A quick video from our CEO.

Wesley Donehue and Phil Bailey talk Governor Haley and the South Carolina ballot crisis on this week’s WACH Fox version of Pub Politics.

In making those choices, there should be some sort of process. Being “the decider” can bring forth benefits by capitalizing on an early success, but in the same regard it can lead towards decision making without all of the facts and concerns accounted for. Making decisions based on impulse or instinct can certainly create a disaster- especially for campaigns that are constantly in the spotlight.

Inc Magazine brought up the discussion of the “SWOT” analysis, a management tool that considers strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the decision making process. Usually, it can help evaluate the realities of a situation and help decide the best course of action. Here’s one we made for publishing this column:

Swot Ya Troubles Away...

Using SWOT, you first decide the strengths of your situation. What resources do you have? Who’s on your side? What is your record of success?

Then, you do the opposite. Who’s against you? What are they saying? What vulnerabilities could be exposed by this decision?

You then evaluate what you can gain from the choice and what threats that choice would exaggerate. This is where understanding the cost/benefit relationship of your decision is important. Hopefully, by assessing the outcomes from SWOT, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what could happen.

So, got a big decision coming up? SWOT it away, and make sure you’ve got the possibilities covered.

We came across an article recently that discussed the social media implementation used by Representative Justin Amash of Michigan. Amash is a first-term Congressman from a small, relatively unknown district, but he’s been lauded as one of the nation’s leading up-and-comers on the political scene.

A large part of his growing influence comes from the way in which he uses social media. He is known for largely managing his own social media accounts, but, more importantly, he is known from explaining his position on every vote he takes. He is the shining example of transparency in politics. He’s stood alone as being one of the sole Congressman to vote for or against a proposal. While other Congressmen come under fire, he avoids it by taking a pre-emptive strike against scrutinizing media by explaining the motivation and logic behind each position. He does this effectively through social media.

In doing so, he also eliminates the opportunity for negative comments on his Facebook or Twitter feed. Since he takes the offensive on issues, his transparency may stifle the drive for the peanut gallery to leave negative comments, random posts, or discussions on comments he’s said in the media. His personal pages serves as his press conference, and his following knows that every issue and position can be found on that page. It serves as an all-inclusive forum for followers to come together and express their concerns on his legislation – and they know that there’s a good chance that his position is already thoroughly explained.

Amash is an example of a young, vibrant politician who understands the importance of an online following. Anyone who identifies themselves as a grassroots expert, but doesn’t incorporate social media into their skill set is truly not an expert. Politicians like Amash understand that new media is the future for the next generation of politics, but more importantly understand the proper use and strategy to disseminate information.

So, for your next vote, release, or even your next trip out to the Wal-Mart….are you going to get on board and communicate your motivations to your following?

You better.

Social Media is evolving in its’ role. It’s serving as public record, press liaison, and as a forum to create a dialogue to those who are concerned about your actions. For someone in politics, or in charge of a pressing issue this is an asset that’s essential to success.

Learn now if you don’t already know what you’re doing. It’s an important tool for a campaign, and it’s best handled personally.

Politics is at a crossroads. Soon, we’re going to see the structure that’s been in place for hundreds of years drastically change. Why? Because of the Internet. It’s already changing, and it may be healthy.

So, how is it changing you ask? Well, we talk about this theme a lot, but we can’t stop driving it home. Personality is what people want to see, friends. Branding is becoming reflective of this, and that trend is only going to grow until politics has to adapt.

Last week, Mashable put up an article called “10 Sassy Brands on Social Media”. It explores the brutal, dark, humorous, and outlandish nature of these brands that are dominating the social media landscape. In doing so, sales and creativity are up. People want these brands. At least, I really want a Loco-Dorito taco after reading this piece. See, their social media efforts are inspiring name recognition and demand for the product.

That’s going to infuse with the landscape of politics soon enough. A younger, informal generation is getting into the scene, and some “snark factor” will be in demand for a candidate. Boring issues-based campaigns aren’t going to win. Candidates will reel in success from stumping about their personal lives, families, and telling a funny joke, just as successful stumping worked by attacking the other guy ten years ago. As the demographics shift over the next decade or two, politics is going to be completely different. The cut and dry campaign isn’t going to cut it, and it will be left out to dry.

