Creating A Backdrop of Credibility is Different Today….
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, legacy traditional media provided credibility. There were fewer media choices then, of course, too, so competition was intense to get into the top tier media. The Chicago Tribune, not the Daily News or the Sun Times. The Wall Street Journal above the fold. The New York Times business page. (LOL.) Conventional wisdom had it that editorial judgments and filters provided wisdom that unedited choices did not. This was a big argument by PR execs in the early days of the internet for sending their corporate clients after stories and ads in traditional media.
No more.
Clearly, a Republican Trump communications team focused this year on delivering a message through podcasts and social media as well as events that generated video coverage for TV and social media. Trump wearing a high-viz vest in the passenger seat of a garbage truck after President Biden called his supporters garbage was brilliant. Also brilliant, Trump at McDonald’s serving customers French fries after Kamala Harris had claimed to work at a McDonald’s in her youth, a claim the Republications were trying to cast doubt upon. Interviews with talking heads and online or cable ads also played their parts. No Hollywood A-listers here.
The backdrop of credibility was no longer provided by traditional media, the newspapers, mainstream radio stations and TV and cable shows or big celebrities. Partly this was because they had discredited themselves supporting the Biden team message for the past year that he was still an energetic and high-functioning octogenarian. Of course previous ruses such as disputing the existence of the Hunter Biden laptop or endorsing the Steele Dossier were memorable as well. Americans aren’t dumb enough to forget.
Likewise, the polling again underestimated Trump voter appeal, for the third time.
There is a big difference between polling and data.
Some firms were able to develop real data by using multiple methods such as in-app surveys, phone surveys, in-person interviews and online polls. They were able to generate real data as opposed to phone surveys of targeted groups at home willing to spend 20 minutes being interviewed.
It’s hard if not impossible to change behavior. We’ll see what can change next year. Remember: Reality is your friend.