Made it into USA Today!!

7 replies
Well, my political candidate did anyway!

As the campaign chair, we've worked a grassroots campaign effort, and I took on the role of all media communications to start the ball rolling. It took a few days of banging away, but with $0 spent, we've created a buzz from the district (Ohio 8th Congressional) all the way to D.C.

The point is .... okay, I am pleased with the effort... but the real point to this is... getting major media attention is a lot easier if you set your sites very high.

If this were just a race for some township clerk, it's pretty ho hum. But to draw attention to yourself, take on a major issue/opponent/etc... This gives media an opportunity for a fresh spin on a common story.

I was listening to NPR last evening and I heard a story about some gay men's dating service that tried to get their commercial run on the Super Bowl... of course they were rejected by the network even though the content of the ad was fairly innocuous.

But their site traffic has doubled because of the press attention to the fact that they were rejected for their ad.

So you don't necessarily have to actually "win" in order to make changes or draw attention to important issues or ideas.

You just have to know how to create a story and then make lots of little waves in the pond.

The concetric circle ripple effect will grow, and grow, and grow....
#made #today #usa
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by MichaelHiles View Post

    I was listening to NPR last evening and I heard a story about some gay men's dating service that tried to get their commercial run on the Super Bowl... of course they were rejected by the network even though the content of the ad was fairly innocuous.

    But their site traffic has doubled because of the press attention to the fact that they were rejected for their ad
    Did you SEE that ad? I DID! It was NOT innocuous! And frankly, I don't think a straight ad could have gone that far either.

    And YEAH, the key parts of their ad(The part of the building tension, the part that the superbowl didn't want to air, and the last part where they named the site, and even the two circles on their logo(to indicate two men), bumping together(as if to...)) aired ALL OVER on the news, conservative shows, probably liberal shows, larry king, etc... and they probably got PAID for the ads. RIDICULOUS.

    Steve
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1714330].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Sparhawke
    Bollocks to concentric circles, what you need is a bloody big brick to splash water everywhere!!

    But you do make an interesting point, controversy does make a far greater impact than another run of the mill boring story.
    Signature
    “Thinking is easy, Acting is difficult
    And to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world ~ Goethe”
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1714332].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      Did you SEE that ad? I DID! It was NOT innocuous! And frankly, I don't think a straight ad could have gone that far either.

      And YEAH, the key parts of their ad(The part of the building tension, the part that the superbowl didn't want to air, and the last part where they named the site, and even the two circles on their logo(to indicate two men), bumping together(as if to...)) aired ALL OVER on the news, conservative shows, probably liberal shows, larry king, etc... and they probably got PAID for the ads. RIDICULOUS.

      Steve
      Hell I didn't think it was any worse that the now infamous first lesbian kiss scene on Ally McBeal back in the 90s.

      But Fox & CBS are two different animals.


      Originally Posted by Sparhawke View Post

      Bollocks to concentric circles, what you need is a bloody big brick to splash water everywhere!!
      Well a big splash costs big dollars to create. So, on one hand, I agree, as long as you can tolerate the big risk that your big splash doesn't turn out the way you intend --- I am reminded of the most hilarious scene in a US sitcom ever from the early 1980s... WKRP in Cincinnati, when the sales guy, Herb Tarlek, engineers this promotional stunt for Thanksgiving Day to dump live turkeys from a helicopter hovering the downtown Fountain Square.... not realizing that turkeys can't fly.

      Just like backlink building and blogging... build that empire organically, one post, one link at a time. Google hates big splashes.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1714355].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by MichaelHiles View Post

        Hell I didn't think it was any worse that the now infamous first lesbian kiss scene on Ally McBeal back in the 90s.

        But Fox & CBS are two different animals.
        You're forgetting the buzz when Madonna planted a big, sloppy wet one on Britney, or the more recent firestorm when Adam Lambert did something similar...

        Originally Posted by MichaelHiles View Post

        Well a big splash costs big dollars to create. So, on one hand, I agree, as long as you can tolerate the big risk that your big splash doesn't turn out the way you intend --- I am reminded of the most hilarious scene in a US sitcom ever from the early 1980s... WKRP in Cincinnati, when the sales guy, Herb Tarlek, engineers this promotional stunt for Thanksgiving Day to dump live turkeys from a helicopter hovering the downtown Fountain Square.... not realizing that turkeys can't fly.

        Just like backlink building and blogging... build that empire organically, one post, one link at a time. Google hates big splashes.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1715151].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hancox
    Nice one, Michael.

    Create a story... great lesson.

    That's what the media wants...stories.
    Signature
    PresellContent.com - How to sell without "selling"
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1714349].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    WKRP in Cincin-naaaaa-aaa-ti. Ahh, the memories. They even had their Mary Anne and Ginger.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1715318].message }}

Trending Topics