Eardley Factor Articles: Home: A Strategy Markedly
Improving the Probability of TV Marketing Success
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EardleyFactor
Confidently Predicts Bush Victory
Teresa Heinz-Kerry's
Democratic Disconnect
Why John Kerry Lost
Fox News
100 Ads Eardley Factor Evaluation
Sublime,
Subliminal, Secrets and Shambles
CNN 100 Ads Eardley
Factor Evaluation
MSNBC 100 Ads
Eardley Factor Evaluation
ABC 100 Ads Eardley
Factor Evaluation
Fox News
37 Ads Eardley Factor Evaluation
Hillary
Rodham Clinton, Our Next President
Eardley
Factor Gives Mrs. Snowball the "Cold Shoulder"
Predicting
Election 2008 Through the Lens of Eardley Factor Analysis
The
Race to the White House
Obama
on the Slide
`Walking
the Plank' or `Jumping Ship?'
McCain
Back from the Brink
Neuromarketing
the Next Big Idea?
Market
Research the Poor Relation
'Head
On' Proves the Point
Dollar
Woes Spell Doom
Smell:
The Sense We Neglect
Bits and
Pieces
Primary
Dyspepsia
Don't
be afraid of the 'Holy Grail'
Mother's
Milk Can Turn Women On!
For Love
or Money
When
Life was Brutish and Short
Is
Bob Prechter Right?
Torture?
What Torture!
Dollar
Weakness Now Critical
Telling
it like it is
Why John Kerry Lost
We have visited this topic before but it is so important that we consider it worthy of a second evaluation. Some of the material will already have been covered but most of what we have to say is new. It is extremely important for readers to be aware that our motive for the evaluation of these issues is apolitical and is intended to bring about a 'positive revolution' in approach to Marketing and Advertising.
It is our considered view that the Democratic party could and perhaps should have won the November contest and we set out some of the reasons in a previous piece. Lack of progress in settling the Palestinian Question which gave Al-Quaida the opportunity to recruit, train and deploy was a key weakness in the first year of the Republican Administration.Inheriting the implosion of the Dot Com bubble was sheer bad luck but they were stuck with a difficult situation from which this country's economy has not yet recovered. Bush handled the 9/11 crisis very well which gave him a huge boost. The citizenry needed reassurance (survival) and his megaphone speech at ground zero proved to be pivotal in rousing a shocked nation. Furthur success was to emerge from the short Afgan War but Iraq is another story altogether. Only history will judge this issue and it is much too early to reach firm conclusions. The massive distractions of the War on Terrorism left the President seeming ineffectual at home. Solutions to the issues of Tax Reform, Education, Healthcare and the like could never really surface while the problems abroad grew ever more serious. Huge borrowings and trade imbalances have led to sentiment flowing against the Dollar which is at an all time low against all major currencies. The administration is unpopular abroad and there are fears of a recession.
So there was much scope for an effective opposition to land some heavy hits on the Repubicans. That they failed to do so is not a great mystery. Eardleyfactor has selected some major negative highlights which we believe impacted heavily on the eventual outcome. First, the Democratic Party failed to produce the 'right man.' John Kerry failed to connect with the swing voters. There was something rather wooden in his demeanor which left his would be supporters feeling uninvolved and lacking in passion for the man. True he appeared well meaning and sincere but this lack of connectivity failed to stir the blood. Having said all of this one plays the cards with which one is dealt and it is in this area of the playing of the 'hand' that we are to concentrate our attention.
We must begin with Teresa Heinz-Kerry's role in all of this. From the outset she was portrayed as being her own woman. However, there is a world of difference between that and exhibiting oneself as a 'loose canon'. Foreign born, wealthy and 'opinionated'---not to mention her multilingual abilities-----she strove at the Convention to connect with so many 'natural' Democrats. Those who are foreign-born, poor and maybe not quite so opinionated. Not that it was a bad speech---but the attempt to contrast her life story with that of those with whom she was seeking to connect, was to fall on barren soil.She was badly advised to have had such a speech written for her, but worse was to come. Those two little words snapped to a Pittsburgh reporter did more harm than she or her husband could ever have imagined. Aspiring First Lady's just don't use that sort of language--whatever the provocation. It is difficult to imagine Laura Bush indulging in such an indiscretion.When Teresa said, ''Shove it!'' she kindled the fire which was to bury her husband's Presidential dream. Eardleyfactor has concluded that this event marked the beginning of the end for the entire Kerry campaign.
