Ein Nachbar von mir sucht eine neue Herausforderung:
präferierte Arbeitsfelder/Aufgaben: externe Kommunikation, Media Relations, Investor Relations, Sprecherfunktion, Public Affairs
präferiertes Umfeld: börsenkotierte CH-Unternehmen, Europa-HQ von internationalen Unternehmen
präferierte Arbeitsorte: Zürich, Zug, Bern, Basel
Informationen bitte an peter.metzinger[at]businesscampaigning.com
On this day of Barack Obama's inauguration I'd like to share an article that my friend Joe Trippi posted just yesterday. Joe built the "Dean for America" campaign strategy in 2003/2004. Many believe this was the strategy that made Obama win, especially over Hillary Clinton. Indeed, when I first saw his strategy, I thought it was a good copy of Joe's strategy, adjusted to the current situation. In 2003 Joe Trippi was simply ahead of his time, campaign consultants, public and the media not ready yet. The following article made me think, he was already ahead of his time back in 1982:
26 Years Ago. Mayor Tom Bradley Ran for Governor of California and Making the Impossible Dream Poss
Im Rahmen des aktuellen Volksabstimmungskampfs über die Bilateralen Verträge mit der EU (Thema Erweiterung der Personenfreizügigkeit) engagiert sich die Schweizerische Bankiervereinigung dafür, dass möglichst viele Bankangestellt ihr Stimmrecht wahrnehmen. In diesem Zusammenhang durfte meine Agentur 4C business campaigning GmbH den folgenden Videospot produzieren:
In der Schweiz läuft derzeit eine Abstimmungskampagne zur Personenfreizügigkeit. Konkret geht es um Annahme oder Ablehnung der entsprechenden Bilateralen Abkommen zwischen der Schweiz und der EU. Vorletztes Jahr setzte die Schweizerische Volkspartei SVP im Wahlkampf Schwarze Schafe ein. Die anderen Parteien sahen gegen die SVP-Kampagne recht alt aus. In der aktuellen Kampagne setzt die SVP nun Saatkrähen oder Raben ein, die stellvertretend für die Bürger der EU über die Schweiz herfallen. Doch diesmal gibt es eine Gegenkampagne, die mit Witz und Humor eine Chance haben könnte, möglichst viele SVP-Gegner zu mobilisieren, indem sie die SVP-Kampagne karikaturiert und entsprechend positive Emotionen auslöst. (Wenn man ein Ja an der Urne will, muss man Ja, Ja, Ja in den Köpfen und Emotionen verankern.) In einem Online-Spiel kann man mit Äpfeln Raben versenken: http://www.bilaterale.ch
Swiss economy weekly Handelszeitung pleads today for a return to value based management. "Old" values like honesty, integrity, respect and dedication are required to lead our economies into a post-crisis world where the economy serves society again, where economy can build real and sustainable values.
Campaigning is an approach that is not only aiming at achieving maximum results with minimum resources. Campaigning requires values as a foundation to any campaign's identity. Otherwise you can't mobilize fans and supporters or at least gain loyal customers. Value based management is a MUST in campaigning.
Conclusion: the current crisis is a unique opportunity for campaigning agencies to prove that they have the best concepts for surviving the crisis and for leading into a post-crisis economy.
Read the full article (in German), which is not about campaigning, by the way, but it supports our views:
The following media release was published yesterday by my agency. Caterina Meier-Pfister, who used to work as Head of Communication at Max-Havelaar-Stiftung (Schweiz) has joined to 4C business campaigning GmbH consulting team:
Zürich. Das Beratungsteam von 4C business campaigning GmbH wird durch Caterina Meier-Pfister verstärkt. Frau Meier-Pfister war zuletzt als Beraterin in der auf Entwicklungspolitik spezialisierten Waldburger Consulting GmbH tätig. Davor war sie Leiterin Kommunikation der Max-Havelaar-Stiftung (Schweiz) und in dieser Funktion auch Geschäftsleitungsmitglied der Stiftung. "Ihre Erfahrung mit strategischen und interdisziplinären Kommunikations-, Branding- und Change-Projekten hat den Ausschlag bei der Kandidatenauswahl gegeben", so Harald Burgener, Geschäftsführer von 4C business campaigning GmbH.
