Politicians… I hate ‘em. They offend me. They make me want to punch something – like a shih-tzu (although they already look like someone got there before me). Politicians spew, expound, wax poetic, twist, massage, and congeal the language that I cherish into convenient, little, sound bites and slogans that, from a branding and marketing standpoint, make me want to puke.

Today, my ire turns to *Hillary Clinton and her cronies…

At her Senate confirmation hearing, Ms. Clinton defined her (intended) approach to diplomacy as “Smart Power.” Describing it as, “…using the full range of tools available to the United States, including diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural tools.”

After some thought - and a little digging - this slogan, this “catchphrase” Ms. Clinton and her staff so strategically thought up sounded like more of the same regurgitated crap that lost her the presidential nomination bid. And it is.

Case in point:

“Soft Power,” (notice the subtle difference) first theorized and then published in a book by the same title, by Joseph S. Nye, Jr., professor of International Relations at Harvard, outlines his position as,

“The kind (of power) preferred by certain thinkers and political scientists… (that includes) ideals, diplomacy, moral authority. All about hearts and minds.”

What the hell? Am I wrong thinking that Hillary (and every other politician) needs to stop trying to speak in “marketing-eze” and that they really need to start thinking for themselves?!?

You know what, Hillary; the Senate is a group of pretty smart folks. I don’t think you need to dumb it down for them. Or are you so unsure of your ability to perform the job, you need to create these nifty little catchphrases to gloss over the facts? Just do your damn job already.

Rob Frankel, a branding expert and author of “The Revenge of Brand X.” said, “Essentially, ’smart power’ is just more evidence of how bad the communication coaching Hillary Clinton gets and probably cost her the (presidential) campaign.”

And Alan Siegel, founder and head of Siegel + Gale, a considerably credible branding, marketing and communications consultancy, described “Smart Power” as an “unfortunate choice of words.”

Amen. (my choice of words)

From a marketing and communications standpoint, this was a bad choice. Unoriginal. Uninspired. Trite. Redundant. From a political and, may I say, professional standpoint, I’d suggest firing your communications advisers and simply getting down to the task at hand…

Maybe I’m just sick of the rhetoric. Maybe the recent campaign was too much. Maybe after another cup of coffee, I’ll see the advantage of using slogans and tag lines in politics.

Then again, maybe not. ‘Cause politicians and the sort make people disregard – no, dare I say HATE what I do for a living… Stop trying to market and do your damn job already!

That’s it in a rant… what do you think? Politics and marketing. Do they make good bedfellows?

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef

*Spineless Disclaimer - I’m not anti-Hillary, and this is not intended to be a direct assault on Ms. Clinton. I think she is incredibly intelligent with MUCH to offer our country as Secretary of State. So, please comment accordingly.

Yep. I’m a jerk… a snob… a ruffian (just look at my profile photo). Or maybe I’m just a little more prudent with the people I associate with in my social and professional networks than some?

Case in point:
LinkedIn is a great business-networking tool. I’ve only been a member for a short time, but from what I’ve seen, the opportunities are endless.

So, when prompted to import my contact lists from Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo, I was very particular about who I invited. Why? Heck, my retired dad doesn’t need to be in my LinkedIn network, nor does my kids’ school nurse! Call it caution – maybe respect?

So, I filtered… and filtered. I evaluated and built a strong network of contacts that had RELEVANCE to my PROFESSION and ME. I chose people that I could help and in-turn may help me. Thus, the result of the requests I sent out was somewhere around 99% acceptance. And that network grows more and more every day by my diligent research and requesting of introductions by my approved contacts to their network members - as intended (I assume).

Jump ahead a couple of months… I recently received a request to be in someone’s LinkedIn network. GREAT! But after reading it, I was somewhat surprised, because I’d never met this person. I’d never even heard of him… And to top it off, not only was this guy a complete stranger, but his request was the stock,

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. – ‘Name Namerson’”

Hmm. Completely foreign AND impersonal. Not such a great start, “Mr. Namerson.”

So, in typical “Jerky” fashion, this was my response:

Hi “Mr. Namerson,”

I have to apologize if we’ve met, but I don’t seem to remember you. This, of course could be a gross mistake on my part, but if you could remind me of how we know each other, I’d be greatly appreciative. Then, I could accept your invitation and benefit from networking together.

That said, If we haven’t met and you’d like to have me join your LinkedIn network, maybe we should get together and see if there is some common ground on which both of us can benefit.

Thanks so much for your invitation, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Andrew B. Clark

Yep. Jerk. Told ya’.

