If you’ve been following the news, you know that last week, Rush Limbaugh spent the better part of his show for three days straight attacking Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student who was barred from testifying at a controversial Republican hearing on contraception recently. The insults Mr. Limbaugh leveled against Ms. Fluke were so intense that they caused an uproar among women from both sides of the aisle and have ultimately resulted in over thirty-five advertisers (and counting) pulling their advertisements from the Limbaugh show and at least two radio stations dumping Limbaugh programming altogether.
As you know, I find politics (and the media sideshow on both sides of the aisle) endlessly fascinating. This week, as I’ve followed the coverage of the widespread outrage over Rush Limbaugh’s comments, I’ve found myself thinking about Mr. Limbaugh and his brand.
You see, I have a dirty little secret, one I’ve kept mostly hidden for the better part of almost 25 years, and one I’m prepared to confess here and now. My dirty little secret, ladies and gentlemen, is that I love talk radio. I absolutely, hands-down, love, love, lurve talk radio like you can’t even imagine, and I always have, since I first started driving. I’ve listened to NPR since I was four or five years old, and have listened to most of the well-known, longstanding talk radio shows like All Things Considered, Car Talk, Dr. Laura, Morning Edition, Fresh Air, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Paul Harvey, Grammar Rules, and yes, even, on occasion, Rush. I listened to all of them off and on from the moment I was old enough to drive alone and choose the own radio stations. Oh, sure, I popped my fair share of cassettes in the player back in the 80s, and I’ve been known to sing (loudly) in my car when I’ve got the iPod, but my first love when driving has always been talk radio.
So I think I speak with at least some measure of authority when I say that it was absolutely no surprise to me when the full weight of Rush Limbaugh’s vehemence and ferocity came down squarely upon Sandra Fluke’s shoulders. I’ve heard Rush rail against strong women for years, using intense language and offensive terms. Rush Limbaugh attacking a left-leaning woman who dares to stand up to the right is pretty much par for the course. For a time, one could take a bit of comfort in the fact that Rush himself said that he was merely an entertainer whose opinion should really not be taken seriously. But he wrote that in one of his books, long before he became known as a power broker in the Republican party.
As I said, this latest incident didn’t really surprise me that much, but the strong reaction to it has raised my eyebrows a bit.
Don’t get me wrong. As a feminist, I have always believed Rush Limbaugh to be pretty misogynistic. But I knew that it was part of his brand, one that included irreverence and disrespect for one side of the political arena. But the problem with creating a brand that’s built on irreverence and disrespect is that, even if your advertisers sign on knowing that this is your brand, even if your advertisers understand your brand and are prepared to handle it (even support it) in the abstract, if you go too far and anger too many, then your advertisers may not be prepared to stand with you.
When your brand is already controversial, if you make a misstep and go too far with the controversy in an already-sensitive cultural climate, whether that “misstep” is intentional or accidental, you can pretty much expect that the misstep will become a major incident. In this context, at this particularly sensitive time in American politics, I find it hard to believe that Rush Limbaugh, who has created such a strong personal brand that he is indeed considered by many to be the voice of American Republicans (just google “Rush Limbaugh voice of Republicans” and you’ll see over 25 pages of results referring to exactly that), would make such an egregious error. I have to wonder if this was something more deliberate. Did Rush Limbaugh really make a mistake or was this intentional? Was this an attempt to bring publicity to his show, or did he simply go too far?
Bottom line, if your brand is controversial, it’s absolutely critical that you’re informed and well-aware of the cultural context in which your brand lives. When you develop a pugnacious, contentious brand you can (and should) push the boundaries, but if you push those boundaries too far outside the tide of public sentiment, you may find yourself in a war that could ultimately cost you your business.
Yesterday, on Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, Rick Santorum’s main supporter, Foster Friess, had this to say about Bayer aspirin:
(if you don’t feel like watching the video, Friess said, “This contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s so inexpensive. Back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”)
Regardless of where you stand politically, one can imagine that Bayer Aspirin can’t be too thrilled with these comments (unless you think “gals” are going to run out to buy Bayer now). Just last May, Time Magazine reported that Bayer is really only well-known among a particular demographic- older Americans with heart conditions. The reason? Due to some pretty outstanding marketing strategies in the late ’80s, Bayer aspirin became known as the go-to preventative for heart attacks and strokes in older adults, and people pretty much forgot that originally, Bayer was intended to be a pain medication.
