March 02, 2005
Uncle Sam wants you to improve his brand
UPDATE (March 19, 2005): The Washington Post runs a piece on the new USAID branding campaign, to wit: "Nongovernmental groups operating overseas in nasty places are not too happy with putting the USAID logo on their cars, comparing it to a bull's-eye for bad guys to shoot at."UPDATE (March 18, 2005): If you can't get enough of the Karen Hughes news... I caught another great post at AdPulp today on the repositioning and re-branding of the United States on the world stage, entitled "Putting A Happy Face On Brand America."
UPDATE (March 13, 2005): While perusing PR Machine, I found an entry on Re-Branding America. Good links, good read.
ORIGINAL POST
I was truly worried that I wouldn't have anything to write about today. There are always some issues I'm pondering, but everything was still at the point of being half-baked. And then I read this little ditty about a charming congressman from Alaska who is working his fingers to the bone to legislate morality.
Yes, yes. Senator Ted Stevens from the great state of Alaska and Representative Joe Barton from the great state of (gasp) Texas are worried that we, as cable and satellite paying American citizens, are still subjected to too much filth and indecency.
Now, there are already a number of bloggers who are hot on this trail, like Francis Poretto and AdPulp, indecent bunch that we are. And I'm sure the coverage will expand to various reaches of the Web. We silly Web folk have the almost indecent love affair with the first amendment, so we tend to bristle when people start stomping all over it. No worries, I'm sure if the spry 80-something gentleman from Alaska can survive, he'll manage to clean up the Web, too.
In any case, I digress. As usual.
Once my bile had subsided, it dawned on me: the US Government has a terrible, terrible marketing problem, with at least 50 percent of its primary market, and a much higher percentage of its secondary market. This news, like so many other news items from the government, is going to turn into a public-relations and blogosphere fiasco. And it goes much deeper than that. In fact the marketing and promotion of the US government is in such utter state of disrepair, that it seems to be in a death spiral. Which makes me a bit sad.
And this is one, quite frankly, that has me stumped. I don't see an immediate way to fix what ails the image of the US. Why? Because while building a brand takes time, destroying one doesn't.
Maybe if they're going to "run government like a business" they need to get into the swing of marketing. Think about hiring some internal talent, appointing a chief marketing officer, and looking for an agency of record. I mean, c'mon. This stuff could use some serious spin. Our government's identity could use some polishing. And I don't even know what the brand could use. Shock therapy, most likely.
And, mind you, I'm not talking divisive party lines. I'm talking the whole thing. Democrat, Republican, Green, Liberarian, Lobbyists. They all need some help.
I don't think this is a volunteer effort. I think it's going to take some serious funds. And some of the best marketing minds available. Luckily, the US government is always interested in throwing money at a problem. And we marketers tend to like that mindset. Applying it intelligently is the biggest hurdle.
If you're in its target market (you are), what could the US government do to communicate better with you? Think about it and post your ideas. Or don't and return later when I'm engaging more light-hearted subjects.
Uncle Sam wants you to improve his brand
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