Jamal Kheiry’s Weblog

Our country is at an interesting time in its history. Not only are we struggling through a recession that’s causing widespread economic hardship; we are also in the early stages of a new Presidency. These two factors have filled news pages and websites with political communications, as special interests and those with strong political convictions jockey to be heard, and to position themselves favorably with their target audiences.

For most of us, political communications are inherently interesting, because we all have a vested interest in outcomes: lower or higher taxes, better or worse healthcare, accessible higher education… the list is endless. But as hard-working people who are interested in the success of our own businesses or organizations, political communications are interesting in terms of what they can teach us about successful (or unsuccessful) messaging.

There’s nothing like huge amounts of money to make a political fight interesting, and the Obama administration — displaying its typical communications savvy — presented its initial budget proposal as a fight in the making. That’s why his unveiling of the budget — and the Republican response to it — is an interesting case-study in communications, with plenty of lessons.

On the White House’s official website, the very first words they wrote in the days after the budget was presented to Congress positioned them for battle: “President Obama explains how the budget he sent to Congress will fulfill the promises he made as a candidate, and assures special interests that he is ready for the fight.”

Lesson: If you know your messaging will face critics or competitors, acknowledging that — or even embracing it — can be a good way to highlight your strengths. For example, if you sell goods similar to what’s available at a national chain store, but at higher prices, your messaging can incorporate your community ties, local commitment, and unsurpassed expertise, while pointing out that the lack of these benefits make competitors more costly in the long run.

The Obama administration also highlighted parts of the budget that delineate specific benefits that it says will accrue to the American people: expanding health insurance, reducing carbon emissions, improving education, creating jobs, and increasing taxes for those higher up the income scale.

Lesson: Always have proof-points for your main messages. Simply saying you have a great product or service is useless unless you prove it. Make sure every proof-point is something you can demonstrate as true, and impresses your target audiences. The key difference here, however, is that politicians (no matter their party) can promise benefits that may never materialize and blame other factors; we in the private sector, in businesses and non-profits, will actually be held more accountable.

The manner of the President’s presentation of the budget proposal is a time-honored, smart approach for two important reasons. First, presidents always must portray themselves as being on the side of the people, and vilifying special interests is one of the best ways to do that. Second, almost anyone in the U.S. can benefit from an image as the tenacious advocate who’s ready to prevail against the odds. Americans are hard-wired to admire anyone who fights against “entrenched powers,” and they support it.

Lesson: Know what your audience wants. If your audience values price above all other considerations, then talking about quality, craftsmanship, or a tradition of excellence is a waste of your effort.

President Obama’s budget messaging has the added benefit of adhering closely to the campaign themes that swept him into office: hope and change. “Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington,” he said of his plan.

Lesson: Be consistent in your messaging. If you have always positioned your auto repair shop as ASE-certified and master-mechanics only, then suddenly switching to a low-price message could severely undermine your image and damage your business. Accordingly, you’ll find hope and change is a theme that will continue throughout the President’s term.

But what about those who opposed the President’s proposed budget? They too are a group of polished communicators, and they did essentially the same as the President: positioned themselves as protectors of the people. But their positioning is based on protecting people from what they characterize as profligate spending by irresponsible bureaucrats.

House Republican Leader John Boehner had this to say in response to the President’s proposed budget: “This budget taxes, spends, and borrows its way toward a bigger, more costly federal government at the expense of small businesses, family farms, middle-class families, retirees, every American who owns a 401(k), and anyone who flips on a light switch.” There wasn’t much else released from him on the matter.

If we look at the lessons we have observed so far, the above message doesn’t necessarily adhere to any of them, except the admonition to be consistent. There’s little acknowledgement of the competing message, there are no proof points, and it doesn’t really offer anything of real value or specificity to the target audience.

On the other hand, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who gave the Republicans’ official response to the proposed budget, made a much longer presentation. He repeated essentially the same message as Rep. Boehner, but took it an important step further by incorporating an alternative vision to the Obama budget: We believe Americans can do anything, and that they can pull us out of the recession if government stays out of their way.

Simply pointing out that the Obama budget would raise taxes is inherently negative and offers nothing for people to believe in. Gov. Jindal’s message, however, pointed out specific Republican proposals that counter the president’s, and addresses the very same issues: healthcare, taxes, education, job-creation and more.

Lesson: Present specific benefits to your target audience. When it comes to your business or non-profit organization, you need to adopt the same approach as President Obama and Gov. Jindal. Whether it’s a smooth-running vehicle, a leak-free roof, or their house selling quickly, your target audience should be able to see themselves benefitting from what you have to offer.

Whether it’s political ideas or the benefits of products or services, properly communicating them to target audiences can be complicated. If you happen to work in an environment in which you can expect directly competing ideas to assault your own, then it’s even more critical that you carefully plan your communications.

The core of your communications rests on knowing your target audiences and what moves them as intimately as you can, and presenting something of substance and value to them. The rest of your planning — the “how” of reaching your audiences — is a series of questions with many possible answers. That’s why the folks who are able to navigate the communications landscape successfully are much sought-after, in the public and private sectors alike.