Karl Rove

Video scrutiny keeps ’em honest

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

There are lots of web sites, political groups, media folk and organizations (even the candidates’ sites) fact-checking statements politicians make, so it must be increasingly hard to face the cameras.

Some wing it, others –like Joe Biden- completely make it up as they go, only to be found out. Everyone is up for this kind of scrutiny.

Watch Jon Stewart’s approach, running side-by-side video clips that reveal the danger of double talk.

Video scrutiny like this is playing an interesting role this election season. It must force campaign managers to think hard before deploying surrogate snipers on the campaign trail

Quotes of the week ending 8 March, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“Obamicans.” “McCainicrats”

Former White House chief of staff Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal, about needeing to watch Republicans who back Barack Obama and Democrats who like John McCain, respectively.

“So, I think they have to spin this as best they can, but the reality is still the reality.”

David Axelrod, chief strategist for the Obama campaign, on Clinton’s win in Ohio and Texas this Tuesday.

“We are all living in the middle of a paradigm shift.”

Andrew Leckey, Director of the National Center for Business Journalism, on the role of journalists, at a workshop in Phoenix, Arizona.

“it’s no doubt true that many PR & advertising agencies don’t, in fact, ‘get it’ yet … But it is also true that many clients don’t get it yet, either.“

Todd Defren, PR Squared, commenting on the fact that marketers want to put social media into the bucket of metrics and campaigns.

“We can also look forward to flexible screens, holographic projection and LED wallpaper that allows any flat surface to function as a display.”

Bill Thompson, on the technology of teaching.

“In the end advertising isn’t about the click.”

Mike Leo, CEO of Operative, in Businessweek, on the slowdown in Google’s advertising’s pay-per-performance model.

“Haven’t you people learned the art of pretending that you know what you’re doing?”

Cathy Taylor, on why ad agencies (some of whom occasionally blog) are not walking the talk about social media.

“A message is one-way communication and a conversation is not. Rather, a conversation is like verbal tennis where words and ideas bounce back and forth between both parties.”

Andrea Goulet, commenting on the book Now is gone.

Quotes from the week of 26 January, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“All we did was add more elves.”

Ann Bologna, president of Toy, on the success of the “elf yourself” campaign for Office Max, that drew visitors to visit the site and create 123 million elves, translating in to a reach of 26.4 million people.

“The difference is that we now have to provide a little foreplay before going all the way.”

Len Gutman, at ValleyPRBlog, on the need for symbiotic relationships between hacks and flacks via social media.

“Everyone wants the Tiffany box, but there is no Tiffany box.”

Dave Coffey, director of media services at Sapient, on a survey of 120 professionals about digital marketing budgets, and the inability to measure social networking gains.

“A vast dynamic knowledge ecosystem that is in a constant state of creation, use, reuse and improvement.”

Jimmy Wales and Rich Baraniuk in an Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, on their dream of making textbooks and learning material open to everyone, and the Capetown Declaration.

“There was a basic lack of integrity in the Clinton show last night.”

Larry Lessig on the Democratic debate, and the possible infection of the Clintom campaign with the “Karl Rove virus.”

“Appalling” and “saddening”

Senator Hillary Clinton, responding to Karl Rove’s recent suggestion that the Democrats responded to 9/11 with timidity.

“We’ve changed our whole marketing plan so we can leverage something out of this smokin’ hot spot.”

Bob Parsons, CEO of GoDaddy on getting a Super Bowl ad approved by the Fox network, after submitting 10 other “edgy” commercials that were rejected, as they were for the past few years.

“Journalists are such tools.”

A reader of the Arizona Republic commenting on the fact that this rejection-approval “story” has been repeated for many years.