Winning the Political Game……and Winning Customers

Objectives for this workshop

• Understand how to win

• Politics is Marketing and vice versa

• Tactics you can use now

The Political Status Quo

• 2013 – Georgia, Colorado

• Kansas

• Utah (x 2)

• Tennessee

The National Picture

• Google Fiber raises consciousness

• Telcos abandoning services

• Comcast/Time Warner Merger

Broadband Political Realities

• 19 states with restrictions

• ALEC playbook for muni networks

• State legislatures

• Local politics and politicians

Readiness Is All

• Know your constituents

• Know the political process

• Create the message

• Execute the campaign, deliver

the message

Needs Assessment Key

• What do constituents have

• What do they want to do, but can’t

• What are the benefits of getting

what they want

Executing Needs Assessment

• Main stakeholders

• Meetings and more meetings

• Surveys

The Power of Needs Assessment

• Take away incumbents’ tactics

• Define technology requirements

• Paint picture of benefits

• Motivate the masses

Gotta Know Rules, the Playas

• Know how a bill becomes law

• Know your legislators

• Understand local process, who’s who

• Neither personal (most times) nor partisan

Understand How Lobbyists Work

• 15 minutes, 2-pages

• Staff vs legislators

• Educator

• Access

Working the process

• Preemptive is better

• Bring constituent pressure

• The art of the deal vs the hammer

The Message

• Consistent core points

• High impact, high emotion

• Tell a story, tell it well

• Go for the close

Messaging Rules

• Consensus on the goal

• Just the facts, ma’am

• You are the light

• Helps to have a villain

• You are constituents’ voice

Executing on the Message

• Keepers of the message

• Everything that moves, breathes,

faces the public

• Schedule, coordinate, execute,

gather feedback, repeat

Communicating with Politicians

• Consensus vs conflict

• Line up allies

• Two tiers of communication: you,

constituents

• Communication is relentless