The Impact of Messaging in Advertising, PR, Politics and Why Learn Advertising Skills

When I was a reporter and editor at several New York City dailies and two wire services, I never understood why public relations people would get excited about a placement that read, “XYZ is a spokesperson for the ABC Company” and the remainder of the article was about the doings of the spokesperson.

“What good does that do a company,” I sometimes asked my colleagues.” “Beat me,” was often the answer,” and if I was asked the same question today I would also answer “Beats me.”

What was missing from the article most often was information why readers should purchase the product or support a corporate or political point of view – known as message points.

Our kinfolk on the advertising side of the fence always knew the important of message points. That’s why many commercials, in print pubs, radio and television, contain what many media observers call the “hard sell,” meaning they contain message points. And importantly some of the commercials have a long shelve life and are repeated for months or years. 

Unlike humorous commercials that often leave consumers scratching their heads about the benefits of a product, or what message the commercial was trying to deliver or even what product was being hawked, the “hard sell” commercials clearly inform viewers about the benefits of a product or why they should support an advertiser’s viewpoint. Whether consumers should take 

those message points at face value is another story. (My suggestion? Be skeptical.) Maybe that’s why John Wanamaker, a successful merchant in the late 1800s and early 1900s, whose business empire reached from the U.S. to Europe and who is credited with inventing the department store, said that "half my advertising budget is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half."

When I transitioned to the public relations business, as the New York newspaper business fell on bad times, I was flabbergasted at how at internal meetings account handlers were singled out for praise because they scored a 900 word article that contained the following: “XYZ is a spokesperson for the ABC Company“with the remainder of the article being about the spokesperson.”

The above is almost a universal occurrence when athletes are the spokespersons, especially those who endorse numerous products.

When I reached supervisory status at B-M, I told people that the length of an article might impress other managers, but not me. I would rather have a 300 word article with message points than a 700 word one without any.

The importance of message points were emphasized to me during my first job in public relations. It was with a political agency, where I worked on campaigns of candidates ranging from local, to statewide to the presidency. It was there that I learned the importance of message points. And I never forgot it.

That was a long time go. But message points are still important in politics today. Case in point, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Almost from the day she took the oath of office as vice president Ms. Harris has been attacked as being unfit for the office of the president if the occasion arises. Republicans are now saying that a “vote for President Biden is a vote for Harris,” because of the president’s age (despite the fact that the orange-thatched, twice impeached and four-time criminally-indicted former president, Donald Trump is only a few years younger than Biden). 

I remember Ms. Harris when she was a senator from California. Unlike many of her colleagues, her questioning at hearings was always well thought-out and on the mark, dissimilar from many senators who used their five minutes to deliver political messages from an obviously partisan play book. As vice president, she has done nothing that shows that she is not qualified for her present job or to take over for the president if circumstances require it.

Nevertheless, she is being attacked from Republicans and pundits – Republicans saying she is not qualified and pundits saying that she is a liability for President Biden and should be dumped, without giving specific reasons for their opinions. Saying Biden is “too old” or “feeble” is an opinion, not a proven fact.

Since no one can point to specifics detailing why she has failed as vice-president, or present facts showing how she has hurt the country during her time in office, I can only assume that it is the constant message points attacks from the opposition since the day Ms. Harris was sworn in that has some people saying she is unqualified for the Oval Office.

A friend opined that the attacks on V.P. Harris might be because she is a woman and a Black one at that? Maybe so. In a large portion of our country, women rights have been diminished to the point where they are almost non-existent and have to travel out-of-state for medically necessary abortions.

For years, the Republicans have said that President Biden “has lost a step” and is not mentally fit to be president. But when I see him on television he seems mentally okay to me. As for his speech pattern, he never was a good speaker. And who hasn’t lost a step as they age.

Another message point that the Republicans continually use is that Biden is too old to be president. Biden is 81; his rival Donald Trump, an obese 77. Biden looks trim and fit; Trump like he should eat salads for at least a year. But nevertheless the GOP message points have achieved their desired result.

The attacks on the president and vice president remind me of an advertising campaign: Repeat the same message long enough and a certain segment of the audience will believe it: Those who don’t think for themselves. 

On the political scene, Donald Trump uses the same few message points consistently. And they register with the MAGA crowd. Democratic messages points are so diverse that they don’t even register with the audiences they are directed to. That’s why the president is trailing the former president in the polls despite his achievements.

Political operatives and those in advertising know the value of message points. But PR people are still excited about securing a placement without message points that puts money in a spokesperson’s pocket but does little to help the client.

There’s an easy fix to the problem: Everyone who wants to become a PR practitioner should be required to spend a semester taking advertising courses before being hired. They might learn something.