Diatribes by Joah

When popularity doesn't mean good politics

President Obama's current approval ratings are like double those of President Bush's when he left office. That's the easy part.

But good policy is the hard part. And so far, Obama's popularity hasn't made it any easier. His first 100 days haven't generated any substantive "wins" or knocked down any major hurdles for the country. This is not his fault as much as that of the economy. However, Obama's economic team hasn't exactly won over many fans with its plans thus far...

Listen, I'm not dumb enough to think any president - not even FDR - could fix this thing in a few weeks' or months' time, but I'm honestly surprised Obama hasn't even made a real dent in the economic landscape. The resignation of GM Chairman Rick Wagoner was long overdue, but I credit Congress, not the Administration, for finally putting that nail in the coffin (with a $23 million personal bailout for Wagoner).

I'm not quite sure what Obama would tell you his biggest success is at this point in terms of economic policy. It sure as hell isn't anything 99 percent of Americans agree to. I don't think the Democratic Party and its leadership does either.

It reminds me...remember when the popular kid in high school won student council president on the promise of all these changes that were very populist and well-received (better lunches, cooler prom, etc.)? A year later nothing really changed except the leadership...now so-and-so's friends were not only the coolest kids on campus, they were also the ones who got to get out of class for an important meeting. That's sort of what I'm seeing right now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still rooting for Obama and I know he'll ultimately be in a position to make good decisions that show his value in the Oval Office...but, as of March 31, 2009, I'm not sure if we have a political messiah or just a populist messenger with waning popularity.

My blog is going to put me on the FBI, I mean Democratic Party watchlist...

Tiger Woods is still Tiger Woods

Here's the story. Guy wins the U.S. Open last May with everything short of a broken leg and takes an eight-month leave of absence (including the birth of his second child) then returns to...you guessed it, win within weeks of his return. Oh, and the Master's - only the biggest tournament in all of pro golf - is coming up. I know who I'm picking.

Hey Guys: You May Meet This Girl Tonight

A long long time ago, I had an idea...wouldn't it be great if we all had relationship resumes that you provided once you started dating someone? Well, this is what it'd look like on Craigslist for a lot of women here in Austin...no lie.

 

I love this McDonald's QPC ad

It's Called Social Media Because It's Social

(Cross-posted at PulsePoint's Points of View Blog)

I’m sure you’ve played the telephone game before…one person tells another person something and then it goes through several people, one-by-one, until you get to the end to find out the story has changed. That’s a good game to introduce you to social media.

If you tell one person a story and then try to control every word they pass along to a friend then you’re doing the exact opposite of what social media is built to do. Companies struggle to let go of control, but sometimes that’s where the success lies. Just out of reach from your press release.

I spend hours upon hours on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, blogs, and other social media sites each week, sometimes for work and sometimes for fun, but almost always to plug into the telephone game.

If you’re unwilling to a) share your story or b) have that story altered, social media is probably not a place for you or your company. But, from what I’ve seen with leading companies in the last few years, this pretty much explains why social media has become one of the best things to happen to brand-based businesses.

Case in point, unless you were under a Twitterless rock and don’t listen to NPR or read the New York Times, you probably heard about the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival here in Austin, widely considered the biggest week in live music.

Sure, the 1,900 indie rock bands, rappers, DJs and singer-songwriters who descend on Austin each year, sounds impressive but the mere 9,000 badge holders reported last year sure doesn’t…even if they did have 20 percent growth this year. But did I mention SXSW pulled in more than $100 million for the Austin economy last year?

SXSW’s true attendance figures are possibly best captured by Twitter. SXSW was “Tweeted” so often this month that one reporter found 1,500 mentions in a single hour. The site froze on numerous occasions.

Of course oversaturation becomes a concern, but ask any major brand if they’ve ever had a problem with too much awareness of their product…

Thanks to a willingness to share their story (and have it manipulated by “followers”), SXSW was the king of awareness in March. And who benefitted? Everyone. Certainly the festival’s coordinators, the City of Austin, the bands, film producers and sponsors of all the parties and events throughout the week.

And especially the customers, be they badge holders or party crashers.

The sponsors (i.e. GuitarHero, Rolling Stone, etc.) update their Twitter pages and their followers, at least the ones at SXSW, make plans to attend their events. People outside of Austin catch the buzz about the film, interactive, and music festival in the fourth-biggest city in Texas. And major brands like Pepsi, RayBan, Levi’s, American Apparel make sure to be in front of their target audiences when they arrive.

So when superstar bands and acts like Metallica or Kanye West show up for this festival aimed mostly for unsigned and lesser-known bands guess what happens?

It’s as if the star quarterback and the head cheerleader were the two people starting the conversation. And when school let out, everyone stayed in the parking lot to talk about it. At that point, all you have to do is show up with your product and a camcorder. For YouTube, of course.

Friday Jam: Queen

I've karaokied (misp?) this song about 100 times because Bohemian Rhapsody is hands down one of the greatest songs of all-time...and I'm not talking top 500, I'm talking top 5...I started singing this song aloud at ACL last fall while waiting for Foo FIghters after the Gnarls Barkley set (about 15 feet from the stage!) and about 100 people joined me. That's when you know a song is awesome. And I think it's still the only song to be number 1 on the Billboard charts in two different decades...when it came out and when Wayne's World came out.