There were many takeaways from the 2024 presidential election that can be used by account execs on non-political accounts. And I have detailed more than a few of them on this site over the past few months.
But if there is one that stands out, it is the importance of message points. It’s true that the high price of everything resulted in many voters casting ballots for the former and soon to be again president. But the script for the election was written in 2015, when Mr. Trump initially announced his intention to run for president.
For years, Mr. Trump’s campaign was similar to that of an advertising one. Repeat the same messages long enough and a certain segment of the audience will believe it:
The initial message points that Mr. Trump campaigned upon were the open southern borders, inflation and that America was no longer the country it once was. He later added that President Biden was no longer mentally fit to be president. The election outcome proved that Mr. Trump’s message points worked.
Vice president Harris’ message points were all over the political landscape
They included the threat to democracy, the loss of abortion rights, “we’re not going back,” and when polls showed that she was losing support among Blacks, announcing programs to help them. Her message points were too diverse, segmenting voters into groups, instead of conveying them under one unifying umbrella message that would appeal to all Americans, like Mr. Trump’s Make America Great Again.
Conversely, Mr. Trump’s delivery of his message points could be used in a master class on the subject: He chose message points that he knew concerned voters because of current conditions and used examples to support them. And he delivered them using language that would appeal to his followers and be amplified to other populations by media friends and foes.
Too often PR practitioners are excited when a spokesperson is interviewed, even if the emerging story contains no talking points
In my opinion, that doesn’t help a client. I always told people reporting to me that I would rather have a 300 word story with message points than a 700 word one devoid of them.
The importance of message points was 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. A seasoned political pro advised me to provide candidates with message points that relates to what’s happening to Jane and Joe voters today and how the problems can be fixed. “Once a candidate is elected, talking about the future can be initiated into the conversation.”
And I never forgot it. Neither did Mr. Trump.
Since the election, pundits of the left, center and right have spoken and written thousands of words, giving theories why the election turned out the way it did.
I might have missed it, but the president-elect’s message points have not been a part of those post-election discussions. But for people in our business, it should be an integral part of every PR plan. And a course in how to use message points is free of charge every day just by watching TV commercials, especially the medical ones.
