speaking or doing something with their body language that can be interpreted as angry or confused, (say a large hand gesture). These are the shots you can use for online videos and television ads. Look for chances to shape your campaign’s message. If the candidate is perceived as being out of touch than footage of the candidate ignoring constituents or refusing to answer a question can be used to tell that story. Know ahead of time the storyline your campaign is trying to tell about your opponent; then seek out opportunities where that story can be told through the tracker’s footage.
With regard to editing and filming, Final Cut Pro is one of the best options; it’s the least expensive and does great work. For shooting, many trackers use HD Flips, which are under $200. These cameras are small enough that you literally can fit them in your back pocket and they come with built in software. Sony also makes an HD video camera, The Bloggie, which like the flip is under $200.
By tracking you can get your opponent on the record. Go to every public event your opponent is holding and come prepared with questions. Silence however, can be used just as effectively. In 2008, when Virginia Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds fumbled his answer on taxes after a debate with now Gov. Bob McDonnell, the press swarmed. The Virginia Republican Party’s tracker was right there. The video was immediately posted online and later was used in a television commercial to paint Deeds as inconsistent and a tax raiser. Deeds later lost that race by 18 percent.
If there is one takeaway from video tracking it is this: Candidates always have to be aware of their surroundings. It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are with — someone is watching — and recording.
