I’ve been paying a lot of attention to signs lately. Perhaps because there are a lot more around due to it being election season. I’m finding it interesting how some try to make that cross from offline to online. Some do it quite well, while some … .
To the left is one example which got my attention.
This sign was made for the incumbent congressman for our area, John Carter. It’s simple and easy to read from a distance. That’s probably good for an election sign.
Note the social icons in the upper right corner. I understand the need to connect offline and online, but aren’t they rather wasted in print? Those icons are very useful on web pages where they can be made into links leading to the person’s social presence – I have similar ones on this site. In print they can point that out a brand has a social presence, but who’s going to remember to look them up when they get home? Hopefully they won’t try to search on their mobile device while driving!
A few quick searches revealed:
- Several hundred people and a movie named “John Carter” on Twitter. None I found were this particular one.
- Facebook brought up his personal page immediately. This is because I have several Facebook friends who are also friends with him. In our area this is likely to work out in his favor.
- YouTube brought up several pages of movie clips and reviews.
- “Congressman John Carter” revealed no results on Twitter, but had him in the #2 spot on YouTube.
So What’s The Point?
John Carter is a brand. He needs to get the word out as to how he is different from other candidates. Other than mentioning he’s a member of the Republican Party, there’s nothing to spell that out. This being primary time, he also needs to also differentiate himself from other Republicans. This is just like one restaurant or boutique needing to show how it is different or better than another restaurant or boutique.
Perhaps it would have been better to make his last name a tad smaller and put a web address on the sign If someone sees a few mentions of a catchy, easy-to-remember URL they will more likely visit the web site than search on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
Please note this post is not about politics or being for or against a particular candidate. No, this isn’t so much about electioneering so much as it is about marketing. It’s good to connect your offline and online as much as possible. The key is to find the most effective way to do it. Icons on a sign aren’t going to get it done.
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