What can you do if you’re thinking “I’m running that cut and dry campaign?”

Shake things up. A comfortable breakdown of content that might be successful as a start could be as follows:

25% of your media content should be on the issues. This should be formal, composed releases that follow the traditional method of speaking out on an issue.

25% should be on your campaign. Talk about where you’ve been, who you’ve spoken to, what interesting thing you learned from interacting with someone – that sort of stuff.

25% should be about you. Who are you as a person? What insights do you have? Reflections? This is where you should show who you are when you’re off the stump.

The final 25% should be random and magnify or compliment who you are. Talk about what new series you’ve been watching, what funny thing you saw on the street, how much you love this fast food restaurant. Whatever. Show your personal side and try to spice things up. Be that “sassy brand”.

Of course, we don’t want you to exploit humor from two old ladies like Kraft does, tweet utter nonsense like Skittles, or promise “nothing” like Newcastle, but the themes are still valid: people want to be entertained, even the most unreasonable and serious political activists out there want to hear a joke or insight.

By shifting your methods and changing your voice, you’ll insert needed energy into your campaign. Momentum and support will follow. And hopefully, victory will as well. Don’t be reckless and irresponsible, or offensive. But, craft a better message and get it heard. Social media is your open forum.

By Wes, and The Donehue Direct Team

Campaign life is a zoo. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different.

Sleep becomes a foreign word a month leading into the election, and by the time victory is celebrated, or escapes your efforts, Starbucks has covered their operating expenses for the next three years.

One of the scariest aspects of campaign life is that a new form of management has emerged in the past two to three cycles – it’s unstudied, largely unseen as different, and draws heavily on the communications breakthroughs of the past decade.

Let’s call it the tech campaign, for all practical purposes.

Mobile technology has changed the ways in which we work and live and will undoubtedly revolutionize the American campaign. Twitter is a 24/7 press conference requiring constant monitoring. Issues aren’t brought up in the standard news cycle anymore – some troll could uncover something at 2 a.m. just as well as at 8 a.m. It’s changing the workday and changing the lives of campaign staffers.

But what does it mean?

Human Resources scholars have put these factors into the business context, and they say it isn’t healthy. Constant contact, increased workload, and emails have blurred the divide between professional life and personal life – in doing so, one’s “role” has become blurred. This is shown to decrease productivity, creativity, and focus. Technology is making people less happier in their work environments, and in the macro it’s making companies suffer.

For your campaign, think of it as a business. These trends will be magnified in the political arena because of the time sensitive nature of the campaign, the 18 hour workday, the fact that your staff will probably spend their weekends canvassing in Bumpkinville, miles away from the nearest bar, and that for a good while life will BE the campaign.

Why not take some steps to create some comforts?

When it comes to staff, don’t be stingy. Make sure the campaign offers a home-like feel. Staffers know that pay won’t make them millionaires immediately, but they aren’t doing it for that purpose. They do want to feel like they are part of a team, and that the team is looking out for them and their interests.

When the staffers are up pulling data all night long, cater a breakfast for them the next morning. If you’ve got a small staff, everyone loves some homemade biscuits and gravy- doesn’t have to be the works, but it goes a long way. If there’s a campaign office, get some comfortable couches – sleepers, even. If you’ve got a DVD player around with Season 2 of The Office, that might take the edge off for 30 minutes at a time. Also, we won’t encourage irresponsibility, but having a drink before you leave work might help take the edge – and burdens – off.

In running your campaign, think of your staff as human capital and not as resources. Resources are used, while capital is grown.

When it comes down to facing the public and getting out the vote, think: Do you want believable, cheery, convincing staff who seem to believe the message that they pitch? Or do you want staff that is obviously tired, stressed, and seems itching to pack up and go? These resources are the face of your campaign and we suggest investing in them just as much as you’d invest in mailers and buttons.

Think of those implications when you’re setting up your campaign staffing. A happy, focused staff is functional, efficient and productive. Keep them focused on the mission by creating times where they’re fully unfocused. The results will astound you.