Never Ever Take Your Eye off the USP!
In Marketing and Politics: How to Make Things Happen
March 2007 By Denny Hatch
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In the News
City lawyer: Court can’t stop slots voteA ballot question seeking to exclude casinos from residential areas cannot be stopped by court action, City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr. has advised Mayor Street. Diaz said that if the ballot initiative approved unanimously by Council last week is passed by city voters on May 15, it will eventually be voided by the courts because state law takes precedence over city codes. Nevertheless, Diaz wrote Friday in a memo to Street, he cannot prevent the proposed amendment to the city charter from being voted on in the May primary election. “Not even the courts ... have the authority to interfere with placement of a lawfully proposed charter-change question on the ballot, even if the underlying proposal is presumed to be invalid,” Diaz wrote.
—Jeff Shields, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 20, 2007
Needed were the valid, notarized signatures of 20,000 registered voters. Of the 27,254 signatures collected, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that fewer than 7,000 were valid.
No one bothered to get ahold of the voter registration list. Do-gooders went forth to round up signatures from anybody and everybody.
Put in direct marketing terms, it was the equivalent of sending a Harley-Davidson motorcycle promotion to nursing homes. You might sell a few to the young health care professionals but not much else.
The Proposition is on the Ballot Anyway
Last week, in an astonishing development, the City Council voted 17-0 to put the amendment on the ballot, thus setting up a deliciously nasty confrontation between the state and the city.
For starters, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has announced it will sue to keep the amendment off the ballot. Why in the world would members of a non-partisan board sue? Is one or more of the commissioners—or a commissioner’s family member—a secret investor? If so, are we not looking at conflict of interests?
The city solicitor has written a memo declaring that the City Council vote cannot be overturned and the proposition will go on the ballot, even though the state courts may nullify the vote after the election.
The next challenge is to get out the vote—persuade Philadelphia voters all over the city—that building casinos on the banks of the Delaware River will result in a catastrophe.
This is not a political challenge.
It is a direct marketing challenge.
TO:
FROM: Denny Hatch
DATE: March 22, 2007
SUBJECT: Getting Out the Vote—A Direct Marketing Challenge
I spent an hour at the anti-casino meeting that you moderated at St. Peter’s Church on Monday evening and sat through the three major speeches.
The Longshoremen’s Union representative spoke so fast for 15 minutes that I got roughly one-eighth of what he was saying. I gather he was anti-casino, but I am not sure why.
The social services speaker spent 15 minutes describing how gambling causes homelessness and breaks up marriages. A lot of projections, forecasts and estimates based on research papers and news stories from around the country, but not a lot of hard evidence on what will happen in Philly.
Takeaway Points to Consider:
* In marketing and politics, you must play by the rules.* For example, in direct marketing, you waste money sending offers to the wrong people. In politics, you waste time talking to non-voters.
* Fear and anger are two of the three most powerful drivers.
* The third most powerful copy driver is greed—which is fueling the opposition.
* For every project, it is imperative to create a wiring diagram and schedule. Stick to them.
* In marketing, to create a USP make a list of features of the product or service. Turn those features into benefits—what this and that feature will do for you. Rank the benefits from most important to least important. One of the top two benefits will be your USP. Sometimes, you can even have two USPs.
* “Politics ain’t beanbag.”
—Mr. Dooley (Peter Finley Dunne)
Web Sites Related to Today's Edition:
Casino-Free Philadelphiawww.casinofreephila.org
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
http://www.pgcb.state.pa.us
Companies Mentioned:
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