Focusing Your Message: A Lesson from the White House

In politics, you’re either pitching or catching. That’s a favorite aphorism of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and yet the Obama administration finds itself defending its health care reform agenda, rather than promoting it. If the famously disciplined and agile message gurus in the White House can lose control of their message, no wonder other organizations run into the same problem. The political blogs are buzzing with analyses and opinions on health care reform, but let’s take a look at the debate from a message standpoint and see what we can learn.

Frame it First and Best

The president’s political strategy was to outline a series of principles he wanted to uphold in health care reform legislation, and leave the details to Congress. The White House team wanted to avoid the mistakes of the Clinton administration, which hammered out a detailed health care plan, presented it to Congress, and got hammered themselves.

The eight principles, however important to frame the policy debate, didn’t resonate as messages. Here are a few:

• Protect Families’ Financial Health
• Aim for Universality
• Provide Portability of Coverage

They were delivered as part of the budget in February, which outlined the president’s priorities in many key areas. President Obama’s first opportunity to frame the health care debate for the American people ended up falling flat and getting a little lost. When you have an issue of critical importance, frame it as clearly, simply and compellingly as possible right out of the gate—and create some space around it so it gets its full measure of attention.

Limit Your Key Messages

If you can quickly grasp, hold and convey more than three key messages on a given subject, good for you—you’re in the minority of busy Americans who must sort through and prioritize thousands of messages every day. The eight principles could have become something like this:

• All Americans should have their choice of quality health plans without fear of losing or being denied access to coverage when they get sick or change jobs.

• We can develop a plan that accomplishes this while at the same time reducing the crushing cost of health care for businesses and government.

Strive For Emotional Resonance

The first message point we just made up for President Obama is one that he is now hitting hard:

“Fear of losing or being denied access to coverage when…sick or changing jobs”

One of the problems in pressing for health care reform is that most people who do have health insurance are pretty happy with their quality of care. It’s necessary to remind people, particularly as many are losing their jobs, that the coverage they have today is not guaranteed to be there in the future. Tapping into that very real concern resonates with people on an emotional level.

Don't Give Opponents an Opening to Fill in the Blanks

While the White House and Congressional leadership struggled to regain control of the debate on health care reform, opponents were busy framing the issue to suit their own agendas with messages that hit home on this most personal matter:

• The president wants to put government between you and your doctor.
• The government is trying to control your health care decisions.
• The government will decide whether or not to pay for health care for the seriously ill, and promote euthanasia to control costs.

Of course not all of those messages are based in fact, and many are being delivered through a well-orchestrated campaign designed to rattle members of Congress at their summer town hall meetings. Click here for a look at one of the administration’s approaches to combating messages not based in fact, and more on how to handle loud dissent in another issue.

 

Refreshing Your Message, Refocusing Your Goals

From time to time, we’ve all stared at our computers and, unable to view the content we are looking for; we reach for the refresh button.

The same is often true in communications – when your messages are a little fuzzy and your goals a bit undefined, it may be time for a ‘refresh.’

Keep it Simple

If you take a look at messages that truly resonate with audiences, there is one common denominator. Simplicity. The most potent messages avoid jargon or complicated language and instead get to the heart of the matter, usually in as few words as possible.

The Power of a Few

You want your audience to retain and respond to your messages so that’s why it’s important to keep it to a just a few key points. Don’t throw out message upon message but rather, focus on the most important things you want to get across. You are more likely to break through the clutter that way.

Narrow Your Audience & Goals

When thinking about your audience, don’t just say ‘the public.’ Ask yourself who it is you specifically want to reach - moms of toddlers? Over 65-year-old voters? Once you have that determined, your next question is: What do they care about? Your messages will be much more effective if you can narrow down your audience and hone in on what matters to them.

The same goes for your communication goals. If, for example, your overall goal is to educate the public on energy conservation, that’s pretty broad and undefined. Break that goal down into smaller goals you can then more easily measure.

People are receiving information through more vehicles than ever before. The businesses and organizations that continue to thrive have found creative ways to communicate. And it all starts with clear goals and compelling messages.

 

One-offs (à la carte, anyone?)

Budgets and communications departments may be shrinking, but that doesn’t mean your organization has to be left behind.  While CG&A provides long-term counsel to a number of clients, we also offer services à la carte as well as training sessions that are affordable, informative and, ultimately, invaluable to your company.

Our training sessions will give you the tools you need to kick-start a campaign with messages that stick, successfully navigate the ever-changing social media landscape or be prepared to give good answers to tough questions when media come knocking on your door (or when you come knocking on theirs).  Simply put, spend one day with us and expect to leave with the perspective and insight that will help you manage your strategic communications for the days, weeks and months to come.

We provide the following trainings tailored to your organization and needs:

Message Development Sessions: We will assess the current state of your brand and corporate messaging. Through this process, we will pinpoint your core messages and identify the targeted audience and markets. We will help you align your brand’s position in target markets to increase marketing effectiveness and drive company value.

Social Media Boot Camps: Our social media boot camp will help you properly maximize use of your social media tools. Familiarity with the tools is key to feeling comfortable with online engagement and carrying over a transparent and authentic approach to connecting with various communities. Training includes a social media reference and tips electronic handbook. In addition, we are available to provide regular strategy consultation to maintain momentum and ensure the right tactics are used to make outreach as efficient and effective as possible.

Media & Presentation Training: If your quote goes “viral,” make sure it’s a good one.  Drawing on our expertise as reporters and news executives, CG&A will provide you with the tools you need to represent and support your organization on camera, through the radio, in print and in front of an audience. We can also make your presentations more powerful.

 

Simplify and Organize

This issue’s theme of simplification and focus got us thinking about our personal organization and time management skills. Here are a few of CG&A’s favorite tips to help you achieve Zen at your desk.

1. Action at the Source

To prevent inbox buildup, immediately determine how to deal with e-mails as you receive them. Decide whether the e-mail warrants an urgent response, if it can be addressed by the end of the day or if it can be filed.

2. RSS to the Max

Use RSS to keep daily tabs on Google alerts, news and blog feeds in one central location. Check out this easy-to-follow guide to RSS feeds.

3. Me Time

Try to schedule personal time in your calendar when no meetings or appointments are scheduled. Whether it’s an hour a week or a few minutes each day, remember to set aside time to catch up on news, correspondence or just take a short walk around the block.

4. Lists 2.0

Manage and share your lists using listingly. The online service allows you to access and share your lists online, carry your virtual to-do-list on your iPhone or create a grocery list that all members of your household can update.