Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech: The Weight (and Fate) of the United States, Hang on his Words

When President-Elect Barack Obama is sworn into office on Tuesday, he will be standing not just in front of the Capitol, but in front of the world. His right hand will rest upon the bible used to swear in this nation’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. If ever there were a speech that carried with it the future and fate of the United States, and by extension the world given the role this country plays in the globlal arena at every level, it would be President-Elect Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address.

The Nations’ News is Bad, Very Bad

Virtually never, or unarguably since the Great Depression, have the circumstances and conditions facing Americans been as dire. I don’t think it’s necessary to recount the details that precede this forecast, just pick up your newspaper, watch the news, or peruse the home page of your internet browser — the headlines are frightening indeed. Whether it’s a discussion about the multi-billion dollar bail-out (that doesn’t’ seem to be working, or certainly not working fast enough), the implosion of Wall-Street and essentially the collapse of our financial markets, our Trillion-dollar deficit (that calls in to question the hard times ahead), the highest unemployment in more than 40 years, the shrinking value of the U.S. dollar, our wars abroad and our credibility in the world, much rests on the words the President-Elect will speak on Tuesday.

The Importance of this Inaugural Address: Every Word, Every Sentence, Every Phrase Counts

Every word, every phrase, every sentence and every paragraph, as well as the tone of this speech will set the attitude we Americans face going forward in this country, at least for the next four years. This speech will shape the way the world views us – as a people, and a nation. It will impact the financial community here, and abroad.  If you think this is placing too much emphasis on what will likely be a thirty to no more than forty-five minute speech,  just watch what happens to the stock market on the day-of and following his speech.  The ramifications to his words simply cannot be overstated; the challenges we face as a nation, the path that he suggests for the people of this country as well as the gauntlet he throws down for our members of congress, and all of our government leaders, are simply put, at the apogee of seriousness.

The Speech:  The Quintessential Axis of Marketing, Communications, Public Relations

Make no mistake about it, this speech is as much about shaping, (or attempting to shape) public policy, as it is about (attempting to shape) public perception (about how he will “lead” and how this country “may do” from this day forward). This speech is in fact the quintessential axis of marketing, public relations and communications colliding into one fantastic medium, or opportunity – a public speech delivered by our President-to-be on the day he is sworn in. He will outline the challenges, he will seek to inspire.  His message is as much intended for our government leaders as it is for this nation’s citizens. 

Will President-Elect Barack Obama Deliver?

The question is, can President-Elect Barack Obama meet this goal? Can he, and/or his speech-writers force us to look in the mirror at these daunting problems and compel us to do what it takes to bring this country back from the brink of financial ruin and personal despair? Not only what he says, but how he says it will dictate whether he injects in us (America and American’s) the kind of invigorating message that will rally our support not just as a national constituency, but equally how this country will be perceived as the major actor it is on the world stage. He sets the bar for how he will be able to interact not just within our government, but with other governments.

My Predictions: What this Speech Should Be

This speech will be serious, it will be somber. But, at the same time it must uplifting. It must resonate with the values and tradition of the great American spirit. It must resonate with the grit, determination and the hard work of our forefathers that made this country great. It will more than likely echo in our memory one of the greatest speeches ever delivered (either as an Inaugural address or of all great speeches presented by statesmen), the memorable JFK speech, and inevitably it will draw comparisons. It will, or should, touch upon the difficulties we face now and how we as one of the greatest nations on earth, the cornerstone of democracy and bedrock of free enterprise will rise above the crises of today. It will be, or should be captivating, compelling and cogent. President-Elect Barack Obama has surely been blessed with the gift of oratory, his tone is pleasing, his demeanor thus far on par with circumstance and conditions consistent with place, time and need. Let’s see how he delivers, and if he delivers.

To be continued Wednesday. Check back here for further views about the soon-to-be President’s speech performance.

Note: Jeff Mustard authored his first speech for Congressman Benjamin Gilman while serving as an Intern on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Since then, he has authored speeches to esteemed audiences delivered at the highest levels of government and business. In addition to providing speech-writing services, he is an accomplished speech coach, perfecting delivery for national television appearances.

Leverage Marketing: Converting “Holiday Good Cheer” into Effective “Marketing Messages”

Why not take the opportunity to convert seasonal benchmarks, such as the “holiday season” into marketing opportunities? And that’s precisely the tact taken on behalf of one of Tennessee’s leading chiropractors who, at the last minute, decided to send a “holiday newsletter” to his clients. Converting “holiday good cheer” into marketing messages is a prime example of squeezing every bit of opportunity out of your communications strategy through the use of “leverage marketing.”

On December 8^th, Dr. Louis Obersteadt, the former multi-year president of the Tennessee Chiropractic Association and a distinguished two-time recipient as “Chiropractor of the Year,” decided he wanted a holiday newsletter. The case study below reflects the strategies deployed to maximize this singular marketing effort as a platform to create multiple marketing opportunities.

