The Air Game

A compelling air-game is a vital companion to an effective listening campaign. Once the listening campaign on the ground has opened people’s minds, the air-game is all about offering content that is relevant to people’s needs in a dynamic and engaging format. It’s a chance to showcase the principles, values, and vision you represent. To understand what makes an air-game effective, let’s explore some basic principles of modern marketing.

  • Information does not drive behavior. Emotion drives behavior, information most often serves to simply justify the behavior triggered by our emotions. So both are important but it is critical to get the sequence right. Emotion first, information second.
  • People don’t buy what we do, they buy why we do it. Society has long evolved past the point where we seek to fulfill our needs. It is taken for granted that our basic needs of food, water and shelter are satisfied. We seek to fulfill our wants. And in the end what we want most is to find meaning.
  • Video is the best medium to reach deep into the consciousness of the audience. Video offers three layers of engagement. 1. The voice track to tell the story 2. The video track to create affinity 3. The music track to crystallize the emotion. No other medium can offer this kind of comprehensive engagement.
  • No one likes e-mail – everyone want’s me-mail. The viewer needs to see themselves in the picture. In other words it has to be about them, their world, their challenges, their opportunities, their strife.
  • You have less than 10 seconds to capture the imagination. The competition for the viewers attention is fierce. Unless the content is seen to be relevant and interesting in that time-frame, the viewer will click away.

In a political context Seth Godin said it best when he referenced Marshall Ganz and talked about “the story of self, the story of us and the story of now.”

“Nothing happens in marketing until something gets your attention. And getting your attention in this day and age is no small feat. That means the idea has to be surprising, unexpected, or bold. It can even be embarrassing, warts and all…”

Return to Politics

This video came to my attention in late fall of 2020.

It is a stellar example of how a song, with the right visuals, dynamic and exciting content, and an emotional message to future generations can be inspiring and memorable. Wanting the future to “have it all” is certainly a worthwhile message for any political campaign.

Although not in quite the same vein, this video from Chlöe Swarbrick is another example of how a vision, and values, can drive a message and inspire the viewer long before the sponsor of the video is made apparent.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=801365540675606
 
To help YOU create a compelling video, click on this link for a pdf document with lot’s of good guidance.