Of course this mistake alone was not the whole story. The people who had directed the failed Gore attempt played a major role in mapping out the strategy for the political TV campaign. Ira Teinowitz writing in 'Advertising Age' back in its October 4 edition was uneasy about the efforts of Schrum Devine & Donilon, Washington. Nor was there great enthusiasm for the contribution of another Washington firm Squier Knapp Dunn.Teinowitz quotes Bill Hillsman, North Woods President,as having judged the Democrats Ad Campaign as having been ''a piss poor job'' and ''inept.'' We at eardleyfactor concur.
Time after time the Ads misfired. Take the Senator's rather sheepish attempt to appear comfortable on a surfboard. He looked anything but comfortable, in fact he appeared to be in pain. Then we had John Kerry out in full hunting attire. Not only did he look out of place, the strategy behind the piece was so transparent, only the most gullible would fail to see through it. In the same vein was the 'Kerry not too proud to sip a beer Ad' whilst appearing to get passionate about a football game surrounded by his buddies. Eardleyfactor rated all of these efforts very poorly indeed. The final bit of 'silliness'was the alleged sun-lamp tan sported by Kerry in the last days of the campaign. Future candidates will think long and hard before choosing their 'handlers' and the strategies they employ. We cannot repeat often enough that marketing is not a creative process. It has 'scientific' rules which must be followed and never, never broken. Yes there is a creative process involved too----but it can only work within the proven parameters one has discovered to be indispensible to success.
An area where Kerry should have shone (his Viet Nam Days of Glory) was shot down in flames to a large degree by his detractors.''Unfit for Command'' and the whole 'swift boat' episode together with the rather confused 'Purple Heart' award had Kerry wrong-footed rather than being able to stride out the hero of South East Asia. Others queried his abilty to have himself filmed so often 'live in Viet Nam'. The Jane Fonda connection, real or contrived, did him no favors either. The 'hippie' image of an angry young John back in the sixties, did not play at all well with Middle America. Neither did reminders of the Congressional Hearings in which he found himself at odds with many of his comrades. Indeed, the whole of the Kerry campaign is riddled with inconsistencies. Nowhere can it be seen more clearly than in his views on Gay Marriage and Abortion. It is not credible to portray oneself as a loyal Catholic being filmed with high ranking clergy and at the same time subscribe to beliefs which are totally at odds with mainstream Catholicism. On the other hand the Bush team kept it simple and above all consistent. With Bush one knew what he stood for and the voters liked that. What you saw is what you got John. Kerry was portrayed as having no clear message. Here indeed was an Irish 'Vicar of Bray' with a new hat for each and every occasion, and none truly fitted. Speaking of 'Irishness', some even doubted his Celtic Roots. Most 'Irish' Presidential aspirants conveniently find their 'green' family tree. Even the late Richard Nixon managed to claim to be a son of Ulster. With John Kerry this did not happen. But that is his business.
Marketing the President is the greatest prize of all. Winning this contract
and giving your man the best possible opportunity to succeed is the very
least your candidate and your party can expect. In this case the entire
strategy was fraught. The sooner the industry comes to realise that 'creativity'
is an inappropriate term for marketing and advertising the better. Billions
of dollars are poured down the sink of mediocrity each year. Until such
time as the industry comes to realise this, the whole wasteful process
will continue. The consequence is that our economy and the prosperity
of our people will be so much the poorer for it. A glittering prize awaits
those who are willing to seek to explore our new approach. The principles
are the same whether marketing a man or his medicine. Unscientific creations
are unfortunately very often money thrown away and everyone loses. The
marriage of art and science is the proven strategy from which everybody
wins------ and we are dedicated to bringing about its proliferation for
the good of all.
Robert Jack Eardley, M.D.
Robert Francis Eardley, Cert. Ed., B.A.
3366 Commodore Drive
e-mail: robertfrancis@eardley.org
Lexington, Kentucky 40502-3602
(859) 229-7714
For those interested e-mail
inquiry@eardleyfactor.com
or
robertjack@eardley.org