While he might be an amoral, criminally corrupt politician with a bad hairdo, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is one brilliant branding terrorist.
I wrote a chapter on what drives real guerrilla marketing in my book, Branding Only Works On Cattle. I'm talking about how terrorists drive not just perception and awareness, but prompt behaviors. They get people to do things, whether as targets of their communications, or as unwitting third-parties who propagate their messaging.
If the "old" guerrilla marketing was all about stealing attention, the new guerrillas are focused on triggering actions. They don't want people to think differently, but rather live differently. Change their habits and routines. Theirs is the most credible, honest branding in the world today, albeit put into service to the most heinous of evil causes..or at least this is what I wrote about in my book, much to the chagrin of my editor.
Blago's pay-for-play idiocy doesn't even begin to approach the purposes of real terrorists, but his appointment of Ronald Burris to the Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Obama steals one of the core tactics I identified: subverting otherwise legitimate, principled people (or organizations) into actions that directly support the terrorist's aims.
- As an individual, Blago has lost all moral legitimacy, let alone functional credibility. You wouldn't trust this guy's judgment on which entree to order in a restaurant
- The evidence (taped recordings, at least) haven't been vetted, and no real charges have been filed, but the stuff sure is damning. There's no way he can change the language or tone of the conversations
- So he enlists Burris to start another conversation, one about 1) whether he should be seated in the Senate (likely), and b) why would anybody question Burris' credentials as a "just and honest man?"
- This dares the mediasphere to erupt in wild chatter about points 1 and b above, effectively displacing Blago from the news
- It defines the next behavior that will prompt the next round of coverage as that of Burris' situation, not what Blago might or might not do next (I bet you already miss those daily telephoto glimpses of him getting in and out of his SUV, don't you?)
Think about the strategy in a commercial setting for just a bit.
It's not a partnership, or a sponsorship arrangement. In fact, it would involve co-opting a third-party's agenda that might otherwise be neutral or diametrically opposed to yours. Like a fur company getting PETA to launch a campaign. Or the oil companies finding a way to utz the Sierra Club into some action that, ultimately, benefited the fossil fuel industry.
Talk about a strategic and creative challenge, but I suspect that it's a far more meaningful and compelling way to conceptualize at least some segment of your partnership activities.
Allies who don't really think of themselves as allies...adding credibility and exposure to your branding. Your brand strategy would be to find ways to prompt those behaviors.
Humm....
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