The Original/Primary Assignment: Create a Holiday Newsletter.

A big yawn and ho-hum is pretty much the way we can mostly characterize seasonal communications with customers, clients or prospects. The majority of snail-mailed post cards are generic “seasonal greetings” dripping with mundane off-the-shelf sentiment designed at best to be “warm and fuzzy.” Rarely, do you find a “call-to-action” and even less frequently does a “holiday card” strike such a resonant chord with the recipient that they can’t wait to not only share that unsolicited missive with family or friends, but even better, leave them anxious to make their next appointment.

The above was the self-imposed challenge the agency faced in creating this distinguished doctor’s newsletter. Click here to see the “snail mail” version of the Holiday Newsletter.

The Result: The most challenging task as marketers is to create a communications message that truly connects with customers, a message that makes them smile, one that is light and fun yet relevant, resonant and even humorous. If you can make people smile, or laugh, and gently, or subtly imbed your “sales message” it is arguably the most effective and powerful marketing approach. This goal was exceedingly accomplished. View the snail-mail version of the Holiday Newsletter.

Here’s what Dr. Obersteadt had to say about the “Holiday Newsletter”:

Jeff, I am very pleased with your incredible imagination! Thanks, Dr. Louis Obersteadt

Leverage Step 2: From Snail-Mail to Email

Finding ways to squeeze multiple uses out of your “marketing materials” is simply smart marketing. So the very next tactic we employed, as well as being extremely cost efficient for the client, was to reproduce the snail-mail newsletter into an email version. By simply reformatting the snail-mail version of the mailed print version of the newsletter, we were able to double up and reinforce our message to the doctor’s patients, increasing our “impressions” while reducing our cpm. Click here to see the email version of the email holiday card.

Leverage Step 3: The Press Release

Here’s where it gets pretty juicy, creative and fun. We decided to augment the holiday newsletter with some “practical holiday tips” and converted it into a potentially newsworthy press release. After all, the news media are always looking for “unique and interesting” holiday/seasonal-tie’in’s and stories. So, the approach we would take to the media would provide a consumer tie-in with the holiday season, best reflected in the following pitch line:  “A Dozen Helpful and Healthy Ways to Shop During the Holidays without Putting A Crimp in Your Christmas or Your Back.” The goal was to get the attention of news editors in Nashville, TN with a  Subject Line  in Outbound Emails to the Nashville media that read: “Correct Shopping Posture: Don’t Let Christmas Shopping Put a Crimp in your Shopping or your Back this Holiday Season.”

Click Here to See the Press Release

The Result: Media Success

The agency was engaged less than two weeks prior to Christmas Day. Clearly a short fuse and for all practical purposes an impossibly truncated time-line to get anything meaningful done, especially as the media is concerned, during this pressure-packed time period.  The fact is, news media stories require ramp and nurturing, especially if it isn’t a “hard news story.” And yet, despite these challenges, the “story” caught the attention of the editor of the Nashville Business Journal and was reproduced in whole in the Belle Meade Community Newspaper website (the newspaper being a weekly, the deadline had passed and no other issue was being “printed” until after the new year).

Critical PostScript & Important Public Relations Advice: News releases are intended to accomplish the following goals:

1. Create interest in an editor (print or electronic media) about doing a “stand alone” news piece about your client (the subject of the release/story).
2. A “story” may be picked up in whole, or in part.
3. Other times a news release will trigger interest on behalf of the news media who will use “your news release” as a starting point to do another version or slant of a story they think is more fitting for their reader/viewer/audience. In this case, a client might be the sole subject of a story, but more often they are one part or one source, of whatever this “larger story” might be.
4. Other times a “story” might fit in to some other notion or idea that is already “in the hopper” or in the “mindset” of an editor/writer/reporter.

Our media success was an example of the fourth scenario noted above.

The Nashville Business Journal

The editor of the Nashville Business Journal was, at the time of the story/release submission, working on a story about “marketing efforts on behalf of businesses’ in the face of a changing and declining business climate.” Dr. Obersteadt was quoted and featured in this story.

The Marketing Machine in Full Swing

So, what happens next with this media success? The principle of Leverage Marketing is further amplified below:

• A reprint of the article(s) will be posted to the Doctor’s website.
• At the Doctor’s discretion, a snail-mail version of a letter, along with a photo copy of the article will be mailed to his patients.
• Additionally and alternatively, an outbound (email) letter will be sent to his patients, which contain a link to the Doctor’s website where a copy of the “article” will live that proudly announces this recent “news” accomplishment.

Conclusion: The Big Payoff

Having established “contacts and connections” with the media in his market, going forward this first small but successful round of media exposure significantly enhances future opportunities to promote the doctor to media editors in his market.

The process of creating “branding” and implementing “name recognition” among the media is invaluable in advancing story ideas in the future. Just as with consumers, it takes time (frequency and reach) to establish “credibility and value” with customers; the media are no different. This (initial) marketing strategy and public relations approach has opened the doors for further dialogue with media.