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For the next couple of weeks, I will be on Folio Magazine’s Marketing Excellence site under the “Ask the Expert” column.  It is an informative site, and I will also be contributing to the blog from time to time.  If you are in magazine marketing it’s a good resource that you should make one of your regular web stops.

Click here to check it out

As I watch the Democratic National Convention I can’t help viewing the up coming election as a marketer.  Most pundits say that given President Bush’s low approval ratings this election is the Democrats and Obama’s to lose.  However, I think they just might be on the road to a disappointing defeat.  The Democratic Party does not have a strong brand or unique selling proposition.  They are not clearly articulating what they stand for and their brand promise to voters.  During the primaries Barack Obama got away with a general message of “Hope and Change” and it lasted for a while.  However, it now seems that his weak finish in the primaries (Hillary won 9 of the last 14, some by large margins) was a foreshadowing of his current malaise.  He actually dropped a few points after naming Joe Biden his VP pick.  It will be fascinating to see where the tracking polls have him after his acceptance speech Thursday night and McCain’s VP announcement on Friday afternoon.

Listening to speaker after speaker you would think we are in the midst of another great depression. Sure, we are in an economic slowdown, but it not even an official recession.  In fact, the economy just grew 3.3% in the second quarter.  Based on what I have been hearing you expect to find long lines of people stretching for blocks waiting for free soup and apples.  Not to mention charming hobos with bags at the end of sticks singing “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”.  The Democrats have declared the American Dream is dead, thanks to one George W. Bush.  I don’t think doom and gloom marketing works very well.  By the way, I didn’t hear a single mention of 9/11 or terrorism, and how the Obama plans to keep Americans safe.  Bet you will next week when the Republicans get together.

So, what’s the Democratic brand?  Higher taxes for “the rich” and business and cuts for others, out of Iraq, kind of, sort of socialized healthcare, but not really, no drilling for more oil and pro choice.  What ties it all together, and what do they really stand for?  It is all nuance and nothing you can put on a bumper sticker or a sign.  Nuance is great at cocktail parties and in the faculty lounge, but it makes for a lousy marketing campaign.  They could argue that they are for “working people”, but how?  Where the specifics and what is on Obama’s resume that tells us he can get the job done?  Democrats are always afraid to come out and say anything strong for fear of offending one of the many interest groups who make up the party.  The Democratic Party has become a coalition of special interests and ethnic identity groups rather than a party held together with core beliefs.

Even their attacks on McCain are weak and half-hearted.  They are pinning their hopes on tying him to Bush over and over again.  However, he is not Bush, and in fact McCain is famously independent and known for going against his party on the environment, immigration and campaign finance.  Do they think everyone has forgotten that Bush and McCain were at one time bitter rivals, and McCain was the administration’s loudest critic on tax cuts and the execution of the Iraq war?

In contrast, the Republicans understand core beliefs, brand simplicity and message discipline better than anyone.  What is a Republican?  A free market/low tax person who believes in strong defense, law and order and traditional values.  That’s it in a nutshell.  Everyone understands it and that is the brand promise.  When you vote Republican you know what you are getting – take it or leave it.  There is a reason they have won 7 of the last 10 Presidential elections – they are master marketers. Even their message against Obama is simple and effective, and you will hear it a thousand times between now and November:  He is too inexperienced to be Commander in Chief, he will raise your taxes, and his Ivy League values are too liberal for mainstream Americans.  They will pound him with this all day and everyday.  And throw in a sprinkle of “Hillary got screwed and should have been the nominee” to get the ladies riled up.  Check out this new ad from McCain – it is a powerful use of actual news footage and past statements from prominent Democrats to cast fear, doubt and uncertainty on the experience of Barack Obama.

A lot can happen between now and Election Day, but it is becoming clear that the Democrats have brand identity issues while McCain and the Republicans are finding their voice and hitting their stride.  It is not enough for the Democrats just to be for “change” and complain about President Bush.  They need to tell their customers and prospects in clear, strong and specific language how they plan to make their lives better.  A little too early for a final prediction, but if I were Michele Obama, I would make a few inquiries to see if that $300,000 per year “public service” job she left is still available.

While watching the Today Show this week it was announced that Mothers Day is officially 100 years young. In honor of this blessed event, Matt Lauer along with Donny and Marie Osmond shared that the newest reality search involved the hunt for “Americas Favorite Mother”. They explained that there were many categories to be won including: Single Mom, Military Mom, Working Mom, etc.—you get the drift. They were narrowing it down by communities and common characteristics. I was impressed at the categories they came up with. I started thinking just how many types of moms there are out there. While the whole effort was a little saccharin sweet for me initially, I warmed up when I realized that NBC was recognizing different communities of Moms and praising their unique qualities.

My essential disappointment with most communications aimed at Mothers is that we are lumped together in spite of our cultural, personal, educational and financial differences. “Mother” just casts too broad of a net. The act of giving birth defines us all, but once the pod has separated from the Mother-ship our differences begin. We have various and sometimes opposing opinions on feeding, care and nurturing of our offspring; we have diverse interests in hobbies, books, sports and life in general. And like other communities we tend to flock together by our common interests, characteristics and beliefs.

Check out CafeMom if you really want to see the blended complexion of our community. In the 33 pages of sub communities on CaféMom, there was something for everyone! There are groups based on demographics, psychographics, social activism, body type, job-related concerns, media preferences and of course, sexual interests.

Some of my personal creative and slightly strange favorites are: Anarchy Moms, Mothers Against Pedophiles (is there a group that was defined as Mothers FOR Pedophiles?), Nestlé Free Zone Moms (they don’t like Quik?), Poetic activist Moms, and my personal favorite, Pistol Packin’ Mommas. And these moms are ready and able to share tips, insights, secrets, fears and accomplishments as they related to their own sorority. Whether it was pro-breast feeding, tackling teenage depression or fitness fiends over fifty, these women communicated with each other eagerly and often. There is camaraderie among the women whose husbands don’t pay their child support. There is empathy for parents with autistic children. The social networking is fun but also therapeutic and often liberating.

Of course CaféMom is only one of thousands of sites designed for moms to meet and mingle; and it just happens to be one of my favorites. It’s the micro-networks and communities within the bigger picture that makes it rich. It’s not just a place for Moms, which it is. It’s that there is a home for all types of Moms. It’s about the specific content delivered to the participant who is passionate about a topic. The compelling mix of targeted community and content is the reason that CaféMom has experienced 507% growth from January to June of 2007. The customized experience builds affinity with the site so the average session time is almost 22 minutes. The net result is an ideal environment for targeted marketing messages.

So Pistol Packin’ Mommas rejoice! It’s Mothers Day and there is something out there for all of you! I hope that all your Hallmark wishes are NRA compliant and that you get the ammo of your dreams. For me, I am going back to the “Steals and Deals” - for Mommas who love to shop. I may not be America’s Most Favorite Mom, but I am a retailer’s perfect dream!

The proposed take over of Yahoo by Microsoft is a fascinating intersection of marketing, technology and advertising, with Microsoft motivated by its inability to compete with Google in search and online advertising.  If I were in Steve Ballmer’s shoes I would probably do the same thing, but this strategy is a classic example of fighting the last war.

Mergers in the tech world never seem to work out for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they forget about the customer or take them for granted.  These deals always sound good in the conference room where insulated executives pitch each other on stories of efficiency and synergy.  They think that one plus one never equals three, in some cases such as TimeWarner/AOL – one plus one equaled .75.

Trying to merge cultures, technologies, people and rivalries is always a mess, and the needs of and desires of customers always take a back seat.  It is always assumed that if “Joe” is a customer of Company B, and it is bought by Company A, then “Joe” naturally becomes a customer of Company A.  This is faulty logic – our man Joe has no relationship or loyalty to the new company, and may not even like them (remember the HP/Compaq merger).  The market has already selected Google as the de facto search standard by a huge margin.  Why they would think that combing the second and third place search engines would get people to switch.  The wisdom of crowds has spoken and it is not talking about the MSN network.

I have always been a big fan and heavy user of Yahoo’s content and email, but frankly, their search is not nearly as good as Google’s.  I have started the day with my customized myYahoo page and used their email service forever.  However, if a Microsoft-owned Yahoo tries to convert me to a Hotmail account, I am gone, and so will others who don’t want an email address that looks like it comes from an adult site.

Microsoft has to be very nervous about Google’s success and plans for the future.  According to the New York Times, MS is heavily dependent on sales of operating systems and Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) for profitability.  In the last quarter alone their operating profit from Office was $3.2 billion on $4.8 billion in sales.  That is literately printing money and a business model they need to defend.

It is hard to imagine a time when corporate America won’t be using MS Office, but fast forward 10-12 years.  Do you really think we will all still be using packaged software that costs $400 a pop, or will we be using some sort of Software as a Service (SaaS) or ASP model?  Check out Google Docs and you can see they are moving in this direction.  That thought has to scare the heck out of Microsoft.  Not to mention mobile computing and other platforms where they are lagging behind.

Technology is a cruel business, where one moment you are the hot new thing, the king of the hill, and a minute later you are yesterday’s news.  Google will not be toppled by the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo.  However, one day they will likely be knocked off the mountain by a group of brilliant kids who get their start in a garage.