That article inTime Magazine pointed to a new marketing strategy by Bayer to expand their 14.6% market share with faster-acting aspirin and brightly-colored packaging that might appear to a younger demographic in their 40s. But now, a 71 year-old man has made what even Rick Santorum is calling a “bad joke” and tied Bayer to archaic notions of contraception and angry mobs. What would you do if you were Bayer? Well, Bayer is an old company formed in the 1800s in Germany, and they’ve certainly weathered worse storms in their lifetime as a company. So they might be tempted to ride this one out.
But if I was in charge of handling this problem at Bayer, I’d have a few suggestions as to what Bayer could do to turn the tide of this one:
Put out an entertaining, “old school style” educational video on YouTube, featuring the President or CEO of Bayer, or at least a high-ranking executive, preferably a woman, talking about responsible birth control and emphasizing that there are many, more effective options than holding a Bayer aspirin between your knees.
Create a marketing campaign around the fact that Bayer actually helps create a need for effectively responsible birth control options, as with Bayer, the “Honey, I have a headache,” excuse won’t work anymore, because Bayer relieves headaches so darned well.
Start partnering with groups like the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood to develop programs to educate young women and men about birth control options.
Those are just three of the ways that Bayer could take this potentially damaging and awkward connection to an inappropriate (at the least) remark by Foster Friess and turn it into an opportunity.
The question is…will Bayer ignore Friess’ comments and hide their collective heads under their pillows or take their own medicine, as it were, man up, and leverage this moment?
“We’ll show you how to get on the Oprah show”
“Some of the graduates of our program have gone on to appear on Tony Robbins’ stage!”
“We’re always getting calls from publicists who want to know who’s hot right now so they can put them on Oprah.”
Have you heard any of these claims before? Maybe someone was trying to sell you a public speaking course, a public relations program, or your very own internet radio show, and they used what I call the “Oprah and Tony Marketing Strategy” to do it.
What is the “Oprah and Tony Marketing Strategy?” It’s a sales and marketing technique that’s based in another old strategy I like to call the “overpromise, underdeliver” strategy. They promise you the sun, moon, and stars, but deliver very little in the way of usable content or implementation. The Oprah and Tony Marketing Strategy is basically the “overpromise, underdeliver” strategy on steroids.
Let’s face it, if you’re a writer or an expert of any kind, if you have a message and you think it’s your life purpose to deliver that message to the world, then getting on Oprah’s show or Tony’s stage is your path to greatness, right? After all, Oprah changed the lives of Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, and Dr. Oz, among many others. And Tony Robbins’ stage is the Holy Grail of public speaking, shared only by the best of the best.
Of course you want to get noticed by Oprah and Tony. And that’s what smart marketers and salespeople are counting on.
Let me tell you what happened to me the other day:
I received an e-mail on Facebook from a producer of an internet radio show company, subject line “Media Request.” He said that his company was developing a new internet radio show about small business and that I’d come up on his “radar” as a credible expert. He said he wanted to talk to me to see about having me host the show.
Luckily, I had heard of this company before, otherwise I might’ve been flattered by the “media request” (which, btw, is typically reserved for interview requests). I have to confess, I already didn’t like this company to begin with, because they named their company specifically to take advantage of a well-known classic in American radio, in the hopes, I think, of confusing people into thinking they were going to be appearing on that program or station.
But the thing is, I wanted to know what they were selling – I know some people who have been taken in by them, so I wanted to know how much they charge and what they promise. So I set up the meeting with the guy and settled in for the sales pitch.
As expected, this was a perfect example of the Oprah marketing strategy. I heard all about the many famous authors this guy had produced shows for, the implication being that if I did the show, then I’d become a famous author just like them, nevermind that none of them were currently paying him a dime, nor could I get confirmation that they had paid this particular company for this particular service. The fee was $6,700 for a 13-week internet radio show, and the guy said they’d help me produce it and then market it for me, so all I would have to do is call in each week, do my show, and then go on my merry way, doing nothing whatsoever to market the show after that. And by the way, publicists, PR reps, agents, and producers for shows like Oprah listened in on this particular company’s broadcasts all the time to find new talent, and they call this guy all the time to find out “who’s hot” and who they should bring on their shows for interviews.