4C business campaigning GmbH ist Teil eines internationalen Campaigning-Agentur-Netzwerks. Dessen Spezialität ist die interdisziplinäre Orchestrierung verschiedenster Kommunikations- und Managementdisziplinen. Indem man sich nicht auf eine einzige Disziplin, wie zum Beispiel PR, beschränkt, können Campaigning-Agenturen auf ein breites Spektrum möglicher Instrumente zurückgreifen. Durch die allein wirkungsorientierte Wahl des effektivsten Instruments lassen sich Kommunikationsbudgets zielgerichteter einsetzen. Man kann eher verhindern, dass Geld "zum Fenster hinausgeworfen" wird. Unter dem Strich ist Campaigning deshalb ein sehr ressourceneffizienter Ansatz. "Campaigning ist das, was Unternehmen von NGOs lernen können, wenn sie aus dem Budget, das ihnen zur Verfügung steht, das Maximum herausholen wollen. Gerade in der heutigen Zeit ist dieser Ansatz für Unternehmen deshalb zunehmend interessant", so Harald Burgener.
Yesterday pro:campaigning had their Annual General Meeting, this time in Zurich. Representatives from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the USA discussed not only the 2008 finance report. The most important topic was how to create a value for members based in so many countries and even on different continents. Members from the area of Zurich are able to profit from our monthly experience exchange meetings, where we discuss issues that individuals members bring up. So whoever has an issue receives free consulting from all other participants, something that has proved to be very valuable to thos who were there. Or we had interesting speakers like the Swiss Bankers' lobbyist.
But how can we create a value for members spread all over the world? We started an internal wiki that was supposed to become a toolbox, a database with all kinds of tools that was supposed to server as an inspirational source when a campaigner has a problem to solve that is not easy and requires new tools, approaches or techniques. However, this database has made a progress too slow, based on the fact that we were all too much involved in daily business of our agencies, so nobody could drive it forward. Actually, it was my responsibility, but since I started up The Reputation Rescue Company AG, almost all my time and energy
went into that company. This can change now, as The Reputation Rescue Company AG has a managing director now, but it is another question if members even appreciate the value of such a database.
But we wouldn't be who we are if we had not foud something that has the potential to create a unique value to members of pro:campaigning and also serves as a learning and experience exchange platform on a global level. Before we can go public we need to do a reality check first. Otherwise we'd run the risk to promise something that we can't hold.
Subscribe to our RSS-Feed, if you are interested. I'll write about it as soon as I can.
Whatelse can be said about the AGM? It was inspiring again, to see our friends from the different countries. All member of the "Worldwide effective Campaigning agencies network" (WeCan) were present, too. We had drinks after the meeting until midnight, discussed some ideas, our work in the different countries and strengthened friendships. It is an interesting network with direct connections between USA and Central Asia, to the UN, present, past and future US governments, the EU and other important bodies ruling the world. We're small but WeCan make a difference. (And, by the way, we created "WeCan" a year before Barack Obama used it as his campaigning slogan.)
P.S. Sorry for pro:campaigning's website. It's not up to date due to an incredibly complicated CMS. We need to move it to another provider soon.
Using polarities to to mobilize emotions and activiate followers, to create a followship and to clearly position your organisation is the meaning of Strategic Campaigning Guideline No. 1 (Polarize, profile, position). In an interesting article in German scientific magazine Bild der Wissenschaft, Ernst Peter Fischer comes to the conclusion that this is also the success factor of the two oldest world religions, christianity and buddhism (download here as pdf). Of course, I guess, Fischer has never heard of Strategic Campaigning Guidelines. His article just underlines that there are common, like natural, laws that apply to any situation where change is the objective and the creation of a movement of followers and important part of it.
As the major success factor of christianity he names the "arguing culture". Christians know how to argue. This culture originates from the fact that since their early days, christians had to make decisions and position themselves between opposing directions, e.g. was Jesus human or divine. Buddhism on the other hand focuses on harmony instead of arguing. In buddhism existence and non-existence are not opposites but in harmony co-existing. And here comes the important sentence (translated from the German orginal): "In buddhism as well as in christianity everything is about polarities, to which both religions add their own, by argument in the west and acceptance in the east."
Maybe this is too abstract, but the bottom line is: polarities contain the power of mobilizing people and emotions. And these are important ingredients of every campaigning receipe.
Happy New Year!
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