Marketing 101: Brand Yourself Like a President

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Cordell Parvin
Last Thursday I posted a blog Build Your Own Brand to Become a "Go To" Lawyer and I told you I would write about a great branding story this week. I actually want to write about two great branding stories.
 
I have always been interested in how political candidates sell themselves because in many ways you can use some of the same branding and marketing principles. President Obama and Sarah Palin are two striking examples. Neither was well known just three short years ago. Since then, they both have revolutionized branding and marketing. So, even if you don't like the President or former Alaska Governor, there is plenty you can learn. 
 
I recently searched and found three interesting and balanced articles on Sarah Palin's marketing and branding success. I will share those articles with you tomorrow.  I also re-read a Fast Company article The Brand Called Obama by Ellen McGirt and found a book Brand It Like Barack!: How Barack Obama sold himself to America and what you can learn from this. written by Gary Kaskowitz. If you are interested, Kaskowitz has created a website and blog I found interesting.  

I urge you to read the entire Fast Company article and learn from Ellen McGirt how President Obama revolutionized political campaigns by using social media. Here are my ideas on important points she makes.

  • New, different and attractive are three things you want in a brand. So, being a young lawyer can actually be an advantage.
  • The internet is a great marketing place and making your website more dynamic than other firms will get you ahead. That means using the internet to listen and then making frequent updates and engaging in a conversation.
  • Traditional top down marketing no longer works effectively. Your website should be for your clients rather than a one way sales tool.
  • Your clients are more empowered than ever before by the internet. They use it to do research on you and your firm.
  • You can actually lead by listening.

Kaskowitz points out that one of the main things you can learn from Barack Obama is the importance of telling the story. In a recent blog, he says:

Mastering the art of appealing to people’s core stories is one that will serve you well and create incredibly loyal fans.

You and I both know that candidates can easily market compared to elected officials. Lloyd Grove recently wrote about this and interviewed Harvard branding expert John A. Quelch in Obama's Tarnished Brand. Quelch gives you a final point you must always keep in mind. I will change what he said so it applies to lawyers: 

After you are hired, you are only as good as the performance you deliver, and the brand promise has to be lived up to. If the promise has been very substantial and the performance has been average, that’s going to put you in a bigger hole than if the promise was modest and the performance has been average. Clients will measure your performance based on their initial expectations.

 

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Lessons Learned from Politics: Don't Over Promise to Get Hired

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Cordell Parvin

It was written so well, applying the oratory rule of three to build the tension and generate applause. "They will say raise taxes and I will say no. And they will push and I'll say no. And they will push again and I will say to them (dramatic pause): 'Read my lips, no new taxes." This may be the most remembered campaign promise in history. The one President H. W, Bush later broke. Did it cost him the 1992 election? Maybe not, but, it likely caused some independent voters to no longer trust him.

President Obama has broken many of his campaign promises, including the famous "put it on C-Span promise. Coming to his defense, Newsweek magazine wrote an article: Unpromising: Everyone complains when presidents 'break promises.' But is that fair? noting that both the right and the left media are keeping track of the President's  broken promises and suggesting that:  "Breaking" those 'promises' may be disappointing, but it isn't a betrayal. It's governing."

I am sure the most loyal democrats may view broken promises as governing, but I believe Newsweek is misreading how independent voters view broken promises. In spite of what Newsweek suggests, I believe independent voters lose trust in candidates they voted for who break the promises that caused them to vote for that candidate.

So what do politicians and voters have to do with lawyers and clients? To me, independent voters are like clients who are still searching for the one lawyer or law firm to help them. Second, in almost every Gallup annual Honesty and Ethics of professions survey, lawyers are near the bottom, but typically lawyers are a little more respected than members of Congress.  I think the public's lack of trust for both lawyers and politicians stems in part from both professions not keeping promises.

My thoughts are supported in The SPEED of Trust by Stephen M. R, Covey.  He writes:

Whether commitments are explicit or implicit, they will have an impact on speed and cost.  To violate them causes doubt, suspicion, cynicism, and distrust that rust the wheels of progress.  To keep them generates the hope, enthusiasm, confidence, and trust that increase momentum and lubricate the accomplishment of results.

What kind of promises do lawyers make to get a new client? Lawyers would argue they do not make promises, but unfortunately clients perceive what they have been told as a promise. A lawyer may offer an opinion on the outcome of a matter. The client will count on getting that outcome. A lawyer may say a matter will cost between X and Y. The client is counting on the matter costing no more than whatever the lower number is. A lawyer may say she thinks she can complete a matter by a certain date. The client will count on having the matter completed by that date.

it is hard to picture a national magazine writing that lawyers breaking promises made to clients "is disappointing, but it isn't betrayal. It's lawyering" So, the lesson for you is to under promise when being considered to handle a matter and over deliver when you get the matter.

 

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