Before you send me flaming e-mails, read on.
I had one of my many “learning moments” recently when working with one of my corporate PAC clients. We were talking prior to the workshop about all the new corporate diversity programs. There was no judgment as to whether they were good or bad; it was just an oral compilation of the various initiatives.
I know that one of the keys to get employees or association members to contribute to a political action committee is to emphasize what you have in common, rather than your differences. But what do diversity programs do? They emphasize differences, which leads to identity politics, which leads to bifurcation of any commonality one might have with one’s co-workers.
Please don’t…
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Key Influentials and Mind-Changers
It gets even more interesting when you look at the lawmakers who did change their minds and their reasons why.
Our survey showed that undecided lawmakers are more likely to change their minds if they hear from people they trust. We call those people “key influentials;” personal friends, local elected officials and opinion leaders in the legislator’s district.
At least 10 of the lawmakers who changed their mind and voted “yes” on the second vote said they were influenced by phone calls or other communication from constituents or opinion leaders all of whom could be defined as “key influentials.” Several of those lawmakers said they changed their minds after talking to presidential candidates Barack Obama or John McCain, certainly…
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How to Spend Money on Surveys that Don’t Get Results Part 2
Here’s how to really determine if ads are effective: advertise some products, and don’t advertise others. Then see which sells. All those “advertisements that don’t work” will sell the product. Those that are unadvertised will sit on the shelf. When you ask people why they bought the advertised product, they will mention positive product attributes, but seldom advertising.
No matter if you are selling a message, a request for action, or a PAC contribution, the lesson for government relations professionals is this: unsophisticated “merely asking” type of research won’t give you the insight needed to create compelling lines of persuasion.
So, that’s a long explanation of the number-one way to spend money on research that doesn’t get results: incorrect methodology. Here are…
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