ALL PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY
Clint Eastwood’s performance at the RNC was masterful. It engaged at least two key demographics, it’s spreading virally bringing attention to Romney Ryan 2012, and Clint Eastwood is a great brand for leaders to associate with. One of Romney’s key challenges is getting people to consider (or in some cases re-consider) him as a candidate – to consider him, they have to learn about him. Just about anything he can do to get people to pay attention to the story he wants to tell about himself right now is a good idea, especially when people say they are tuning out. http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/1-in-5-americans-have-tuned-out-the-election/
YOUTH AND SEASONED CITIZENS
Think about it, Clint’s appeal crosses demographic lines, but in particular Older Americans and Youths find it easy to relate to him. I don’t have the research movie studios rely on to make investment and marketing decisions, but judging by the number of movies Clint has been making in recent years and their box office revenues (in addition to the number of times his old movies play on TV each week) I’d say he is a hot property. I would also remind you that there is a reason life insurance companies and reverse mortgage firms use old guys like Robert Wagoner and Henry Winkler to pitch their wares on TV – older Americans trust other older people they know and recognize. When Clint talks, these groups listen.
SOCIAL MEDIA MEME
There is another advantage emanating from Clint’s talk – have you seen the groups of people sitting with the empty chair President? http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/09/eastwooding-empty-chair-meme-explodes-after-actors-rnc-speech/ Every marketing campaign in the modern age strives to find something that will “take-off virally.” Clint Eastwood created one for Romney Ryan 2012. I think the RNC had its own viral plan – focused around the creepy photo-copied head shots of Romney and Ryan. It didn’t pan out. However, there is a growing volume of activity around all the places Obama has been missing over the past four years. True social media memes are hard to manufacturer – Clint gave the campaign a viral gift.
THE LEADERSHIP BRAND
Most importantly, Clint Eastwood’s brand is no nonsense action oriented leadership. All the polling shows that Americans feel Obama has failed to lead. I have also seen polling that suggests Ryan and Walker are associated in people minds with making tough choices and taking actions that end up working out for the better – Walker’s success taking on the teacher’s unions in Wisconsin and getting near term fiscal results for the state is a strong selling point for leaders that take action. Character after character in Eastwood’s movies have been that type of leader. Obama’s key weakness is that he talks more than he acts – Romney Ryan 2012 will continue to assert that they will lead and will get the job done. The Eastwood brand reinforces that attribute, especially with people who may not take the time to learn the details about the candidates, but will go with the flow of the overall theme. For Romney’s hard supporters – the people that deeply believe in him – the association with the Eastwood brand makes them more enthusiastic and likely to contribute, promote, and vote.
PRAGMATIC LEADERSHIP
In the end, I guess that Clint’s talk had to end with “Make my day,” but for diehard fans (I am one) I think we were looking for either “Do you feel lucky punk” or “Dying ain’t much of a living.” Clint basically said the latter when he stated that if you have a losing coach, you change him out. In “The Outlaw Josey Wales” when the bounty hunters catch-up with him in Texas he tells them they can just go on their way with no trouble, but the bounty hunter says he has to draw, because that is what he does for a living. In an attempt to break the cycle and give everyone a chance for a better future, Clint’s character tries to talk him out of it, saying that they don’t have to do something that won’t work just because it is what has always been done. He tells the bounty hunter that “dying ain’t much of a living” but the man draws his gun anyway and Josey Wales kills him dead. That was Clint’s message at the RNC – not just that its ok to make a change, but that we must make a change if we want to live!
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