COMMENTARY

For A Stronger 'Build Back Better' Campaign - Add 1 Key Word

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 10 hours ago

Legendary ad man Donnie Deutsch says the whole “Build Back Better”marketing effort from the Biden Administration is short on one word: economy.

Deutsch mused on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” last week that a phase that keeps coming back -- when it comes to political messaging and voter motivation.

“It‘s the economy, stupid,’ from the Clinton campaign,” he says. So, he wonders, what about The Power Economy Bill, The People’s Economy Bill or The Economy’s Future Bill?

Deutsch adds: “Go back to Obamacare. It was a health-care bill ... Civil Rights? There was a civil-rights bill. This is an economic bill, and you need to own it that way. It’s not a spending bill, a spending bill can be a dirty word.”

Then MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace puts Deutsch on the spot: Make us a TV ad -- right now. To his credit, Deutsch riffed on a rough sketch of what the TV ad might look like -- improvising on the spot.

He suggests: “It’s a dark America. It was what we inherited. It was Covid. It was an economy in ruins. It was January 6th [the date of the insurrection of the Capitol.].”

“Then all of a sudden, this economic future bill has shed light. It has created jobs. It gives pre-K [and] child tax care credits. It’s saving the world from climate change. These are the things powering our economic future. It’s morning in America again.”

No doubt many voters know the word "infrastructure." Still that word can be fuzzy to many, if not cumbersome in a TV ad. Better roads and bridges? Is that all it is? The Biden Administration wants it to mean more, like broadband service to rural U.S. areas.

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion bill for this basic infrastructure work. But the bigger companion $1.75 trillion bill for social safety-net programs is still in process --- that's the "Build Back Better" part.

A modest campaign did start in July for the campaign -- a $10 million “Building Back Together”  effort on broadcast, cable TV and digital platforms in the Washington D.C. area.

It talked up good paying jobs, as well as promising clear drinking water, the possibility of free pre-K learning for kids to help their parents go to their jobs and expanding Medicare. Early on, there was a proposal for free community college.

A new kind of marketing campaign would, in theory, be a big help when it comes to the crucial midterm elections. Historically, the current President’s party has a tough time gaining more seats to the House of Representatives two years after the presidential election.

Longer term, a big impactful ad campaign -- running before the midterms -- would go a long way to rally the party faithful that the President and his administration is on the right track. It could also lift his approval ratings.

Improving economic and personal financial conditions is always something voters can engage with on their TV or other digital screens.

Also  find your missing TV marketing buzz words before the next election.