The only free marketplace left in the US is the market of sound bites. You just have to know how to properly construct your message and to whom your message must be delivered. Political Conservatives are always playing defense because they have not learned the power of sound bite marketing. How about your company? Is your marketing too logical for your audience?
Political Progressives hone their messages to emotionally charged sound bites. The Head Government Worker, Obama, says this about sequester over and over and over again: “Republicans have to choose between defending tax breaks for the rich and allowing children to go hungry.” Political Conservatives immediately go on defense, trying to educate people on the long-term damage of massive debt, the effects of reckless spending, the fact that Obama was the one who proposed sequester, the fact that Republicans just agreed to a massive tax increase on the promise that Obama would next address spending. All of that logical verbiage merely makes Conservatives look guilty of something, in particular, guilty of what Obama accuses them of, namely being lackeys of “the Rich.”
The proper nonstop sound-bite response should be, “Head Government Worker Obama must decide between greasing the palms of his Solyndra supporters and bankrupting the country.”
Why does sound-bite politics work and logic politics does not? Because Political Progressives spent decades dumbing down the educational system in recognition of the fact that only an ignorant electorate will vote to give up their personal power to politicians. The Progressives have succeeded. Voters are now able to respond to words only emotionally, not analytically.
What does that mean for your business? Should you approach potential customers with the same disdain that Progressives do for poor people? That is, should you expect your prospective clients to make decisions emotionally, without knowledge and understanding?
The simple answer is, yes, the typical American consumer is dumber and more dependent than ever in history. But that does not mean you can market your business to consumers the way Progressives market their lies to voters. After all, government workers like Obama have the power of coercion (by police, IRS, and myriad agencies) to enforce their will on consumers in a way that mere business people cannot.
So you must approach marketing in a different way. Instead of convincing consumers to buy your product, your sound bites must be directed at convincing voters to elect the kind of politicians that will force consumers to buy or “invest in” your product. Think about General Electric, Solyndra, electric vehicles, the entire “alternative energy” industry, ethanol, mandatory health insurance, fluorescent light fixtures, the abortion industry…the list of government worker-mandated products and investments is almost endless.
In the very near future, all business plans will include within the marketing section a subsection on Political Engagement. Get a jump on it. Become an expert at emotionally charged and politically motivated sound bites.