Issue 2
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May 24, 2007
Publisher: Randy Terrell
The Psychology of Building a Candidate
How are you being perceived?
When you start developing a campaign plan you have to always think what the voters perception will be of the candidate from this product or technique. There is a psychological order to building a candidate's likability and credibility to the public. So whether you’re walking, mailing brochures or giving a speech, think about building the voter's impression of a candidate in this order below throughout the campaign.
1. FRIENDLY / BIOGRAPHICAL
The first impression a voter must get of the candidate is a friendly impression. A person will not listen to you and certainly not vote for you unless he or she likes you.
Remember Michael Dukakis? He started campaigning extremely hard right after the primaries in 1988. But two weeks before the election, the Dukakis campaign polls showed that he was not gaining any support. And the one reason was nobody knew who Michael Dukakis was. The campaign immediately started to create ads showing what a great man Dukakis is. They had soft music playing in the background while slow fade-ins of Dukakis as a young boy working hard in school. The struggles of his immigrant Greek family. And Michael working in South America as a young man to help the poor.
Michael Dukakis's numbers did go up slightly. But it was too late. He needed to run these “friendly/bio” ads months before the election. Then people may have listened to what he had to say.
That’s why a lot a candidates have a “fluff” brochure at the beginning of the campaign to handout to voters when walking or at events.
2. ISSUES
Now that people like you (hopefully), they will listen to you. What do you stand for? Are you going to make sure their trash gets picked up on time? Are you going to save the library? Are you going to patrol the neighborhood yourself to help stop crime?
“Issues” for obvious reasons is extremely important. You need a reason why people are going to vote for you.
The Variable Text Letter
So What Is It? The Variable Letter is basically just what it sounds like--like "mail merge" on your PC, but on a much larger scale.
Instead of using your computer to produce several hundred personalized letters, think of the number being more like 10 or 20,000 (or in the hundreds of thousands, depending on the size of your district.)
The Benefits:
- Personalization: Not only can you personalize it with the person's name, but you can also personalize it by message to a specific region, demographic, etc. For example, 5,000 specified with a sentence that is anti-taxes in one part of town, and 5,000 with a sentence about lower crime to another part of town.
This can be especially helpful in reducing costs, by mixing the general message with specialized messages, eliminating the costs of designing and printing two completely different postcards or brocures, etc.
- Speed: Design time is cut drastically, and print time is cut a bit as well. This can be useful when time is not on your side; whether being the first to pounce on an issue, or the ability to respond to a negative attack.
Obstacles to overcome: Getting people to open it. Unlike postcards, jumbo cards, or brochures, you actually have to get the reader to open up an envelope. You can get past this obstacle, by using certain fonts that show familiarity, and by using bulk stamps instead of the bulk mail imprint to add a touch of personalization.
For more examples of political mailers, click here to go to our website, or give us a call if you are interested in some free samples.
Political Photos: Five Common Mistakes
1. Not using an experienced photographer. If you have a cousin who has taken photography courses and will work for free, that's great, but many candidates underestimate the art of good photography, and instead opt for a "do it yourself" approach. This can lead to photos too dark, too blurry, off-centered and many other problems that turn voters off.
2. Stock Photo Overload. Stock photos are fine to get a point across in issue pieces, but many candidates fill up their brochures with all stock photographs, even in biographical brochures. Don't try to fool the voters...they know you don't know that many model-looking people.
3. Outdated Photos. Even if you thought you looked better in the 70's or 80's, this is another one where the voter knows better. Take heed of #1, use an experienced photographer, and make the best use of what you have today. (Note: The exception to this is when you are a 20-30 year incumbent, and the voters are usually in on the joke.)
4. Photo Irrelevance. You want your photos to match the tone, theme, and written message of your piece. Throwing photos in that look good, but don't match the message, can be almost as bad as having a photo that is blurry or hard to see.
5. Too Many Photos. Although every candidate seems to know that too much text is bad, they often forget the reverse, and insist that voters need and want to see every photo of them ever taken. Unless your piece is specifically set for a collage piece, remember that you can overdo it with photos too!
Paul's Honorable Mentions:
1. The Pointing Finger Shot: Please don't. Pointing is rude and it always looks staged.
2. The Holding a drink in your hand Shot: Whether it's a coffee mug or a beer, the ability to hold a drink does not make you look relaxed.
3. If your wife looks like a floozie, don't include her in your piece: Nuff' Said.
May 2007 Victories
Candidate:
Tamar Galatzan
Race:
LAUSD School Board, District 3
Working with Consultant Samantha Stevens, Croshaw Printing and Direct Mail helped to design winning pieces that led to a 58.5% victory over John Lauritzen in the May Runoff.
Candidate:
Dee Andrews
Race:
Long Beach City Council, 6th District Special Election
Croshaw Printing and Direct Mail worked with Consultant Tracy Kittinger to select the best voter list for the Andrews campaign, and made sure that their campaign mailers dropped at the right times. Councilman Andrews surprised many and won a close election with 27.7% of the vote!