See how slick that is? So basically, for a mere $6,700, I could get famous with my own radio show, have to do virtually none of the marketing stuff we all hate, and get on the Oprah show??? And you know that’s what most people hear.
But you have to listen in between the lines and know enough to know when you’re getting scammed. The marketing services they offered were minimal, some were unnecessary, and frankly, you could do much better yourself.
More importantly, there are companies that offer the same services for free, or with cool add-ons, up to $999 for an entire year of your own internet radio show. So why would you pay almost seven grand for this? Oh yeah…because you might get on Oprah.
Let me tell you another story. This time, a woman who found me on Facebook contacted me and set up a phone meeting to talk about a public speaking training program she was developing. She wanted to ask me (as well as several others) what I would want in such a program, so she could make sure to include stuff that people really wanted to learn. When we talked on the phone, she dropped several well-known names and bragged about how she can get people on Tony Robbins’ stage.
People? Seriously? When someone is trying to sell you something and they tell you they can get you on stage with Oprah or Tony? Hang up. Delete the e-mail. That is one of the biggest red flags of all time. Unless you’re talking to Oprah’s producer or reading an e-mail from someone with an e-mail address ending in tonyrobbins.com, stop falling for this nonsense! None of the big names you know were overnight successes because they paid for an internet radio show, a public speaking program, or anything else.
And I hate to say this, because for some of you, this might sting a little. It might seem harsh, but it’s the truth, and you need to hear it.People use the Oprah and Tony Marketing Strategy to prey on people who believe that the world is waiting to discover them. These are the same people who have been told that all they have to do to be successful is find their “life purpose” or their “passion” and then everything will be easy.
Small business is not easy. It requires work. You have to work hard and you have to work smart. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can build a million-dollar (or multi-million dollar) business on a 4-hour work week! Sure, there are ways to work smart so that you don’t have to work a 40 or 60 hour work week, but please, stop looking for the easy way out. Stop looking for the easy answers or for the magic bullet and start taking responsibility for yourselves and for your success, and remember that unless you’re hiring a reputable publicist with a solid, proven track record, the likelihood of you getting on Oprah is…unfortunately…slim to none. Not impossible, but unlikely. And Oprah is not the only path to becoming notable. So settle down and pay your dues wisely, and it’ll be easier to spot the scams.
Lately, I’ve received a large number of e-mails from people introducing themselves as ‘bestselling’ authors. Folks, this is a claim that is so simple to check out that you absolutely should not be lying about it.
Now…don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with you “spinning” your resume and credentials to sound a bit more impressive than they actually are, as long as what you say is still true. But if you’re blatantly disseminating information about yourself that is completely false, like saying you’re a ‘bestselling’ author when your book has never made it onto the New York Times or Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists, then you’re lying. Period.
According to Wikipedia, “a bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains.” Wikipedia goes on to say, “in the United Kingdom, a hardcover book could be considered a “bestseller” with sales ranging from 4,000 to 25,000 copies per week.” Per week, people. So be honest: is your book really a “bestseller?”
The authors whose work appears on bestseller lists (and I’m not talking about Amazon’s lists, which change hourly and are micro-specific, but rather the real lists of USA Today, New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal) tend to be exceptional at marketing their books. They know that to be successful, you have to know how to market and you have to know how to sell, and you can’t just sell one book at a time. True bestselling authors are smart marketers who know how to leverage the right tools and professionals to build awareness about and visibility for their product.
Today, you can claim just about anything you want. You can say you’re an expert of any kind without anyone having to verify it. You can say you’re a speaker, a published writer, and yes, even a ‘bestselling author.’ But just because you say it doesn’t make it true. So before you say that you’re a “bestselling author,” make sure you know what that means, and make sure it’s actually true. Have some integrity in your self-promotion and you’ll gain more respect…and eventually, you actually might achieve that dream to be a real bestselling author.
On March 31, 2010, Business in Blue Jeans CEO Susan Baroncini-Moe and her husband, Leo, were featured in USA Today, in an article on video chat. Check out the article here!