Shortly after I shot off my response, I thought, just maybe, I was a little too harsh. Maybe I was being a jerk. After all, my response wasn’t very “social” was it? I left my office that day with the expectations of never hearing from “Mr. Namerson” again…

The next morning (Saturday), my Blackberry buzzed me out of a sound sleep at 6:30 a.m. As I tried to focus on the little, glowing screen, I saw; “RE: Join my network on LinkedIn”.

Surprisingly enough, he didn’t respond just to call me a jerk. In short, “Mr. Namerson” was abashed. Sure, his response included an apology but better yet, it included the information that should have been in his initial contact:

A quick overview of his background
A logical connection to others in my professional network

He went on to list:
Benefits of being in HIS network
His purpose and interest in being in my network
Directions for fostering a relationship

This morning we met for coffee. I now have, what I would consider, a good friend and valuable asset in my professional network.

So, maybe it wasn’t such a jerky move. Maybe it made “Mr. Namerson” more aware of purposeful networking vs. number gathering.

I see people out there with 50K contacts or followers and wonder are they networking with value and purpose, or are they just gathering numbers to win some sad, strictly mental, social contest? How well can they even know 50,000 people?

What kind of networking professional are you? Do you network with value and purpose? Do your contacts feel they can trust and respect referrals from you – and vise-versa?

Please comment and let us know your thoughts. Maybe I’ll let you into my network.

Until Next time…
Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef

There’s a segment out there for everyone. It’s YOU. It’s truthful, relevant, unique, and engaging

So, in this economy, instead of trying to bark louder than the big dogs, try something unique

Avis has a great twist on it…

Try harder at being YOU, and the rest should follow closely behind.

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew

Over the past several days I’ve been having conversations with my fellow Twitter-ers about the aspect of Corporate Social Media and its role in this new world of communications and brand extension. Many of them, as I, agree that the ease and accessibility of social media tools are making the conversations quicker, more direct and rewarding. But as soon as I started asking about corporate branding in social media, the conversations turned quite serious.

I asked a simple question to a select few that I thought would have the position and backgrounds to give honest, insightful answers.

“So, What’s your “position” on 3rd party twitterers? (i.e.- hiring someone to tweet & track on behalf of your company?) Ethical? No?“

The responses (35 in all) received from that question were pretty clear. In no uncertain terms would “posing” or “positioning” in social media be accepted. Transparency is key.

Microblogging professional, Mike Templeton’s (on Twitter as @miketempleton & @microblink) answer was indicative of the overall tone of the mini-survey.

“…people like to know who it is. If you say you work for them (liaison), that’s ok”

And another social media stud, Andy Brudtkuhl, (on Twitter as @abrudtkuhl & @48web) says that “…as long as they maintain a consistent message…“ the ethics question should be a mute point.

So, with that, I want YOU to sound off. When you’re on FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter or any number of social media venues, do you expect real corporate/brand connections (i.e. - @Starbucks, or @TheHomeDepot) Are those actually Starbucks / Home Depot employees? Are they a marketing firm hired to “Brand” those companies into the social media stream? Heck, check out @DisneyWorld, @DisneyLand, and @Mickey_Mouse — I bet Walt and Mickey are curious about that, hum?

What is your position on Corporate Social Media? Are there issues that concern you about integrating brand (further) into our online conversations? How about ethics and transparency? Do companies have a greater responsibility for truth when utilizing these tools? More than Joe-surfer?

AND NOW, THE POLL RESULTS (poll ended 11/26/08):


Thank you all for taking part in the poll. Please check back for more!

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

It’s not that I condone listening to others talk while in restaurants (guilty). Nor do I condone wiretapping or spying (no comment). But when developing marketing plans or strategy for clients, I like to get as much information – fill in the who’s what’s where’s why’s and how’s – BEFORE I make a conclusion or a pitch. I prefer to have these questions answered as thoroughly as possible BEFORE I walk into a client’s office and make promises… How about you?

So, let’s ask five simple questions:

Who are your customers?
What is your customer passionate about?
Where can you find those passionate customers?
Why are those customers passionate (or not passionate) about your brand?
How can you make the passion grow?

Now, take a look at a screen shot of a simple feed I created for Caribou Coffee.

How many of the above questions were answered? All of them. And that was just a couple days of a Twitter Search feed. Imagine if your company really put the effort into social media monitoring.

Like the Boy Scout’s motto: “Be Prepared.” Sounds logical, right? So, why is there so much resistance from companies to get involved with Social Media?

Eavesdropping has its advantages. Food for thought.

Until Next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef