Posts filed under 'Political'
June 25th, 2008
Next year, Sapporo, a Japanese beer company, will start labeling its beer bottles with the amount of carbon emissions associated with production and disposal. Japan’s is also working on standardizing how carbon can be measured and labeled on consumer products.
In the UK, the Carbon Trust, a government-funded independent company, is developing a similar scheme, set to launch in the coming months. According to their site, companies like Coors and Coca-Cola will add the carbon label.
Will this added transparency provide a competitive advantage? Are these figures meaningful to the consumer? And will people really track their carbon impact? We shall soon see.
According to the Carbon Trust’s research, reported in an Independent article, 66 percent of UK consumers want to know how much carbon is associated with their consumer goods. The UK labeling program will have a one year trial period, so we will hopefully find out how accurate that statistic is.
May 14th, 2008
How much of an impact has modern marketing had in the 2008 Democratic primary? Plenty. Barack Obama’s campaign has made quantum leaps in terms of “branding” a candidate. From his free-standing “O” logo to the sheer marvel that is his interactive campaign website - check it out at www.barackobama.com - he is changing the landscape both in terms of politics but also in terms of how political campaigns are run.
Here’s an interview that Crain’s Chicago Business did of the guy who created the Obama logo (click picture below). He talks about the elements that were used in the logo and what they mean, how the campaign has adapted it for other uses and even the font they used:
April 16th, 2008
What do Dr. Pepper drinkers and Chic-fil-A eaters have in common? They’re typically Republican. Likewise, those who have Fig Newtons in the cookie jar are likely supporters of Senator Clinton, and Bear Naked granola chompers are supporters of Senator Obama. Today’s New York Times reports that political pollsters are increasingly turning to “microtrending” to slice and dice the electorate down to what brands of food and drink we like and what we do in our free time. Once they do that, then they know how to communicate with us and what message to send.
Microtrending is certainly something the big consumer-goods marketers have done for a while now, and politicos are catching on. In fact, Mark Penn - he formerly of “chief Clinton strategist” fame - is actually a leader in the field. His book - Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes - was published last year.
Locally, you’re still likely to see mailing lists and other marketing communications tactics being tailored based on general demographic information like age, household income, etc. But the data we parse locally is just the surface of what you can find out about the general public when you’re marketing to them. So, what’s in YOUR fridge?
